England boss Sam Allardyce wants Three Lions to show their flair under his command with the help of Take Me Out star Paddy McGuinness
LET the passion see the skill.
That was Sam Allardyce’s catchphrase as the England head coach took his first training session in charge of the national side.
Off the field there are plans for Take Me Out host and Bolton fan Paddy McGuinness to be a quiz-master one night to help pass the time at St George’s Park.
Already, it is no likey, no lighty for some.
Big Sam has discarded some of the brightest talents — Marcus Rashford, Ross Barkley and Jack Wilshere — in English football.
Instead he will shine a torch on the 23 names he has picked for Sunday’s World Cup qualifier in Slovakia.
He wants an identity, a clear way of playing for England.
Big Sam said: “For me it is about the players showing not just how passionate they are, but how skilful they are at international level.
“We were the youngest squad at the Euros.
“The experience they gained in that tournament will give them a better determination next time round.”
There is further scrutiny on Allardyce’s approach because of the success of Britain’s athletes at this summer’s Olympics in Brazil where they won a record 67 medals.
Jessica Ennis-Hill, Mo Farah and Jason Kenny could all live with the pressure of performing on a world stage. For some reason England’s football players fall to pieces when they face the same problems.
Allardyce added: “We all come under scrutiny in football terms, particularly after the Olympics, about what is our identity.
“The Olympians have got great credit for what they’ve done and achieved again. They’ve won medals away from home, more than ever before. So what do we take from that to make our identity?
“They are different sports. We live in a different environment, a pressure environment.”
For now, everything is nicey, nicey around the England camp.
People are opening doors for each other, there are smiling faces and everybody is on message for the country’s happy head coach.
St George’s Park has had a lick of paint and some soft furnishing has been introduced to lighten the mood around a complex that has the feel of a deluxe Travelodge.
The players get a day off on Thursday but Allardyce has made it clear the WAGs will not be welcome around the place at any point.
Elsewhere, the motivational messages like ‘the journey begins here’ are aesthetic improvements, nothing else.
The big stuff takes place on the pitch. It begins on Sunday, when England play their opening group game in Slovakia.
Allardyce added: “At the very least we need to come back with a result.
“I didn’t watch Slovakia-England from the Euros again because they will use different tactics at home.
“They only needed a point at the Euros so they sat back and chose not to attack.”
Slovakia are an ordinary outfit but their late winner over Spain in the Euro 2016 qualifiers has been noted by Allardyce.
Believe it or not, beating England would be another scalp.
Allardyce is trying to change the culture of English football and he has been sticking his beak into every area of the FA since his appointment in July. He was actively involved in the conversations that took place over the potential recruitment of the Sevilla midfielder Steven N’Zonzi for the national team.
Despite being born in France and playing for their Under-21s, N’Zonzi believed he would qualify to play for England under the residency rules.
It is a sort of Diego Costa — born in Brazil but representing Spain — situation. In the end, the former Stoke man’s caps ruled him out.
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Allardyce added: “The balance is quite difficult. Do you pick the best squad to win the World Cup and if one or two of those are like N’Zonzi do you do it, or don’t you?
“Cricket do it don’t they? Rugby do it, athletics do it.
“It’s not happening anyway so we can cover that again if it does.
“We have a department to look at all areas for every international team.
“It happens in all other countries. And with the shortage of English players in the Premier League, I think it is only 31 per cent . . .
“I’ll have to see if I actually do it one day and how it’s perceived across the nation. If he goes out and scores the winner will it be that bad?”
The nation will accept anything these days, but Allardyce knows it will not be easy to restore public confidence.
Convincing the players is another issue.
There was another addition yesterday when Arsenal fitness coach Takahiro Yamamoto was appointed to the national set-up.
He will not be the last.
Allardyce, who worked with the muscle expert at both Bolton and West Ham, added: “You can talk about coaching and tactics but I want to lead the team on and off the field.
“The off-the-field team has a massive responsibility.
“I don’t know them that well yet, but their responsibility is to give the players all the physical, technical, tactical and mental capabilities to cope with what’s coming their way.
“That’s the big challenge, the greatest challenge of all for me.
“Having conquered — if you like — the Premier League for so long with so many different clubs, this challenge is much wider.
“We want to have fun — we want to have a bit of fun.”
If you really want fun Sam, there’s always Fernando’s . . .