England’s Frank Lampard refuses to panic
England midfielder Frank Lampard has dismissed suggestions that are any rifts in the Three Lions’ World Cup camp.
With the squad coming under fire for their awful performance in the goalless draw with Algeria on Friday night, much of the nation’s attention was on a supposed “crisis meeting” held between boss Fabio Capello and his players last night, but Lampard insisted that all the fuss was misplaced.
“I think it's been particularly overdone in terms of a 'crisis meeting',” he said from England’s training base in Rustenburg today.
“The meeting was just the manager dealing with the Algeria match and we moved on. It was lads sitting down talking about the game. That's the only way I've known a team to talk about results.”
Attention was fixed on the meeting because of comments made by former captain John Terry yesterday, who had suggested that it would provide the players with the chance to voice their concerns with Capello’s regime, but that doesn’t seem to have happened.
“That is John for you,” said Lampard, “he is a passionate man and a passionate player, but it was just an ordinary meeting.
The result against Algeria has left England’s World Cup participation hanging by a thread, and they must beat Slovenia in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday to stand any chance of progressing in the tournament, with many claiming that Capello should resign if England go out. Lampard, though, isn’t one of them.
“It seems to me the manager and [No.2] Franco Baldini have always been very approachable,” said the Chelsea midfielder.
“I've been lucky enough to work with some fantastic managers and Fabio Capello is right up there. I've really enjoyed working with him and, yes, I would like him to stay.
“He's a strong manager and his style is very strong but we respect him very much, have faith in him and have faith we'll win on Wednesday.”
With the mental state of the players on everyone’s minds at the moment, theories as to what is affecting them have been abound, with some even claiming that Terry’s assertion that Wayne Rooney and Joe Cole were the only men in the squad “capable of unlocking defences” would have offended some of his team-mates.
“I don't think players are that sensitive,” said an amused Lampard. “I wasn't knocking John's door down saying 'Do you think I can't unlock a defence?'.”
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