Euro 2012: Gary Neville tackles England's mental frailty

GARY NEVILLE LOVES A CHALLENGE, AND HE HAS CERTAINLY ACCEPTED A SUBSTANTIAL ONE IN AGREEING TO TACKLE THE FEAR FACTOR THAT INHIBITS ENGLAND. CAPPED 85 TIMES, NEVILLE NOW RELISHES THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXTEND HIS ENGLAND INVOLVEMENT IN A COACHING CAPACITY.

TAKING CHARGE: Gary Neville says England need to overcome their problems with penalties. (Photo: Reuters)

“Forget football, I love England as a country,’’ said Neville, Roy Hodgson’s surprise but inspired choice as coach. “It was a great honour and privilege to play for England and I never gave anything less than my best. My frustration with England was that we never won a trophy. Hopefully over the next four years I can be part of a team that does get to a successful position. I am aware of the difficulties.

“There are a number of other nations out there. We are talking about Argentina, Portugal, Germany: they are not exactly mug nations we are getting knocked out by.”

Neville played at Euro 96, France 98, Euro 2000, Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

“Euro 2004 and 96 are the ones I always look back on as being particularly disappointing because I thought we were good enough. Now there seems to be the lowest expectation I’ve ever known for an England team going into a tournament but the fact is, in tournaments gone past, it’s been fine lines.’’ Like penalties. “We have to overcome the psychological aspect eventually. I went to five tournaments and four of them we went out on pens: two quarter-finals, one second phase, one semi-final. But for a goalkeeper’s save or the width of a post we are in finals and semi-finals.’’

Always a mix of the realist and the bullish, the 37 year-old takes confidence from the presence of Joe Hart. “We have a great keeper – and that’s not being disrespectful to the ones I played with – and that could make a difference. So if we get to a quarter-final and our great goalkeeper saves two or three we are in the semi-final.” David Seaman saved one against Spain to help England reach the last four at Euro 96.

“The Euro 96 squad had a lot of strong characters but you look through this team and I’d say Rooney is a strong character. Hart, Terry, Gerrard have proven that at club level. You are talking about European champions, Premier League winners.’’
Neville’s new role involves banishing some of the fear that can afflict young internationals. “We have to make younger players understand that it is a pressurised atmosphere where you are expected to do well all the time and so you should be. You will be tested in every way.’’
Just as Neville represents England’s long-term coaching future, possibly even the main job one day, so Hodgson has peppered his squad with youngsters. “Oxlade-Chamberlain, Welbeck, Jones are being bought in not just with this tournament in mind but giving them experience for ones to come,’’ continued Neville. “Even the boy Butland that’s coming in now. It would have been easy to go for a more experienced keeper but he [Hodgson] has gone for a young keeper. There are other younger players who would have been in contention but are injured like Walker, Smalling, Wilshere, Rodwell.”
Neville already has his B and A coaching licences, his learning process accelerated by a successful season analysing games for Sky.
“It made me appreciate other players and clubs more rather than being stuck in my world at Manchester United, which was all-consuming. I love the club but I needed to get that break, get off the roundabout.”
His candour has impressed even United’s rivals. “If you’d said to me at the start of the season I’d be sat there on April 30, on Monday Night Football, having to congratulate Manchester City who’d just beaten Manchester United and be critical of the Manchester United players who’d made mistakes and then two weeks later I’d be sat there again, in the last minute, of the last match of the season, and there are 40,000 people turning around to let me know they’d just won the league – I’ve overcome those things because I’ve been honest and fair.
“There are 23 players in this squad and in one way or another this season, I’ve probably had to highlight a mistake they’ve made. I don’t see a great problem in it. Their mistakes are highlighted on television anyway, there are probably 100 million watching around the world, the manager has probably pointed it out to them. They will know in their own right they’ve made a mistake. So the fact Gary Neville might be sat up there in the commentary box pointing out their mistake is the least of their worries.’’
He also omitted big names such as Terry when picking his preferred Euro squad in his newspaper column earlier in the season. “If you went through my back catalogue you’d have some fun!” he laughed. “It shows the FA and the boss are not afraid to make decisions. Roy said to me: ‘I don’t want someone to come alongside me and be a ‘yes’ man.’ In the past I’ve felt England managers have invited friends to be around them at times.’’
And the FA? Would Red Nev call a strike again as in 2003? “I wouldn’t do it now!” he replied, clearly unrepentant. “All the time I’ve talked about the FA [critically] it’s always been about one incident. There are an awful lot of good people at the FA, always have been, and the preparation for the players before major tournaments has always been incredible. Transport, food and hotels have always been A1.”
Neville is back but the Wags were not welcome. “The FA learned from the experience in 2006. It won’t happen again. It was symptomatic of the times. Between 2002 and 2007, everyone got carried away with everything in life. It’s a different world now. We are here to work.’’


http://fulltimescores.wordpress.com (Main Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england)

Euro 2012: England set to call up Jordan Henderson in place of the injured Frank Lampard

ROY HODGSON WILL TAKE JORDAN HENDERSON TO EURO 2012 IF, AS EXPECTED, FRANK LAMPARD IS RULED OUT ON THURSDAY AFTER A SCAN ON A THIGH INJURY SUFFERED ON WEDNESDAY.

