Rio Ferdinand reckons England's 'golden generation' never won anything due to club loyalties among their biggest stars - as he branded the row between Raheem Sterling and Joe Gomez a "farce".
Sterling has been axed from the Three Lions' squad for the Euro 2020 qualifier against Montenegro but will remain with his international teammates and be in contention for the trip to Kosovo on Monday.
The Manchester City star and his Liverpool rival clashed towards the end of the Reds' victory at Anfield on Sunday - putting them nine points clear of Pep Guardiola's men in the title race.
But the issue re-emerged on Monday morning in the St George's Park canteen when Gomez went to give Sterling a handshake - from behind - and the forward took issue.
Sterling allegedly asked Gomez if he was "still the big man" before attempting to grab him. Teammates then realised the issue was not a joke and some moved to separate the rowing stars.
Ferdinand played in an England side which included stars such as Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and John Terry - but the so-called 'golden generation' never progressed past the quarter-finals of a major tournament.
And he reckons club rivalries were a major factor behind their lack of success.
"It overshadowed things," he said last year. "It killed that England team, that generation. One year we would have been fighting Liverpool to win the league, another year it would be Chelsea .
"So I was never going to walk into the England dressing room and open up to Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, John Terry or Joe Cole at Chelsea, or Steven Gerrard or Jamie Carragher at Liverpool.
"I wouldn't open up because of the fear they would take something back to their club and use it against us, to make them better than us. I didn't really want to engage with them.
"I didn't realise that what I was doing was hurting England at the time. I was so engrossed, so obsessed with winning with Man United - nothing else mattered."
