Posts Tagged ‘Ashley Cole’
Fabio Capello warns England players to keep private lives under control
• England manager says good behaviour is paramount
• Steven Gerrard says squad will follow Capello instructions
Fabio Capello has warned his England players that they must make sacrifices off the pitch over the next three months to avoid any repeat of the recent controversies that have threatened to deflect the national team’s attention from this summer’s World Cup finals.
The Italian pinpointed the wealth lavished on young players in the modern game as the root of the problems which have flared up too often to wreck the reputations of the likes of Ashley Cole and John Terry, his deposed captain, over the past month.
The England manager will seek evidence that standards have not slipped on the pitch against Egypt this evening having reminded his squad of their wider responsibilities with the team’s first game in the World Cup, against the United States, only 100 days away.
“The private life is a big problem for some players, but also a big problem for their clubs and, in the end, for me,” said Capello. “It’ll be really important that the players, in this last period [before the World Cup], are careful in their own private lives at every moment. These are important players and they have to be an example to the children and all the fans. For that reason, they have to stay careful and sacrifice something in their lives.”
Asked whether he was being unrealistic by expecting players not to give in to temptation off the pitch, the England coach said: “Why? We hope not, no. I remember in Spain, players would go to the disco and sometimes drink something, but they did not have big problems with different players, different girls, different women. These are young players, young boys, but rich boys… this is the problem.
“It’s not only here that it is a problem. In Italy, in Germany, in Spain – in every country where football is so important, like it is here – it’s the same problem. But I think the next three months will be OK for all my players.”
The ruthless sacking of Terry proved that Capello does not merely deliver empty threats, as the players acknowledged following his warning before training on Monday. “All the players take it as read what the manager says,” said Steven Gerrard, who will captain the side tonight for the first time in two years. “We understand what he wants from us. We listen and take note.
“The manager’s talk was short and sweet and told us to focus on the football. He reiterated that we have responsibilities as players both on and off the pitch. We are in the spotlight but we’ve got to behave. Everyone is aware of that. The manager has taken the decision to take the captaincy off John. It’s a tough job being the England manager and you’ve got to make big decisions. He’s done that and we all follow.”
Terry will start this evening’s match against the Africa Cup of Nations winners, the first of three friendlies before England begin their World Cup campaign in Rustenburg on 12 June, with Capello urging the Wembley crowd not to barrack the former captain.
The Italian, who will name his provisional squad for the finals on 11 May, insisted he was unperturbed by the recent uncharacteristic errors that have crept into the Chelsea centre-half’s game, mistakes that led to goals for Everton, Internazionale and Manchester City most notably.
The England coach is expected to speak with Terry individually before kick-off tonight, the pair’s first tête-à-tête since their 12-minute meeting at Wembley last month during which the defender was relieved of his duties. “Usually, I speak with a lot of players individually,” said Capello. “His training has been really good, and his form is without problems.”
The Italian added that he still hopes City’s Wayne Bridge will reconsider his decision to retire from international football ahead of the finals, but expressed some concern over the continued absence of his new permanent captain, Rio Ferdinand, who is recovering from yet another back injury.
“I went to Manchester and met him, and spoke with Sir Alex [Ferguson] and I know what’s happened,” said Capello. “I spoke with [the United chief executive] David Gill at Wembley and he told me it’s not the same problem. He told me this. I don’t know. I hope he will be fit in a short time because he needs to play. Only when you play games can you find good form.”
Capello will finalise his selection today but is moving towards reinstating Rob Green in goal and offering Leighton Baines a debut at left-back in the absence of the injured Ashley Cole. Theo Walcott, who has not played for his country all season, will earn a ninth cap with Capello having taken the Arsenal winger to one side to pep his confidence and urge him to position himself wide on the touchline against Egypt tonight.
Gerrard added: “This game is a fantastic opportunity to show the fans and everyone around the world that we’re still united, we’re still one, we’re still a strong team and we’ve got a very good chance come the summer.”
