LONDON: England coach Roy Hodgson has warned his players to sacrifice their egos for the good of the team at the World Cup lest they end up like the strife-torn France side of the 2010 finals.
France endured a dismal World Cup at South Africa, crashing out of the group stage after the expulsion of forward Nicolas Anelka from the squad following a heated clash with then-coach Raymond Domenech and a subsequent players’ revolt.
Hodgson said he would be quick to knock any threats to team harmony on the head in Brazil where England will play Group D rivals Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica when the tournament kicks off next month.
“One thing is for certain: there’s no chance for any team in the World Cup if they’re not in it together,” he told British media.
“We’ve seen that in the past, examples where teams who were not together, like France in the last one where all the problems were coming out.
“If you want to win any tournament, if you want to win a league for that matter, you’d better make certain that you as a team are all together. That you’re all singing off the same hymn sheet, that you all have the same aspirations and that you’re all prepared to make sacrifices for each other.
“... The thing you can control is your teamwork, making sure you choose a group of players who are prepared to work as a team, that you deal with any problems that come up from individuals that are trying to eat away at the fabric of your team and maybe destroy your teamwork.
“I’ve always been very clear on that. I don’t have any hesitation. When you stand in front of a group of players for the first time and say: ‘Listen, the only way we’re going to win this is by being a team’, you’ll find 20 of them will say: ‘Yeah, yeah, you’re right’.
“But then, if they don’t start doing it as a team in the course of the tournament, you’re quite entitled to say: ‘You didn’t ... say anything about it before, you were the first to say you agreed, and now you’re out of the team it’s a big problem, it’s not about the team any more, it’s all about you.’
“I’ve never been afraid to say those things. But luckily I’ve not had to say it too often.”
Hodgson said he had been “lucky” in having a group of senior players that set the right tone for the more youthful members of his squad, singling out captain Steven Gerrard for praise.
“Gerrard has turned out to be such a superb captain, a very good catalyst for the others, someone they all look up to as a player but also as a person, somebody who has very much the right attitude.
“And when he’s not been available, then (vice captain) Frank Lampard has done a very similar job, and after that you’d count Wayne Rooney as a young senior: my senior players have been very good in demanding: ‘This is the mood we want, this is the type of camp we want.’”
Meanwhile, Sam Allardyce will remain as West Ham United manager next season, the Premier League club said yesterday, although he will be expected to deliver a more entertaining style of play.
The 59-year-old steered the east London side to 13th place in their second season back in the top flight, but came in for criticism from fans for the manner in which the team played.
The team was booed by supporters after a 2-1 league win over Hull City in March, having failed to dominate the opposition despite playing against ten men for over an hour.
They also faced jeers after defeat by West Bromwich Albion the following month, with Allardyce’s supposed long ball tactics failing to satisfy those craving more eye-catching methods at a club once noted for its enterprising style.
“We have a very clear vision of how we want West Ham United to operate under our joint ownership,” joint-chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold said in a statement on the club website (www.whufc.com), following lengthy talks with Allardyce.
“Although not everybody understands the West Ham way, we do and we respect it as we have been supporters all our lives. We believe this is about a philosophy that is not just about the style of play, but the whole ethos that surrounds the club.
“Sam was asked to give us a detailed presentation on his vision for next season and during this he assured us that he can deliver that ethos to West Ham United and we have agreed to support him with the resources that he needs.”
The club will hire a new attacking coach and overhaul the scouting and recruitment operation. Funds will be available for investment in the squad.
Allardyce joined West Ham in June 2011 and guided them to promotion from the second-tier Championship before securing a 10th-place finish in the Premier League the next season.
They were hampered this season by a number of injuries, including a lengthy layoff to record signing Andy Carroll, and were in the relegation zone around the turn of the year.
They ultimately pulled away from the drop zone and Sullivan and Gold said they had to balance ensuring their Premier League survival with entertainment on the pitch ahead of a move to London’s Olympic Stadium in 2016.
“I look forward to taking the club forward and improving the squad for next season to try and achieve the plans we have set out in our very productive meeting last week,” former Bolton, Newcastle and Blackburn manager Allardyce said.
Agencies
