Rooney’s captaincy in balance
NEW COACH WANTS RESULTS
UNITED KINGDOM – New England manager Sam Allardyce vowed yesterday to break the psychological barrier hindering the performance of the country’s big-name players at international level.
Allardyce also revealed he has not yet made a decision on who will captain England, which leaves Manchester United skipper Wayne Rooney – heavily criticised for his performances at Euro 2016 – sweating on whether he will retain the armband. England’s campaign at last month’s European Championships under predecessor Roy Hodgson culminated in a humiliating exit to Iceland in the last 16, despite boasting a squad packed with Premier League talent. Hodgson quickly quit. Allardyce, speaking at his first press conference at St George’s Park following his appointment, will seek to address that faulty mindset as England bid to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
“The pressure on players at international level ... we will be looking at in depth,” said the 61year-old Englishman, nicknamed “Big Sam”, who lost out to Steve McClaren for the England job 10 years ago.
“I will exploit all areas for the benefit of the players. The key element is to get the staff in place and talk about the programme going forward, particularly psychologically. It’s not about potential now. It’s about standing up and being counted even though some of those experiences have been bitter.
“Potential is a word I don’t like to use too much. You want the actual quality of the player producing his best immediately. I think this group is very experienced and going forward can be producing more performances and better results. It’s not just about qualifying, but going as far as we can.”
It is anticipated that Allardyce, a former manager of many clubs including Bolton, Newcastle, West Ham and most recently Sunderland, will not make a call on Rooney’s captaincy until the players join up for the World Cup qualifier with Slovakia on September 4. “That’s far too early to make predictions in that area,” Allardyce said, when asked if Rooney would continue as skipper.
“I will leave that (the captaincy) until we get together and plan for the qualifiers.”
Allardyce, who guided Sunderland to Premier League safety last season having taken over with them in a desperate position, has never won a major trophy and acknowledged the England job is the “biggest challenge” of his managerial career.
Allardyce believes, however, he has the right credentials for the position and remains confident the “Three Lions” will progress under his stewardship. –