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Wayne Bridge reaction: ‘He is thinking he can’t work with Terry again’
• Keown: ‘I think he’s made the decision too soon’
• Mills: Egypt friendly now ‘very, very important’
Martin Keown (Former Arsenal and England defender)
“I think it’s the pressure of a culmination of things. They meet each other at the weekend [when Chelsea play City], and then there’s the Egypt squad to be announced, but he’s made the decision for me too quickly.
“Ashley Cole has got a lot of trauma of his own with his injury and will he be fit for the World Cup? All of a sudden Wayne Bridge decides he won’t make himself available. There’s a lot of healing for Wayne Bridge to do and I think he’s made the decision too soon.
“I would like to see Wayne Bridge in there and I’m not prepared to give up on him yet. Could Capello in some way get them together and say: ‘Here, let’s be professional’?
“They would have wanted an indication from him, they made a sacrifice with John Terry very publicly losing his position and they would have wanted an indication from the player that he wanted to be part of it. What you’re going to get if Ashley Cole is fit, you’re going to have Wayne Bridge on the fringes of the squad, moping around because he’s not playing, and he’s got this other issue to deal with. But we don’t know if Ashley Cole is going to play yet.
“But there’s also a professional aspect here because he [Bridge] should have an overriding ambition to win the World Cup.”
“I fully understand if you feel that level of emotion and you’re not able to deal with that. He’s feeling like he’s got a lot on his shoulders and he’s made a decision that suits him, but I think he made the decision too soon and should be given more time.”
Nigel Winterburn (Former Arsenal and England full-back)
“I’m absolutely amazed. He’s a terrific player. It’s an honour and a privilege to play professional football and for your country and I can just imagine how strongly he must be feeling to do this. But the attention would not be on football and I think Bridge is obviously thinking he can’t work with John Terry again.
“If that’s the way he feels then rather than having tensions around the England camp, you have to pick someone else. I commend him for what he’s done. On the flip side it may be a good thing because you don’t want tensions around the England squad.”
“Any top player wants to pit himself against the best in world and go to the biggest stage of all, which is the World Cup, and to rule yourself out of that is amazing and just shows the feeling he must have. I am shocked but in the long run maybe it’s the best thing for England. You won’t have the tension and media scrum every time England plays. All the focus would have been on John Terry and Bridge and now that’s all gone and can focus on the World Cup.
“I don’t think he will come back if John Terry is any part of England squad and there’s no way Terry is not going to be picked for the England squad, so for the foreseeable future and maybe the rest of his career Bridge has ruled himself out.”
“We’ve got Stephen Warnock, Leighton Baines, Ashley Cole if he’s fit. We have terrific left-backs and I don’t see it as a problem. In my opinion we have two players who can fill that role. Cole is best left-back for England and possibly the world so it will be hard to fill his shoes but we have players who can come in. We’re pretty strong in that area.”
Danny Mills (Former Manchester City and England defender)
“Fortunately, it’s all hypothetical and until we are faced with that situation we all like to say we would do this or do that, but until we get down to having to make that decision, I don’t think we can judge. We have to respect Wayne and his decision. It’s been difficult, it hasn’t been easy but he’s made that decision now and it’s something everyone has to get on with.
“At the moment it leaves [Capello] with no left-backs, no tried and tested left-backs, and that causes a slight problem. Ashley Cole, if all being well and his recovery time is as quick as we think it might be, he might make it back for the end of the season, but it won’t take an awful lot of that to be delayed slightly and for him to miss out too, so that makes this friendly and the next few England games very, very important.”
“I think that’s the media hype, the expectations, the country gets so excited when England are playing in a big tournament like the World Cup and that’s always going to be the case. At club level you always have one or two injuries or issues but with the national squad it gets magnified. Every country will be the same, they will all have problems, it’s just how you cope with them, how you deal with them.”
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Wayne Bridge reaction: ‘He is obviously thinking he can’t work with Terry again’
• Winterburn: ‘I commend him for what he’s done’
• Mills: Egypt friendly now ‘very, very important’
Nigel Winterburn (Former Arsenal and England full-back)
“I’m absolutely amazed. He’s a terrific player. It’s an honour and a privilege to play professional football and for your country and I can just imagine how strongly he must be feeling to do this. But the attention would not be on football and I think Bridge is obviously thinking he can’t work with John Terry again.
