Lallana: No special plan for my pal
NEVER mind the nicotine and caffeine cocktail seemingly favoured by Jamie Vardy. England’s players could probably use something even stronger judging by the apparent anxiety around Gareth Bale and the threat he poses to their Euro 2016 ambitions here in France.
Roy Hodgson was worried enough to request a warm-up encounter with Portugal he rather hoped would involve Cristiano Ronaldo providing the kind of test his side can expect from the Welsh superstar in Lens tomorrow. He expressed frustration on the eve of that game that Ronaldo was not playing.
By yesterday, however, England’s players seemed to be reading off a script, with both Adam Lallana and Ryan Bertrand making the same point about how ‘naive’ it would be to consider Wales a ‘one-man team’.
It certainly felt like a concerted effort to play down England’s fears, even if they are right to point out that players of the quality of Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen cannot be ignored either.
Lallana insisted nothing too specific had been planned for Bale but that might be because no one person is being asked to take responsibility for the world’s most expensive footballer. Not least because it might be asking too much of Eric Dier to take care of him on his own.
Dier is proving a superb holding midfielder more than comfortable with the demands of international football. He certainly demonstrated as much against Russia in Marseille. But the one weakness he perhaps has is a slight lack of pace, making him less than ideal for a man-marking job on an opponent possessing such blistering speed.
Instead England will work collectively not just to deal with Bale but to cut off his supply line, with Hodgson expected to select the same side that started against the Russians and essentially employ a five-man midfield when the Welsh are in possession. Lallana knows Bale better than most, having come through the same academy system at Southampton.
‘I’ve got good memories of playing with Gareth,’ he said. ‘Our families went to away games together, when we were in the academy and in the reserves.
‘He scored some great free-kicks then went to Tottenham and had a bit of a difficult time there, so all credit to him because he bounced back. There were doubters out there probably, but he brushed them aside and proved everyone wrong. Obviously now he’s at Real Madrid and doing ever so well.’
Lallana spoke of Bale being ‘ mentally strong’ but stressed that England’s players were every bit as robust to handle his former colleague.
‘In our squad we have Manchester City players who met Real Madrid this year and we have players who have faced Barcelona and Messi in the Champions League, so we know it’s not always the right thing to do, to man-mark them.
‘You’ve just got to be aware of their strengths... but it’s not a one-man show. I have the pleasure of playing with Joe Allen and I know what a talent he is. Aaron Ramsey is another one who is very talented, so we can’t just put all our focus on Gareth and then get a sucker punch from one of their other good players.’
He added: ‘ Their second goal the other day was Ramsey to (Hal) Robson-Kanu and he slotted it into the bottom corner — Gareth wasn’t involved. Obviously we need to be aware of his strengths ... but we all watch the Real Madrid games on the TV every week.
‘We don’t need to sit there and be told exactly what run he makes every time. We’ r e professional players.’