Having made two massive assumptions that England will qualify, which they should, and that he’ll be a consistent part of the squad between now and Russian Federation in two years time, he’s already put himself under the spotlight more than he needed to.
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“If they would have created some great action and scored nice goal, you say it is okay, but not such as goal in the stoppage time”.
“I didn’t want to talk about fear ― I wanted to be positive and tell them what the future is”.
Allardyce has only worked with the England squad for a matter of days but has already noticed that the players are still suffering, mentally, after the embarrassment of Euro 2016.
Adam Lallana scored a last-gasp victor for Sam Allardyce’s side with virtually the last kick of the game to give England all three points in their opening Group F match. I think it was possession for possession’s sake rather than trying to break the opposition down. So that may be a bit of sub-conscious about not wanting to be the one that gives the ball away.
“It is nice to get off to a winning start for us and the manager as we try to put the Euros behind us”, he said.
“But we have to be courageous”.
However, for much of a lacklustre contest in Trnava it looked like England would be frustrated with a re-run of the goalless draw the teams shared in their last clash during the group stage at Euro 2016 in Saint-Etienne in June.
“Immense. It was the most important thing in my England career”, he said with a smile.
Allardyce, according to the Daily Mail, has now taken action to help the players still suffering from the trauma caused by the team’s premature exit at the European Championships. Even though they already deal with a lot of pressure, on an worldwide stage it’s a different type of pressure and they are very young.
Rooney indicated that is where he can best serve the team, and Allardyce is according him the respect 116 caps deserve.
Rooney has been criticised for his patchy form for both club and country in recent months, but former Manchester United midfielder Beckham has been quick to offer his support to the forward.
Harry Kane is not now the domineering number nine England need and want him to be, Raheem Sterling did not bring his Manchester City form with him to Trnava and Jordan Henderson failed to take his chance in the centre.
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“I am using his experience to its maximum and encouraging him to play very well, which I thought he did”.
