captain o' my captain...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
KEANE BLASTS ENGLAND `EGOS`
Sunderland boss Roy Keane has slammed England's players following their
failure to qualify for Euro 2008. Croatia secured a deserved 3-2 victory
at Wembley on Wednesday evening, ensuring England miss out on next
summer's finals in Austria and Switzerland.
Steve McClaren has since been sacked as England boss, however Keane feels
the blame does not entirely lie with the manager. The former Manchester
United captain believes the squad is made up of too many egos, and is
adamant that the players should step-up and take some of the heavy
criticism.
"They certainly have the heart and the passion, but that only gets you so
far," he said.
"Technically you have got to be able to handle the ball. These top
countries who are constantly qualifying and winning tournaments have that.
"Having said that and if you look at some of the England players, they're
******* good players.
"But certainly if you look at some of the England players and the England
set-up, and to be from the outside looking in - just my opinion - there
are too many egos in there, too many big heads.
"If you get carried away with any little bit of success, then you're in
trouble.
"I look at the England set-up and they don't look a happy bunch, and
their body language sometimes isn't great. As good as they are players;
good players don't make good teams.
"Steve McClaren lost his job because he did not qualify, and that is fair
enough. But the players have got to take responsibility for their own
actions.
"I don't think international football is that important to a lot of the
players these days. Club football has taken over."
There is ongoing debate as to whether England's failings relate to the
lack of talent emerging at youth level.
Keane feels the correct measures are now in place, but admits the results
of the system are unlikely to surface for 'many, many years'.
"To be fair to the English FA, from the one or two courses I have been on,
I think they are working hard on that," he added.
"But you might not see the results of that for many, many years to come.
We always talk about patience in football, but with the English national
team - people don't have that patience."
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
