Roy Hodgson has vowed to “use any weapon we’ve got” as England seek to revive their World Cup group campaign by defeating Uruguay, while Steven Gerrard has warned his team-mates there will be no hiding place if they are knocked out of the competition prematurely.
The manager is expected to field the same line-up that lost to Italy last weekend, with England’s leading scorer, Wayne Rooney, operating as a central playmaker. He will also attempt to implement the same quick, attacking style at the Arena Corinthians to unsettle Uruguay. Hodgson has conceded that the defeat by Italy has left England in effect playing knockout football as they attempt to qualify from Group D. But while there is an acceptance they must defend better as a team, their bold approach will be maintained.
“We saw the other night that even a top team like Italy were tested by the quality of our attacking play, so we’re not going to put any of our weapons down,” said Hodgson, aware that Uruguay will be without the suspended Maxi Pereira and the injured Diego Lugano. “Any weapon we’ve got, we are going to try and use. We have to make sure that, when we get the ball, we use it because the sort of players we’ve got are capable of hurting the opposition. I thought we did that quite well on Saturday but, when the other side has the ball, we’d better make certain our defending is spot on.
“There is pressure. We want to stay in the competition so we’ve got to get results in the next two games. No one’s running away from that but worrying about it won’t change anything. We have to make certain we are right, that’s all, and that players feel confident we can win the game. It is knockout football, even if it is still the group stage. It is for a lot of teams now: any side who lost their first game is entering the knockout stage already.”
Only six members of this 23-man squad have previously participated in a World Cup, although memories of exiting the tournament are spurring on the senior players. Gerrard and Frank Lampard, at the behest of Hodgson, addressed the squad in the wake of the defeat by Italy and sought to focus minds on the task ahead, making it clear that the players will face a difficult summer if they fail to emerge from Group D in what would be England’s first three-game World Cup campaign since 1954.
Gerrard reached the quarter-finals in 2006 but was a stand-in captain as Fabio Capello’s side went out in the first knockout round in South Africa four years ago. Asked what he had told the squad, he said: “Basically, just to be really proud of the effort and commitment we gave against Italy and not to get too down with the result. But, going into this game, to realise it could be a terrible, long, frustrating summer if we don’t get it right on Thursday. There is no hiding place for a player when you go out of a tournament earlier than you expect. It can be tough and it can take an awful long time to get over it.
“A lot of people know that in the dressing room but there are a few young lads in there too, so it was important for them to realise what is at stake and how important this game is. If a defeat was to happen, it would probably be the most difficult place to be in as a footballer. We need to make sure we give everything out on that pitch so we wake up on Friday morning with three points on the board and feeling on top of the world.
“We have to be bold and aggressive – that is where we looked our strongest against Italy – because our attacking play will cause our next two opponents endless problems. The key is how we defend. Uruguay’s strengths are their front players: Edinson Cavani, Diego Forlán, Gastón Ramírez and Luis Suárez. They are the players who can hurt this England team.”
The Liverpool captain expects to confront his club-mate Suárez from the start but after only sporadic contact via text with the Uruguayan lately their friendship will be put on hold in São Paulo. “If I walk past him in the tunnel I will say hello and shake his hand but, at that moment, I am not really looking for friends or club-mates,” added Gerrard. “Before and after he is a friend and a team-mate. He knows that once that whistle blows there is no friendship at all between me and Luis Suárez for however long we play. There is a respect but we are both focused on the jobs we need to do for our teams.”
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/18/england-uruguay-sao-paulo