“If that’s the way he feels then rather than having tensions around the England camp, you have to pick someone else. I commend him for what he’s done. On the flip side it may be a good thing because you don’t want tensions around the England squad.”
“Any top player wants to pit himself against the best in world and go to the biggest stage of all, which is the World Cup, and to rule yourself out of that is amazing and just shows the feeling he must have. I am shocked but in the long run maybe it’s the best thing for England. You won’t have the tension and media scrum every time England plays. All the focus would have been on John Terry and Bridge and now that’s all gone and can focus on the World Cup.
“I don’t think he will come back if John Terry is any part of England squad and there’s no way Terry is not going to be picked for the England squad, so for the foreseeable future and maybe the rest of his career Bridge has ruled himself out.”
“We’ve got Stephen Warnock, Leighton Baines, Ashley Cole if he’s fit. We have terrific left-backs and I don’t see it as a problem. In my opinion we have two players who can fill that role. Cole is best left-back for England and possibly the world so it will be hard to fill his shoes but we have players who can come in. We’re pretty strong in that area.”
Danny Mills (Former Manchester City and England defender)
“Fortunately, it’s all hypothetical and until we are faced with that situation we all like to say we would do this or do that, but until we get down to having to make that decision, I don’t think we can judge. We have to respect Wayne and his decision. It’s been difficult, it hasn’t been easy but he’s made that decision now and it’s something everyone has to get on with.
“At the moment it leaves [Capello] with no left-backs, no tried and tested left-backs, and that causes a slight problem. Ashley Cole, if all being well and his recovery time is as quick as we think it might be, he might make it back for the end of the season, but it won’t take an awful lot of that to be delayed slightly and for him to miss out too, so that makes this friendly and the next few England games very, very important.”
“I think that’s the media hype, the expectations, the country gets so excited when England are playing in a big tournament like the World Cup and that’s always going to be the case. At club level you always have one or two injuries or issues but with the national squad it gets magnified. Every country will be the same, they will all have problems, it’s just how you cope with them, how you deal with them.”
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Wayne Bridge reaction: ‘He is obviously thinking he can’t work with Terry again’
• Winterburn: ‘I commend him for what he’s done’
• Mills: Egypt friendly now ‘very, very important’
Nigel Winterburn (Former Arsenal and England full-back)
“I’m absolutely amazed. He’s a terrific player. It’s an honour and a privilege to play professional football and for your country and I can just imagine how strongly he must be feeling to do this. But the attention would not be on football and I think Bridge is obviously thinking he can’t work with John Terry again.
“If that’s the way he feels then rather than having tensions around the England camp, you have to pick someone else. I commend him for what he’s done. On the flip side it may be a good thing because you don’t want tensions around the England squad.”
“Any top player wants to pit himself against the best in world and go to the biggest stage of all, which is the World Cup, and to rule yourself out of that is amazing and just shows the feeling he must have. I am shocked but in the long run maybe it’s the best thing for England. You won’t have the tension and media scrum every time England plays. All the focus would have been on John Terry and Bridge and now that’s all gone and can focus on the World Cup.
“I don’t think he will come back if John Terry is any part of England squad and there’s no way Terry is not going to be picked for the England squad, so for the foreseeable future and maybe the rest of his career Bridge has ruled himself out.”
“We’ve got Stephen Warnock, Leighton Baines, Ashley Cole if he’s fit. We have terrific left-backs and I don’t see it as a problem. In my opinion we have two players who can fill that role. Cole is best left-back for England and possibly the world so it will be hard to fill his shoes but we have players who can come in. We’re pretty strong in that area.”
Danny Mills (Former Manchester City and England defender)
“Fortunately, it’s all hypothetical and until we are faced with that situation we all like to say we would do this or do that, but until we get down to having to make that decision, I don’t think we can judge. We have to respect Wayne and his decision. It’s been difficult, it hasn’t been easy but he’s made that decision now and it’s something everyone has to get on with.
