Gareth Southgate: New England boss wants Liverpool’s Adam Lallana to lead Three Lions revolution with pressing play
Southgate finally lands England gig and believes his team will win over supporters with exciting brand of football
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GARETH SOUTHGATE hailed Adam Lallana as a cornerstone of his new England after being confirmed as manager on a 3½-year deal.
Southgate, 46, claims he wants a young team playing possession-based football with a high-pressing approach to winning the ball — a style exemplified by Liverpool star Lallana.
That casts further doubt on the long-term future of Wayne Rooney, who is likely to be replaced as captain before England’s next matches against Germany and Lithuania in March.
Southgate said: “We have a lot of players like Adam Lallana who, at their clubs, press extremely well.
“It’s a style of play that suits the young squad we have got really well. It’s definitely something we aim to do.
“And when you have players with Adam’s intelligence to carry out that tactic, that triggers off the pressing for the rest of the team.
“But anybody that has seen our Under-21s and junior teams play knows we want to dominate possession. To become a world-class team that’s what we have to do against the very best.”
Southgate had dinner with his England No 2 Steve Holland and pals in London last night to toast his £6.3million deal.
He has persuaded Holland to quit Chelsea at the end of the season to become his full-time assistant.
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The new manager is likely to play a straight bat to questions about Rooney at a Wembley press conference today.
But he is known to have held doubts over the Manchester United star’s position since before his stint as caretaker.