CREDIBILITY GAP
Restoring pride is key for ‘nervous’ Allardyce
SAM ALLARDYCE vowed to make England a team in which their nation can be proud again after their woeful recent campaigns.
With the new England manager facing his first game in a World Cup qualifier here against Slovakia today, Allardyce promised to restore a degree of pride in the national team following the shambolic exit to Iceland at Euro 2016.
Allardyce, who has named Wayne Rooney captain and will start with Harry Kane up front despite his failure in the Euros, said: ‘I’m immensely proud finally to be able to call myself England manager.
‘Now my focus is on ensuring that we successfully navigate our way through the qualifying campaign and to make the nation proud of our football team.’
Allardyce admitted there will be some trepidation as he takes on his dream job but believes it will be dispelled as soon as the game starts.
‘There will be nerves,’ he said. ‘In every new job, you are nervous and hoping that players go out and do the talking for you.
‘I’ll be very nervous in the run-up and as we get here but, once the game starts, I don’t hear the crowd around me. I just see how the team is doing.’
Allardyce took the bold step of naming his team, which includes John Stones at centre-half, 48 hours before the game and added: ‘Historically, the team has never been kept secret, so why try to when it will get out? And I wanted to work on the team early, as it’s my first get-together.
‘Hopefully, that will be good enough to beat difficult opposition.’
Rooney, meanwhile, admits it will be a dream to become England’s all-time outfield appearance record-holder tonight.
The national captain will secure his 116th cap against Slovakia this evening, overtaking the record he currently holds with former skipper David Beckham.
And after tonight, Rooney will need just 10 more caps to become his country’s most-capped player — goalkeeper Peter Shilton is the current record-holder with 125 appearances.
Rooney admits it will be a huge honour for him to break Beckham’s record today — but insists getting England’s World Cup qualification campaign off to a winning start is most important.
‘I’m proud — I have been since the first day with England,’ said Rooney.
‘It’s important we get off to a good start. We’ve prepared well.
‘It would be great to break the appearance record but, again, this match is more about the team.
‘It will be a tough game and we’ll have to be at our best to win. We know Marek Hamsik will be a threat.’
Rooney, who revealed last week that he will retire from internationals after the World Cup campaign, admits there will be a tinge of disappointment if he hangs up his boots without a trophy.
‘I don’t think I’ll ever look back and say it was a waste,’ he said. ‘But the reason you come and play for England is to try to win.
‘I wouldn’t sit here and say I’d be happy going for another two years and then going home after the group stage or last 16.
‘You want to try to win it. You have to have that hope and belief. I believe in the players we’ve got. There is still that excitement of trying to be successful with England which drives me on.’
Rooney has been told he should be like an ‘older brother’ to his England team-mates if he wants to be a successful captain by Allardyce’s ex-Bolton skipper Jay-Jay Okocha.
When he was reappointing Rooney as England captain last week, Allardyce described Okocha — who played for him between 2002 and 2006 — as his perfect leader.
‘Sam made me captain because of my experience and profile,’ said Okocha. ‘I understood the importance of the players being in great spirits. You have to respect the individual differences between players who come from a different culture or have a different character. You bring them together to focus on one target.’