Allardyce focusing on England’s future success, not past failures
New manager Sam Allardyce said the days of talking about England’s potential were over, and it had to become reality as he looked ahead to qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
At his first news conference, held in the national soccer center at St George’s Park in the Midlands, the former Sunderland boss said a key element of his management would be working with all the staff to get the best out of the players.
He said he would focus on a better future, not recent past form.
“The loss of form, or the fact that they didn’t perform at their very best, wasn’t due to a lack of passion or determination or desire. I have to identify if I can, as quickly as I can, what went wrong. I don’t really want to spend too much time on the past. I want to really think about the future.”
He declined to say who would be his captain.
“No. That’s far too early to make any predictions in that area and I’m going to leave that until we meet all the players and I get all the coaching staff together behind the scenes and plan for obviously the internationals in September,” said Allardyce.
His first two matches will be a friendly at Wembley against Croatia on September 1 and a world cup qualifier in Slovakia on September 4.
Allardyce said years of management had toughened him.
“I’m hardened over many, many years. You toughen yourself about what job you are going to take the good with the bad, otherwise you don’t bother. I’m here because I want to be. I’m here because I want the challenge. I’m here because I think I can make the team better and I think I’m tough enough to take it. Bring it on eh lads!”
Manchester derby in China called off at last minute
In other English soccer news, devastated Manchester United and Manchester City fans gathered outside of Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium on Monday, after the game was canceled due to concerns about the pitch.
United had been due to take on City, now part-Chinese owned, in a pre-season match later in the day – their first derby outside of England.
But in a statement on the Manchester City website, the team said the game was being canceled “following extreme weather events in Beijing over a multiple day period, that have left the playing surface in a condition deemed to be unfit for play.”
Some fans said they had traveled overnight to see the game.
“Of course it’s really depressing and feels really crap. The pitch really does have problems, (I) saw earlier reports on Weibo [twitter-like social media site] about the state of the pitch. But to be honest the people who have been injured are us fans, it doesn’t matter if I’m a Manchester City fan or a Manchester United fan, it’s the same, it’s the fans that are hurt. Three days ago I took a 12 hour train journey from Nanning and in the end this is the result I get, I took two days off and this is the result I got, it doesn’t matter whether you’re talking economically or emotionally, the costs are really high,” said Manchester City fan Chen Leibing.
Other fans gathered outside the team hotels, hoping to catch a glimpse of the players before they headed to the airport.
“Of course I was excited, this was the first time I’d planned to come and see Manchester United, I’d come over from Qingdao. But now that I’ve come here of course inside I’m feeling really depressed and disappointed. Of course we want to shout and complain, but that’s against Leshi [an organizer of the event] and the organizers, not against the Manchester United the club,” said 18 year old Lin Guangming, who’d traveled over from the coastal city of Qingdao. (Reuters)