Jaap Stam disagrees with Rio Ferdinand on Fikayo Tomori and England debate

16 May 2023 , 11:33

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Fikayo Tomori has been praised by Jaap Stam (Image: Getty Images)

Jaap Stam believes AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori should be handed the chance to play for England on a regular basis - despite starting once under Gareth Southgate since his debut in 2019.

Stam has shared a different opinion to his former Manchester United teammate Rio Ferdinand, who admitted his performance against Inter Milan last week showed why he doesn't start for the Three Lions. Tomori made his first and only England start in the 0-0 draw against Italy last June.

Tomori is below the likes of Harry Maguire, John Stones, Eric Dier and Marc Guehi in the pecking order at the Three Lions and he didn't boost his chances of moving up with his display in the Champions League semi-final first-leg. That is according to Ferdinand after AC were beaten 2-0 by their city rivals last Wednesday.

Ferdinand told BT Sport: "I said before the game, in the big showcase games you have to perform if you want to be propelled into being a top player. And unfortunately it wasn't one of those today.

"One thing I would say is that individual duels, I don't think he won enough of them. I don’t think he impacted the two centre-forwards with any type of aggressiveness, challenges to really put a marker down at any point.

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"They kind of dominated. You have got to assert yourself in these games. You have to put your marker down early in these games and at no point did he do that."

However, Stam insists Tomori shouldn't be judged on one game and reckons he is much better than he performed at the San Siro last week. The former Chelsea defender has the chance to redeem himself when AC face Inter in the second-leg on Tuesday evening.

(Getty Images)

Stam told Full Circle from bet365: "In how he played, can he be a starter for England, it's going to be difficult. But you never know. To be fair to him you don’t just look at one game. We've all had bad games – I’ve had bad games as well - it doesn’t mean you can’t start games for England. He is a good player, he’s got great potential, he’s quality.

"Milan has been doing well over the past few years and he’s been a part of that as an individual. That’s what you’ve got to look at as a manager, Southgate has to look at form of the player – can he fit in and start – but in this game he had a hard game. That’s how it goes in football. He needs to address it and come out better in the second leg.

"I think he’s a good player, he’s got the attributes in his passing and his battling and his pace to do well for England. I rate the England national team higher than the Milan team that played yesterday, so I think he’ll have better players around him for England, which makes it easier for him to perform."

Kieran King