England will not resort to a physical approach to combat Gareth Bale and his Wales team-mates in Thursday’s Euro 2016 match, says boss Roy Hodgson.
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Coleman also played down the comments, saying: “If one of ours has said something that one or two of the England boys don’t like, it’s irrelevant”.
“That adds spice and interest”, said Hodgson, whose team drew 1-1 with Russian Federation in their opening Group B game.
“In the press conference, someone said I disrespected England – that wasn’t the case”, he said. “They are entitled to their opinion, I don’t care”.
“But I feel like I’m playing really well and that I can keep on improving”. “We know them better, of course, and they know us better, but there has literally been no difference in the way we would prepare”.
“We know we’re a good team and know we can beat them on our day”, the Real Madrid star said.
“It’s good that they bit”, he said. “It’s not England versus Gareth Bale, it’s England versus Wales and we have to stop a few of their players if we want to win the game”. “It doesn’t bother me”, he said. “My team talk to my players, I’ll need to make sure they are focused and calm, because we have to make sure that the game and occasion doesn’t get the best of us”.
“If we’d lost the first game it didn’t mean we were going home, we’ve won the first game it doesn’t mean that we’re staying, there’s a lot of work to be done. We are having fun”, said the Arsenal midfielder. “Aaron Ramsey is another one so we can’t be naïve and all focus on Gareth”.
“We have a great squad, are very confident in ourselves and should not worry too much about Bale and the rest of the Wales team”. “I don’t believe that will come into play at all”. “It’s credit to him, how hard he’s worked, how he’s developed his game and now he’s at the top”.
Bale has suggested that the three lions do not have the same sort of passion about playing for their country as the Welsh lads and that England tend to be arrogant and assume they will do well before they get a chance to play so it is hardly surprising that his words have not gone down well in the England camp.
“I don’t think we’ll be surprised particularly by either their lineup or what they try to do when they’ve got the ball or when they don’t have the ball”.
“We have been talking about Wales as a team and a group of players in exactly the same way we had been talking about Russian Federation”. We’re looking forward to it and we have prepared.
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Bale was mainly used as a left-back when the two players were at St Mary’s, and Lallana admits that it has been interesting to watch him develop into one of the most exciting attacking players of his generation, adding that such a renaissance could be used as an inspiration for younger players.
