Lampard sees much improved England

September 8, 2009

England are preparing for Wednesdays match against Croatia at Wembley where a win would seal qualification for the 2010 World Cup and he has said how much more confident the current England squad are in compariosn ot the England side that met Croatia in the qualification for Euro 2008.

“You would have to be a fool not to see how much the team has gone on from that point two years ago,” said Lampard.

“That was a low point in all of our careers and in England’s recent history.

“It was a team of very good individuals who were very low on confidence, on that night and also in other parts of the competition at certain times.

“Now we have got a lot more confidence, we have moved on a great deal as a team, although not as far as we want to go yet.

“It was horrible to go out of a major tournament in front of your own fans. It scars you as a player.

“We all carried that around for many weeks and it hit us again when you watched in the summer and we were not involved.

“We want to try and make sure we get through on Wednesday night but, if we don’t manage it then, then we have to focus on the next game and try and make sure we achieve it then.”

Bilic has claimed that Capello’s side is flawed and missing a certain ‘Englishness’ in their mentality but Lampard feels his former West Ham team-mate is playing mind games to motivate his own team.

The Chelsea star said: “I know Slaven from playing with him a few years back. I don’t take any real notice of that one way or the other.

“It is probably a few words to fire up his own team a bit, to get them going. It all adds to the spice of a big game.”

But Lampard’s international team-mate Matthew Upson has expressed concern about the condition of the Wembley pitch which was relaid over the summer.

“You could tell that it looked like it had been quite freshly laid,” he told BBC Radio 5 live.

“It probably isn’t the ideal surface to play off, but it’s quite a quick surface. The ball is like a bar of soap at times and it’s hard to get the ball down and pass it, but it is the same for both teams.

“It’s fair to say the pitch could improve slightly.”

Upson also insisted that his West Ham teammate Robert Green deserves the chance to prove he is England’s number one keeper.

Green started in Saturday’s win over Slovenia with David James suffering from bone bruising and Upson says he has the perfect opportunity to keep his place.

“He’s worthy of the opportunity to keep the shirt and then it is down to him,” he added.

“I think he has done enough to show he is capable of doing a good job at that level and he should continue to be given that opportunity to prove he can do the business.”

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