Dave Bassett says England’s disastrous Euro 2016 exit to minnows Iceland was down to celebs shirking training-ground basics
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ENGLAND’S celebrity flops were outworked, out-muscled and knocked out of Euro 2016 by a hungrier group of part-timers, according to former Wimbledon boss Dave Bassett.
And the legendary ex-Dons boss, who guided the club from non-league to the top flight, now fears player power fuelled by silly wages will wreck any chance of redemption.
The Crazy Gang commander fears, while the pampered Premier Leaguers were lugging about a stuffed toy and smooching their WAGS, the Nordic minnows were doing the ugly work on the training ground that got them through to the quarter-finals.
The ex-Sheffield United and Leicester man had to sit and watch the Three Lions cubs get scorched by the experience, strength, dedication and desire pouring out of the Viking warriors.
And he fears any hopes of England winning another major tournament are rapidly dwindling as the power placed in the careless hand of giggling players and cash-grabbing agents destroys any hard work managers try to do on the training ground.
The veteran of seven football league promotions said: “I wasn’t surprised because I know the people at Iceland, they are very organised and they know what they’re doing.
“They reminded me of a mini-Wimbledon in a way, in what they did.
"They kept the same side, they were organised, they didn’t take chances, that didn’t play silly square balls.
“They defended well and are an organised team. And in attack they have set-pieces and the long throw.
“We live in these celebrity-obsessed days when we build people up so much and then they start to think they’re better than they are and it’s all about them.
“So it was refreshing to see Iceland doing it for the sake of the team. They knew what they were doing and you could see they were more organised.
“The players get away with murder because of money and everything else. The players dictate everything.
“Iceland would have trained an awful lot harder than England on defending and attacking set-plays and the basics because they haven’t got Billy Big-Times.
“A lot of these coaches and managers are frightened of spending a lot of time on set-pieces and boring the stars.
“Then when they play against good sides who do the work, they can’t handle it. Look at West Brom, with Tony Pulis, he isn’t bothered about boring players and they stay in the Premier League every season on set-pieces.
“It’s boring work that takes time and you have fitness coaches moaning about players standing, it’s all nonsense. Iceland’s win hasn’t happened by luck, they have prepared with hard work.
“Once players get bored, they tell their agents, it gets out the manager has lost the dressing room and the next thing the manager gets the sack because he has asked them to concentrate and pay more attention to set-plays.
“Around 20 per cent of World Cup goals are scored by set-plays. Gareth Bale scoring free-kicks, Iceland scoring set-plays. England have no one who can take a corner.
“Harry Kane’s free-kicks were appalling. They have no one who can take a corner in that team. That’s embarrassing.
“They might have wanted it but if they wanted it 80 per cent then Iceland wanted it 100 per cent. I am not saying they didn’t want it, of course they did.
“But Iceland are all older players – even if it wasn’t at the top level – they are more experienced and they were well drilled and a team.
“I am sure they haven’t played Roy up. I bet they’ve been fantastic in training but there was not enough experience, no leaders and there are some days when you can tell that one team has more desire.”
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England’s sulking squad will slink back into the country on Tuesday and quickly jet off on holidays to sweet spots like Dubai, Marbella and Las Vegas before pre-season training starts.
Thankfully for them the heroics of Wales and, hopefully Andy Murray, will soon erase the memory of their latest embarrassment.
But Bassett thinks fans need to remember this nadir and realise that – while there are some promising talents like Dele Alli and Eric Dier emerging - the so-called world-class stars are not in the same galaxy as the real top talents.
He said: “Alli has had one season in the Premier League, Dier too. It was a young squad and it showed against Russia when they couldn’t see the game out.
“With all due respect, if Wayne Rooney is world-class at the moment then I’m going for the James Bond job. He’s not what he was.
“Just because these players play in the Premier League they think they have it. And when it comes to tournaments their records are abysmal.
“They played Daniel Sturridge wide right, when that is not his position.
“And suddenly - just because Louis van Gaal, who spend £250m on United and took them to FIFTH, says Rooney is a midfielder – England play him there.
“Rooney is not a midfielder, who is kidding who? He’s a forward and if he isn’t good enough in that position then you leave him out. He was brilliant when he was young but he is a shadow of that.
“For me, Wayne Rooney’s international career is over. What is the point? Did he look world-class like Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi or Andres Iniesta? He was world-class. I loved him at 17-18. I saw Duncan Edwards and he was up there with him. Sadly he’s an average Premier League footballer now.
“Is Joe Hart world-class? Gianluigi Buffon and David de Gea are world-class, if he isn’t as good as them then he isn’t world-class.
“Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane and Alli, they are not seasoned internationals who can get hold of the game. But this is nothing new. A lot of them probably can’t cope with playing for England.”
Bassett is tired of hearing FA buzz-words like ethos and identity spilling from the mouths of people who have no experience of winning football matches.
And, while he readily admits he might be seen as a dinosaur in the current game, he fears the pragmatic approach that could make England harder to beat is being lost as the Premier League gets richer and England fans get poorer.
He added: “There are so many coaches, managers, ex-players going around telling the world how football should be paid and they are always the ones who haven’t won anything. Who has decided what the right way to play is?
“You got to get hold of the players. You pick your team, and if they aren’t going to do what you tell them to do then you get rid of them. Simple as that. It’s not that hard.
“If you have a so-called celebrity that does the business then that’s fine but when they are falling short and not doing what they’re told you get rid.
“There are too many people listening to what players and their agents want, instead of putting their trust in the manager. George Graham always said: ‘Directors direct, managers manage and players play’. It’s simple.”
