Euro 2016

'Wales is no one-man show'

Lallana says Welsh should be concerned about England's players in Battle of Britain

England manager Roy Hodgson has outlined his intention not to single out Wales' Gareth Bale to be man-marked, electing to get his players to focus on their own game instead. The Welsh forward started the mind games in the lead-up to the Group B clash, say
England manager Roy Hodgson has outlined his intention not to single out Wales' Gareth Bale to be man-marked, electing to get his players to focus on their own game instead. The Welsh forward started the mind games in the lead-up to the Group B clash, saying he wouldn't pick any English players ahead of his national team-mates. PHOTO: REUTERS

GROUP B

England v Wales Singtel TV Ch142 & StarHub Ch220, 8.50pm


CHANTILLY • England will not implement a man-marking plan aimed at nullifying Gareth Bale when they play Wales today and Roy Hodgson is increasingly inclined to field an unchanged side for the fixture at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens.

The manager was satisfied with most aspects of his side's performance against Russia last week when Wayne Rooney operated in midfield, despite England's efforts being checked by Vasili Berezutski's equaliser in stoppage time.

Bale's potential impact in a game the forward has labelled a derby more akin to a Premier League fixture has played a part in England's preparations, with the pre-tournament friendly against Portugal having been arranged in the hope it would pit the hosts against another of the world's elite forwards, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Those hopes were dashed by Real Madrid's participation in the Champions League final, after which the victorious Portuguese was granted time off to recover, thereby missing the match in London.

But, where Fabio Capello had assigned James Milner to shadow Bale in the teams' last meeting in qualifying for the European Championship five years ago - the midfielder was booked after 20 minutes for bringing down the Welshman as the hosts won 1-0 at Wembley - Hodgson will not follow suit.

  • State Of Play

  • RESULTS


    GROUP F
    Austria 0 Hungary 2
    Portugal 1 Iceland 1


    FIXTURES


    GROUP B
    8.50pm

    England v Wales


    GROUP C
    11.50pm

    Ukraine v Northern Ireland

    Tomorrow, 2.50am
    Germany v Poland


    All on Singtel TV Ch142 & StarHub Ch220

Rather, he will encourage his own players to impose themselves on the match in the belief they will gain greater reward than against the Russians in Marseille, while also acknowledging Bale will not be the sole threat from the Welsh ranks.

"I believe there's probably more talk about it than anything else," said Adam Lallana, who is likely to retain his own brief in England's attacking trident.

"We know we can't just focus on Gareth thinking that's how we'll win the game. Their second goal (against Slovakia) was Aaron Ramsey to Hal Robson-Kanu, and he slotted it in the bottom corner. Gareth wasn't involved.

"We need to know his qualities because they're a big part of Wales' strengths but we all watch the Real Madrid games on the television, so we don't need to sit there and be told exactly what run he makes every time. We're professional players.

"You've just got to be aware of their individual strengths. You don't want to leave your team too vulnerable on the counter-attack with players like Gareth Bale on the other team, given the qualities he has. But it's not a one-man show."

The former Fulham manager Kit Symons watched England in Marseille on Chris Coleman's behalf, with the Wales manager telling his players not to allow Rooney the time and space he initially enjoyed to dictate the play against Russia.

Yet, there is a belief within England's ranks their own key performers will rise to the occasion and eclipse Group B's early leaders.

"They'll definitely be thinking about our players," Lallana said.

"Anyone would, who is playing against us and looking at our squad.

THE GUARDIAN,AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 16, 2016, with the headline 'Wales is no one-man show'. Subscribe