With a clean yet tedious start to the qualifying campaign, new manager Allardyce will be hoping that he can usher in an era where the side can eke out crucial results.
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After another indifferent performance for England at the weekend, captain Wayne Rooney’s place in the team has been place under scrutiny once again.
“A father and his son, who was in a wheelchair, came to the hotel this morning and said: ‘Is it OK if you have a picture with my son?” he said.
England’s Eric Dier says the team must become more ruthless if they are to taste success under Sam Allardyce.
Allardyce added: “I think that he holds a lot more experience at worldwide football than me as an global manager. I am happy where I’m playing and I think I’m doing a good job”.
“He says, “You can play me anywhere you want me to play and I will try and play there”.
The 30-year-old elected to move back into midfield for England’s 1-0 win over Slovakia and visibly struggled, drawing criticism for his immobility and cabaret of misplaced passes.
Liverpool forward Adam Lallana fired home his first global goal on time added on to snatch maximum points and Wayne Rooney becoming the most capped England player with 116 appearances.
He pushed up into a more orthodox number 10 role at half-time, only to retreat to a midfield holding role after Allardyce sent on Dele Alli for Henderson.
“Yes he played a bit deeper than he does at United, but Wayne’s comfortable, when I talk to him, about the position”.
Allardyce seems to have nailed his colours to the mast when it comes to Rooney – for better or worse, the Manchester United forward is undroppable. “We have dominated the game and got a very important win”.
“I think it was possession for possession’s sake for the opening 45 minutes, rather than trying to break the opposition down”, Allardyce said.
“It was frustrating at times but that’s football”, Rooney said.
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“Finally we did get the goal and it’s [Lallana’s] first goal for England, so good luck to him”.