Big chance: Jordan Henderson (left) could take Frank Lampard's place at the Euro.(Photo: Getty Images)

The moment Lampard pulled up in training at London Colney, running into a corner to retrieve a loose ball, Hodgson placed Henderson on standby. The Liverpool midfielder has been chosen even though Michael Carrick has not retired from international football and has always told the FA he would be available in an emergency.

Carrick has returned from holiday but it seems the chances of his receiving a phone-call from Hodgson are minimal. Henderson has had a modest season but Hodgson clearly admires his commitment to the cause.

Even when a defender in Phil Jagielka replaced the injured midfielder Gareth Barry, Henderson stayed on standby in case of other mishaps after Uefa’s Tuesday deadline for naming squads. As Lampard’s injury is a new one, England can replace him and Hodgson has turned to Henderson.

A call to Carrick might have opened another avenue. The Carrick conundrum contains echoes of Paul Scholes before the 2010 World Cup. Scholes, 35 at the time, would have answered Fabio Capello’s call but it came too late. Carrick, 30, has enjoyed a good season for Manchester United, and many were surprised he was not in Hodgson’s original thoughts.

Gary Neville would have been an obvious conduit had Hodgson wanted to contact Carrick or clarify his exact situation. First capped in 2001, Carrick was known to have been frustrated at his experience of South Africa two years ago where he was an unused substitute.

Yet in the absence of Barry, most probably Lampard, and with Scott Parker easing his way back after an Achilles problem, the talented, in-form Carrick would have been a useful addition to the squad. Henderson has potential but Carrick has won the Premier League four times and the Champions League once.

It is a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for Henderson, who has been criticised for failing to deliver at Anfield since his £20million move from Sunderland. If Lampard is out, Henderson joins Stewart Downing and Andy Carroll among Liverpool’s so-called misfiring signings now helping to carry the nation’s hopes.

The sight of England players limping towards scan machines or out of tournaments is a wearyingly familiar summer image, highlighting the stresses placed on their bodies during the intense season.

This plight was memorably summed up by the Uefa president, Michel Platini, with his verdict that “English players are lions in the autumn and lambs in the spring”.

Medical research at Linkoping University in Sweden indicated that elite male players were four times more likely to suffer stress injuries in countries such as England that do not have a winter break than in those enlightened leagues which do.

If he follows Barry to the sidelines, Lampard will become another pre-tournament statistic for the FA’s medical men to analyse when the National Football Centre opens shortly at St George’s Park.

The debate may then intensify about the need for a winter break, something that right-minded people within the FA and a succession of England managers have long campaigned for.

The likely loss of Lampard is a substantial blow, to him personally, to the squad and also represents another unwelcome reminder to Hodgson of the vicissitudes of the Impossible Job.

Not only has Lampard been playing some of the best football of his career, including shining as Chelsea lifted the FA Cup and Champions League, but he is a popular figure around the England camp, one of the FA’s “good tourists”.

Even if the expectation was that Hodgson would start Steven Gerrard and Scott Parker, Lampard offered a high-class option from the bench.

Before his injury, Lampard spoke on Tuesday of his belief that he could challenge Parker for the defensive role allowing Gerrard to push on. “I’ve been playing deeper for Chelsea,’’ Lampard said. “I’ve enjoyed the workload and enjoyed making blocks and tracking back as much as trying to get up and score goals. With age and experience you have to change but whether I’ll become a big holding midfield player, I’m not so sure.”

If he is ruled out, it will be a particular frustration for Lampard as he had reported for England duty in confident mood after conquering Europe with Chelsea.

“However much we talked down the idea of winning it after all these years, you really do feel that it was the one, the special one, that wasn’t in our grasp,’’ Lampard reflected of the Champions League. “Now it is, so it does make a difference to how you feel. If you’re at a top club and you’ve played over a number of years, it’s one that you really want to have on your CV.”

Lampard noted that Roberto Di Matteo had an instant effect on Chelsea, something that Hodgson seeks with England. “It’s certainly possible to kindle something very quickly,” he said.

“Man-management is of the utmost at top football these days. When you’ve got a very good squad of players, training and tactics are important but the man-management issue at Chelsea was the huge thing. Robbie took players aside, talked to them and made them feel confident.’’ Lampard added that Hodgson “certainly” had time to shape the team for the Euros.

He also spoke highly of Chelsea’s central-defensive axis of John Terry and Gary Cahill, a partnership expected to start Saturday’s friendly at Wembley against Belgium and in the Euros.

“They are both top players,’’ Lampard continued. “They complemented each other straight away. Left and right seems pretty natural to them. They are determined. They both throw their bodies in the way to make the blocks.’’

The pair soon head off to the Euros. An innocuous incident appears to have prevented Lampard following them, a sudden and harsh end to a fine season for one of English football’s greatest servants.

http://fulltimescores.wordpress.com (Main Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england)