Hoddle: 'I Know 20 Of My 22'
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Saturday 23 May 1998
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 News 1 
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IT'S TWO CLOSE TO CALL
Hoddle Knows 20 Of His World Cup 22
THERE are only two seats still free on England's flight to France 98 and there are nine players fighting for them. Coach Glenn Hoddle says he knows 20 of the party that he will take to the World Cup, meaning this week's friendlies against Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Belgium will make or break the dreams of seven of the current 29-man squad.
''There's two spots where we've still got an either-or situation, depending on a couple of injuries,'' said Hoddle, whose job was made slightly easier yesterday when Jamie Redknapp pulled out. Skipper Alan Shearer, David Seaman, Tony Adams, Paul Gascoigne, Sol Campbell, Paul Ince, Teddy Sheringham, Graeme Le Saux, Gareth Southgate, David Beckham, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and David Batty have been certainties since the Switzerland friendly in March. In the past two months, Hoddle has probably added Michael Owen, Martin Keown, Phil Neville and two goalkeepers - probably Ian Walker and Nigel Martyn. And you can add Darren Anderton and - fitness permitting - Ian Wright to the list, too.
That leaves the likes of Les Ferdinand, Paul Merson, Steve McManaman, Rob Lee, Andy Hinchcliffe, Dion Dublin and Nicky Butt walking on egg shells until June 1 - decision day. Hoddle may have let something slip, though, when he ran through the list of those Liverpool's Redknapp had been battling for a place. He named Batty, Ince, Anderton, Beckham, Gascoigne, Lee and Butt but didn't mention Merson or McManaman.
''I'd be a liar if I said it wasn't a difficult task, one I'd rather do without, but it's got to be done and it isn't something I'm going to shy away from,'' he said. ''The hardest thing I ever did as a manager was to tell five kids at Swindon we weren't going to take them on - I'll never have to do something as hard as that again. I'll do it individually, that's how I'd have wanted it done myself and what I've always done when I've left players out, always try to pull them and explain why.''
Hoddle and his staff will watch out for any signs of nerves and anxiety among the players as the pressure mounts. If that happens you're taking your eye off the target, thinking more about yourself as an individual than the team, he said. That's the problem. But I don't see any rivalries yet, no feeling between the players. They just go and produce. They know that if they get the chance it's up to them to take it. We had an 11 against 11 game on Thursday and you'd have paid money to watch it, it was superb.
''Nobody can relax, because they don't know which ones they are, which group they fall in, but the focus has been excellent,'' he continued. You only had to look at Alan Shearer and David Seaman this week. They know they're going to be in the squad but they haven't relaxed one bit. Even the ones who know they're going to be in are lifting themselves. And if they're doing it, everybody else has to get on board.''
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HOPE SPURS FERDINAND ON
LES FERDINAND knows as well as anyone that his first season with Tottenham - just 22 starts and a mere five goals - was a flop, but a player many people think is lucky to even be in Glenn Hoddle's provisional squad of 30 believes he can still make it to France.
The Spurs target man, whose return to the side after injury helped turn their season around and save them from relegation, is convinced that good performances on the training ground and in the friendlies against Saudi Arabia (tomorrow), Morocco and Belgium over the next fortnight can make his problems earlier in the season academic.
The likely first-choice strike partnership of Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham are certainly ahead of him in Hoddle's pecking order, teenage star Michael Owen and Ian Wright are also probably in front of him in the queue, but Ferdinand is convinced that he has qualities none of the others possess.
"I'm good in the air, I've got pace and strength," he said. "It means I'm an alternative to anything else the manager has got. And I've proved I can play with Alan Shearer as well - after a long time when people were saying I couldn't! That might give me an edge - it depends on the manager. But we're a combination who've proved we can score goals together."
PHIL NEVILLE: ‘THIS
MEANS WORLD TO ME'
PHIL NEVILLE is one England player who isn't thinking about how much money he can make from France 98. As the dispute between players and FA over endorsements hit the headlines in the run-up to today's warm-up match against Saudi Arabia at Wembley, the Manchester United full back claimed: "I'd give up everything I have to go to the World Cup."
Neville says he has been working towards a place in England's final squad of 22 for the past year. To be one of the eight players dropped from the 30 names in the current party, following on from his first trophyless season at club level since breaking into the Old Trafford youth team, would be heartbreaking.
"Playing for England is the biggest thing in my life, and in the last year at United we've not just been training for the league programme, but also for the World Cup, the 21-year-old explained. I couldn't tell you what bonuses we collect for playing in the World Cup. I'm not bothered about them as long as I'm playing.
"People go on about how much players earn but, at my age, you just want to play. At present, things like that don't bother me as I'm not married and still live with my mum and dad. Some players in the squad who have already played in the World Cup say it's been the pinnacle of their lives, Stuart Pearce said he's achieved nothing better. It can never be taken away from you. I hope this summer will be the first of many World Cups. This is the biggest two months of my life and something I desperately want to be involved in, but first I must get there."
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CASH REBELS TOLD TO
FOCUS ON THE FOOTIE
FORMER England great Sir Tom Finney has told Glenn Hoddle's World Cup squad to forget about their row with the FA over endorsement money and focus their energies on their France 98 challenge.
With France 98 only three weeks away, a distracting dispute has blown up over whether players can use their status as England internationals in individual advertising deals. The squad and the FA cannot agree on the issue and it could even end up in court!
Preston North End legend Finney, who won 76 caps in the 1940s and 50s, says that if England do well in France, there'll be plenty of money to go around: When we played, the fact that you were playing for your country was sufficient. You never thought about the rest of it. I suppose today it has all changed completely - it seems to be about money first and foremost. I think you've got to produce the goods first before you start talking about what you're going to get out of it."
But Finney refused to blame his England successors for trying to make all the cash the can from a career that could be ended at any minute by a mistimed tackle. "It does seem a shame but, having said that, you can't blame the players if somebody comes along," he said, "I've got no problems about that whatsoever. If you've got a player like Alan Shearer, you can't blame him because if McDonald's come along and say they want him to do this, that and the other, he is entitled to negotiate whatever he can get for it. It's very sad, but I suppose the players look at it and think the FA are making a lot of money out of this and they should be part of it."
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