“At the moment it leaves [Capello] with no left-backs, no tried and tested left-backs, and that causes a slight problem. Ashley Cole, if all being well and his recovery time is as quick as we think it might be, he might make it back for the end of the season, but it won’t take an awful lot of that to be delayed slightly and for him to miss out too, so that makes this friendly and the next few England games very, very important.”
“I think that’s the media hype, the expectations, the country gets so excited when England are playing in a big tournament like the World Cup and that’s always going to be the case. At club level you always have one or two injuries or issues but with the national squad it gets magnified. Every country will be the same, they will all have problems, it’s just how you cope with them, how you deal with them.”
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‘Devastated’ Wayne Bridge may snub World Cup to avoid John Terry
• Threat of no handshake with Chelsea captain on Saturday
• Left-back said to be ‘in bits’ and could forgo World Cup
Wayne Bridge is so “devastated” by the scandal surrounding his former Chelsea team-mate John Terry he does not know whether he will even be able to shake hands with him when they play against each other this weekend. Bridge is considering pulling out of England’s World Cup plans because he cannot bear the thought of spending so long with a man he now regards as a sworn enemy.
Bridge has been described as “in bits” by close acquaintances after the revelation of Terry’s affair with his former partner, Vanessa Perroncel, and the Manchester City left-back is sufficiently aggrieved to consider snubbing Terry in the official line-up before the teams meet at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. The former Chelsea player feels irreparable damage has been caused to his relationship with someone he once considered a trustworthy friend. His team-mates at City, as well as his representatives and other friends, have urged him to put on a dignified front but Bridge has told them that he is not certain whether he will be able to in what promises to be an unforgiving atmosphere.
The tensions have obvious ramifications for Fabio Capello ahead of a World Cup in which Bridge could conceivably line up alongside Terry in defence in the wake of Ashley Cole fracturing his ankle. England play Egypt in a friendly on Wednesday and Bridge is said to be “unsure” as yet whether he can actually bring himself to join up with the national squad if it means being in close proximity to Terry.
“People have been trying to persuade him to shake Terry’s hand, even if he doesn’t want to, because the alternative is that he loses some of the moral high ground,” said a source close to the player last night. “But the fact is he simply thinks he cannot go through with it or that he would be lying to himself if he pretended everything was OK.”
The source added: “He doesn’t want to give up the chance of going to a World Cup but the simple fact is that the last few weeks have torn him apart. He is genuinely devastated and he is in that bad a state of mind he doesn’t know whether he wants to go [to South Africa], especially if Ashley Cole is fit again and it means he will spend four or five weeks not even getting into the team.”
Bridge is not a naturally confrontational person and it is understood there has been no contact between him and Terry since the tabloid revelations that led to Capello stripping the Chelsea player of England’s captaincy.
Capello has said Bridge will be included when he names his squad on Saturday for the Egypt friendly and the sense of those closest to the player is that he does not want to walk away from the chance of replacing Cole. However, it has been stressed that there are no guarantees while Bridge feels so strongly.
At the very least, it seems likely that Capello will have to tackle the issue if the two players are to be expected to form half of England’s defence but, as yet, the Italian has not contacted either Bridge or his representatives. Capello spoke briefly to Roberto Mancini, City’s manager, after watching them play Stoke City at Eastlands two weekends ago but Bridge was mentioned only in passing.
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Will tabloid gossip about players affect England’s 2018 World Cup bid?
Is the constant drip-drip of rumour surrounding players like John Terry and Ashley Cole scuppering England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup?
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World Cup plans rocked by Cole injury
Fabio Capello is facing his first serious injury problem as England coach with the World Cup just four months away after Ashley Cole was ruled out for the rest of the season with a broken ankle.
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England’s World Cup plans rocked by Cole’s broken ankle
Fabio Capello is facing his first serious injury problem as England coach with the World Cup just four months away after Ashley Cole was ruled out for the rest of the season with a broken ankle.
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Poll: Who should play at left-back for England in the World Cup?
