London, June 22 (IANS) England’s Frank Lampard has reposed his team’s faith in coach Fabio Capello after John Terry indicated there was unrest in the camp.
The star-studded English team face a must-win game against Slovenia to fancy chances of advancing to the knock-out stage of World Cup football.
England drew their matches with USA and Algeria and Capello has the bore the fury of fans and media back home.
Lampard attempted to repair any damage inflicted by the perceived aborted coup within the England camp by saying the players have complete faith in Capello before Wednesday’s decisive final group game against Slovenia.
Terry had suggested a scheduled team meeting Sunday night was to become an opportunity for disgruntled players to air their grievances. Lampard has defended Terry’s heartfelt approach, which has been effective at club level, but said the squad remain utterly supportive of Capello.
‘Fabio is a strong manager and we all respect him very much,’ Lampard was quoted as saying in The Guardian Tuesday.
‘I’ve been lucky enough to work with some fantastic managers and Fabio Capello is right up there. That’s from working personally with him and looking at his record. I respect that completely and I think a lot of people do.
‘He had authority the moment he walked into the job two years ago and continues to have that. The players have complete respect for him. We have faith in him. We have faith, too, that as a group we’ll go and win the game against Slovenia.
Lampard said England are confident of making it to the knock-out stage.
‘He has given us our confidence back. I know we didn’t play well the other night (against Algeria) but, if you look at the two-year period previously, you can see, from being very low, he’s given us confidence, discipline and made us into a compact team who can also hurt teams with the quality we have.’
Lampard offered Terry some sympathy after the defender saw his call for a clear-the-air meeting backfire so spectacularly – the defender was warned by a member of the coaching staff ahead of the get-together that it would be unwise to speak out – with his club-mate having apparently misread the level of support he commands within the squad.
