Rio Ferdinand was not happy with a fellow pundit at the last World Cup. The BBC pundit jokingly demanded that fellow studio guest Ashley Williams be removed from the World Cup punditry set four years ago after the former Welsh international made an error in his quarter-final predictions.
The Manchester United legend was discussing the potential route to the final for a number of sides, including England, and was brimming with excitement at the prospect of the forthcoming fixtures. As Ferdinand, Williams, Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer cast their eyes over the remaining stages of the tournament, Ferdinand could barely contain his enthusiasm.
"If Spain play Portugal then you've got Brazil vs Argentina in the semis," the former England defender said. "It's unbelievable."
Ex-Wales skipper Williams was then asked to assess the opposite side of the draw, which featured England's highly anticipated quarter-final showdown with France on Saturday for a place in the last four.
"Then you've got France vs Spain," Williams said, completely ignoring England, before Ferdinand swiftly cut in.
"What? What are you talking about? This is why Ashley shouldn't be in here," he joked, calling for Williams to be shown the door. "He should be gone now, take him out."
Four years later and England have just opened their latest World Cup campaign, although Wales are nowhere to be seen after failing to qualify.
After the squad was announced, Ferdinand said he disagreed with Thomas Tuchel's decision to leave out Cole Palmer, who was one of several notable omissions.
Speaking on his podcast, the former defender said: "Listen, the squad selection and the way he's gone about it and the players he's left out, there are a lot of discussions going on about that... some would take X, Y and Z.
"I absolutely love him [Tuchel], I've been fortunate to be in his company quite a few times and have had some beers with him in Paris one of the times, him and his assistant, and he just talks football, man. It was lovely.
"But there's one thing I disagree with him on: Cole Palmer.
"That's one thing I have a big disagreement with because Cole Palmer has shown that he can be a sub, he can be part of the squad, he can impact the biggest games, he scored in a Euros final.
"In this place, in the United States, he won the Club World Cup and was the best player at that tournament, in this type of heat, so he knows the landscape... and you don't take him.
"If there's one player I would have definitely gambled on it would have been him."
