WORLD CUP: TUNISIA v ENGLAND WE DON’T HAVE ANY WARR ORS
UNITED CUT TV COSTS Brave hearts like Robbo & Adams are dying breed
MANCHESTER UNITED are cutting costs at their own TV station – with a radical shake-up of their coverage from the US this summer.
It is understood the club plan to keep key presenting staff at Old Trafford during the trip.
That means match-day commentator Stewart Gardner and senior analyst, former European Cup winner Paddy Crerand could be staying behind in Manchester to present the games from their Old Trafford studio.
If the move is rubberstamped, it will be a change in protocol whereby Gardner and Crerand – MUTV’S matchday front men – travel as part of the official tour party and have full access to players and manager Jose Mourinho (below).
It is understood the station will still send a reporter and camera crew to the US with the team, but are planning to scale back on the number of staff on tour.
United will play five games in the States with Mourinho insisting the club travel back to the US after the success of their tour there last summer.
Mourinho is a big fan of the facilities and climate – especially after the Red Devils’ pre-season fiasco in China two years ago.
United were due to play the first-ever Manchester derby against City on foreign soil at the Bird’s Nest Stadium, but the pitch was deemed unsafe after torrential rain.
Mourinho’s men fly out to Los Angeles on July 15 for warm-up friendlies against Club America and San Jose Earthquakes.
Then there are three International Champions Cup matches against AC Milan in Pasadena, Liverpool in Michigan and Real Madrid in Miami. PAUL INCE fears England don’t have enough players with the bottle to thrive at the World Cup.
Ince famously bled for the had to build our characters up. Three Lions’ cause in a qualifier It was the tough lives we had against Italy in 1997, just as Terry which set us out to be Butcher had done against different. Sweden eight years earlier in a “You take that into your 0-0 draw which helped the nation football, that’s why you have reach Italia ’90. character, why you become men. But as the current crop
“But football has changed so prepare to kick off their Group
much and I don’t think you’re G campaign against Tunisia
going to have those characters. tomorrow, Ince admits the shortage of players willing to put “You might have one or two, their bodies on the line is a cause but if you look through the for concern. He said: “It is a England team, you’d quiet team, England, and that’s probably say Gary what worries me. Cahill is the one who is up there because he played alongside John Terry for quite a while at Chelsea.
“Jordan Henderson, yes, but competitors like Tony Adams are a dying breed.
“Once JT and Jamie Carragher retired from England, that was probably the dying of that ilk of footballer. Sometimes you can do it a different
Background
“If things do go wrong, are there enough vocal people in the team to turn it around?
“We’re losing that warriortype player. Generations have changed, society has changed, and our kids have been brought up differently. Everything seems to be softer now.
“If you talk to the likes of myself, Roy Keane, Bryan Robson, we’d tell you about our tough backgrounds, the way we way. For instance, Harry Kane is not a talker. You go through the list of England captains and he is not your typical England captain. Kane is a bit more like David Beckham, where he’ll set an example by the way he plays. “Henderson and Cahill are probably the only ones of that warrior type of player, but I don’t really see anyone else.” Henderson, Cahill (left) and Co will get their first chance to show what they are really made of against Nabil Maaloul’s Tunisia in Volgograd tomorrow night. The countdown to the game is well and truly on, and Ince, stressing how important the fixture is to England, said the No.1 priority is not to lose... because losing the opener leaves you a mountain to climb He added: “I always feel that in the first game of a World Cup you can’t afford to get beaten.
“Get a point at least and go from there. If you lose the first game you’re chasing.
“Listen, England would expect to beat Tunisia, let’s not get this wrong, but they’re not going to be a walkover.
“It will be tough. Tunisia will have looked at England’s recent game against Nigeria and will think they can have a crack at our midfield.”
Build
Despite the flaws Ince sees in Gareth Southgate’s side, he insists they must kick off the tournament believing they can win it.
He said: “People understand we are trying to build something else now, that we’re going with a youngish squad, and the signs are England want to build for four years’ time.
“A lot of people are buying into that. Do I? No. If you are England you have to go and try to win every tournament.
“I don’t think Gareth will be thinking about Qatar in 2022. He’ll be thinking about winning in Russia – once you’re there you want to go and win it.”