Would an unfit Ashley Cole still be the best option for England, or should Fabio Capello select a less experienced defender?
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Chelsea’s Frank Lampard fears long lay-off after flying home hurt
• Midfielder tears thigh muscle in England training
• Settled Rooney plans new contract talks at United
Chelsea will tomorrow seek to ascertain the full extent of a thigh injury sustained by Frank Lampard after the England midfielder returned prematurely from Qatar amid fears that he could be sidelined until Christmas.
Lampard suffered a tear to the outside thigh muscle of his left leg today while training for Saturday’s friendly against Brazil and underwent a scan in Doha. That confirmed the damage and, after the Football Association explained the situation to Chelsea’s medical department, the 31-year-old was released back into the care of the Premier League club and flew back to London.
The FA medical staff’s initial assessment had suggested Lampard might be ruled out for a few weeks, though there are fears within the player’s camp that the injury will prove more serious. They are concerned that he may have suffered a problem similar to the ones which ruled him out for more than a month on two occasions in the second half of 2007.
Chelsea have indicated that they would assess the extent of the problem when the midfielder reports back to Cobham. With Ashley Cole recovering from a depressed fracture of a tibia, there is anxiety at the prospect of losing another senior player.
Lampard is certainly out of Chelsea’s next game at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on 21 November. More distressing for the league leaders would be to lose the midfielder for a prolonged length of time, with awkward trips to Porto, where the Londoners will effectively contest the leadership of their Champions League qualification group, Arsenal and Manchester City to come in the next month.
The injury will focus attention further on the decision to undertake the friendly in Qatar – albeit within a Fifa-defined international window – after Premier League managers had expressed concern over the timing of the fixture. Lampard’s absence would be all the more frustrating for Chelsea given that he has recently returned to his most potent form, scoring four goals in his last five games. The 31-year-old is not used to suffering lengthy injuries – he holds the record for an outfielder of 164 consecutive Premier League appearances – and would be sorely missed.
England, too, will be frustrated at his departure given that Capello has effectively been left with only three regular starters – John Terry, Wayne Rooney and Gareth Barry – to compete against the five-times World Cup winners, a reality which also casts some doubt over the relevance of the friendly. Rooney will feature and expects to begin negotiations over a new contract at Manchester United in the new year, having publicly expressed a desire to see out his career with them.
The 24-year-old placed the onus very much on the United hierarchy to resist any potential attempt by Spanish clubs, primarily Barcelona and Real Madrid, to lure the forward to La Liga. Rooney’s representative, Paul Stretford, is currently banned from working as an agent having been found guilty of misconduct in his initial acquisition of Rooney’s signature when he was an Everton player, but is able to operate again as of February, when Rooney anticipates talks will open with the club’s chief executive, David Gill. “I’ve got two years left after this year so I’m sure we’ll be negotiating a new deal in the next few months,” he said. “It’s nice to be noticed but I’ve said before I’m really happy at United. Unless they tell me otherwise, I can’t see myself leaving. I love the place. It’s 30 minutes from home and all my family and I’ve got a great chance of winning trophies.”
Any bid for Rooney would at the very least match the £80m generated by the summer sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid. In that respect, United’s ability to resist any interest from Spain and tie the forward down to new terms would also serve to ease any concerns over the financial viability of the heavily indebted Glazer regime.
Rooney made his initial impact with Everton, the club he had supported as a child and has continued to excel since moving to Old Trafford after Euro 2004. “It’s a massive club,” he said. “Although I was an Everton fan, I loved watching United play and they won a lot of trophies. I probably started from the 1994-95 season and [Eric] Cantona was brilliant.
“You looked at him and he was fearsome, and that was just on the television. Imagine playing against him.”
That admiration of Cantona is surpassed by the esteem in which the forward holds Sir Alex Ferguson. “It’s the trophies he’s won, first of all,” added Rooney. “And the type of football he wants you to play. He wants you playing attacking football all the time. Sometimes you feel you can’t do it, but he keeps you going. He has that hunger. At his age, he still wants to win all the time. That’s incredible to see.
