WORLD CUP QUALIFIER Call me Gareth… not boss
MARCUS HAPPY TO DROP
MARCUS RASHFORD has revealed he will be content to step down for England’s Under-21 European Championship this summer.
The 19-year-old Manchester United strike star is seen as England’s future goal hero and is already in the senior squad after being taken to Euro 2016 last summer by former Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson.
But Rashford will stride out on behalf of Aidy Boothroyd’s Under-21 squad for the mini Euros in Poland to gain valuable tournament experience.
It’s a refreshing attitude from the Old Trafford youngster, who says: “It is up to the coaching staff and the managers to decide if I go to that.
“But if I do go, I’ll be approaching it with the same attitude as I do for the seniors. It is exciting times.
“Getting tournament experience is massive, as long as everything is aiming towards the longterm objective.
“We obviously want England to be successful and win trophies.
“So whatever we have to do to get to that, whether it is going down a level to gain the experience, everyone is happy to do that.”
Rashford has seen his game time dip at United this season because of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s rich vein of form and goals.
But he has nothing but praise for United’s No.9.
The teenager said: “It’s a massive influence having someone like Zlatan at United around the building – and it is important to learn from him.
“With Zlatan, it’s just his mentality and the way he approaches different situations. You need that to be a success.” said there’s still an England future for old guard skipper Wayne Rooney – even though he was axed from the current squad.
Southgate (below), wants to change accepted old school practices with his approach – starting with his own place in the England hierarchy.
“As long as they keep it clean, I don’t care what they call me. Maybe some people might see ‘boss’ as a sign of respect, but you can tell someone ‘boss’ with zero respect,” he said.
“And you can call someone by their name with plenty of respect. It’s an archaic thing we have in our game, ‘boss’. It’s engrained. But why do we do it? For me, it’s no issue.”
Southgate’s inclusive approach with his players is designed to get the best out of them by handing them the power of responsibility.
He said: “it’s not about power. You have to be comfortable enough as a coach to be challenged.
“We prepare a team, but the most difficult thing is to go out there and play. You have to sometimes let them make their own decisions on the field.
“Our job is to help the players improve and see how they could do things differently, not kill them. Mistakes will happen in games. I made bloody millions of them. It’s about what you learn from them. You’re a better player for that.
“Unless you’re given responsibility as a player, you won’t necessarily feel accountable or that the coach believes you can take responsibility.
“I believe these players are more than capable of making those decisions against the very best teams in the world and being successful.”
Meanwhile, Rooney won’t thro throw in the to towel with England. D Despite t talk he wa wants a Luka Lukas Podolski-style farewell testimonial, Rooney’s ideal swansong is to bow out having helped his country to a successful World Cup in Russia.
And Southgate confirmed Rooney is still in his plans.
“Absolutely. I didn’t understand why we were talking about tributes when he still has every chance of being in this team,” said Southgate. JESSE LINGARD wants to stay at Manchester United despite a stalemate in contract talks. As Sunday People Sport revealed recently, the midfield star is seeking pay parity with United’s bigger names in the bracket below Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney and Paul Pogba. So far talks have stalled and Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea are all on alert. But the 24-year-old star says his heart is at Old Trafford. He said: “The contract is still ongoing with talks at the moment. I enjoy playing for Man United and my heart is at Man United. There’s a lot of competition for places but I think that’s good for the group. It’s always good to have great players around you.” WHEN it comes to playing football with a smile, Jesse Lingard is up there with his first England hero Paul Gascoigne. Choreographed dance celebration and dabs when he scores, rehearsed handshake routines with best pal Paul Pogba and videos from United’s team bus, Lingard likes life to be fun. The Manchester United star is a switched-on guy, the epitome of the modern day footballer. For when it comes to all things social media, Lingard’s on it – literally. And he makes no apologies for sharing his life on Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter – even if it did lead to a public rebuke from Rio Ferdinand. Former Manchester United star Ferdinand criticised Lingard and Pogba after the pair posted a video of a new goal celebration online. With United sixth in the table at that time, Ferdinand – himself an avid social media user – felt the youngsters should wait until they were at least in the top four before posting frivolous videos. And at the end of last season, video footage from inside United’s team bus showed Lingard in mock terror as the vehicle was bombarded with bottles and missiles as it tried to navigate a way into Upton Park for the final game at the West Ham stadium.
Older football generations might not agree, but to Lingard it’s natural to have some fun and share his life with the outside world.
Joke
“I think fun plays a massive part in anyone’s life,” he said. “I’m the type of guy that’s always having a joke, messing around. But also when it comes to the serious stuff, you know, your head’s on the game.
“You train hard all week and obviously in your downtime you can relax with your friends and have fun.
“Nowadays the media do pick up on it quick, and you can be quick to be judged, but you know you can’t really judge anyone unless you speak to them face to face or you can meet them in real life.
“I spoke to Rio and obviously we had a discussion about it, but that’s just us. Paul and I are happy-go-lucky people and we do what makes us happy.
“With the West Ham video from the coach, to be fair, it was on my private snapchat and that shouldn’t really have got out.
“One of my friends must have