World Cup qual. - Parker: No Minsk misgivings for England

Eurosport - Wed, 15 Oct 18:51:00 2008

Former England defender Paul Parker thinks the World Cup qualifier in Belarus should hold no fears for Fabio Capello's side.

2008 England Wayne Rooney Frank Lampard - 0

"There was a time when trips to Eastern Europe used to be quite intimidating, but these places are a lot more refined nowadays.

A lot of people probably go on holiday to Minsk, and in any case the England players will be very well looked-after.

They will stay in the best hotel and take their own chef with them to make sure they get all the right food.

In any case, they have no chance to get out and about to explore the place, particularly with the intensity of modern media coverage.

I went to some fairly spartan places with England - Bucharest and Albania stick out - but it was never that bad and we didn't spend too much time thinking about it.

During my career I went to virtually every country in Europe except Luxembourg, and yet I never saw any of them.

I remember going to St Petersburg, or Leningrad as it was then, and spending the whole time in a hotel. That was quite typical.

When you're a footballer you have to save the sightseeing until you have stopped playing, although I don't think I'll be taking the family to Tirana any time soon!

I expect England to win against a potentially tricky Belarus side who are very unpredictable, having had some good and bad results.

There are doubts over Alexander Hleb, but who knows, maybe they would be more solid without him.

It seems that Fabio Capello is better at setting his sides up for away games.

His tactics are naturally quite patient and cautious, but there is too much pressure to play attacking football at Wembley.

All the talk has been about Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, but for me the one undroppable England midfielder is Gareth Barry.

He might not be glamorous, but he is one of those players that you only really notice when he isn't there.

We really saw that as England lost their way in the second half against Kazakhstan - conceding a goal and looking really chaotic at times - and I expect Barry to steady the ship tonight.

I think tactics had more to do with the poor performance against Kazakhstan than the crowd.

As a footballer, you get used to playing in all types of hostile atmosphere. I'm sure Ashley Cole would rather he didn't have his own fans booing him, but I don't think that can excuse England's sub-par display.

The reaction to that game shows you that the quality of the performance can be just as important as the result.

A 5-1 scoreline might look emphatic but people know that it flattered England, who didn't do the job properly and took until the last 10 minutes to carve through a side ranked 130 in the world.

Compare that with the ecstatic response to the win against Croatia, and it just shows you what a good display can do for your confidence."

Paul Parker was talking to Alex Chick / Eurosport

Comment 8 - 27 of 47

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  1. I hope the Englamd chef aint the same bloke Tottenham­ used last season at the Marriot! LMAO

    From stupot, on Wed 15 Oct 5:10PM

  2. It is a pity The then England manager didn't leave­ this jobsworthy in Albania!!!

    From Viva Espana, on Wed 15 Oct 4:54PM

  3. Art t you stupid nazi @#$%, arent you forgetting may­ 27th 2008?Germany two belarus two, Great come back­ belarus and an Excellent equaliser with just two­ minutes left in match Lol

    From khachaturian_0, on Wed 15 Oct 4:00PM

  4. I never liked him as a player. I also find him­ extremely annoying as any kind of journalist. He really­ should get himself a job in the game. At least then he­ may have some current excuse for running his overly­ critical mouth off.

    From Phil, on Wed 15 Oct 3:32PM

  5. Belarus isn't much of a holiday destination as it­ is essentially Europe's last remaining­ dictatorship. Not exactly the number one thing on the­ average holiday goer's list. Once again Paul Parker­ doesn't fail to dissapoint. Pity, I liked him as a­ a player.

    From Sam, on Wed 15 Oct 2:42PM

  6. Got a Sneaky suspicion hes going to start Becks on the­ the wing instead of Walcott!

    From waelwatfa, on Wed 15 Oct 2:24PM

  7. there si forgotten, almost forbidden word but it means­ to me more than any other. and that word my friend is­ ENGLAND.

    From nuritov, on Wed 15 Oct 2:21PM

  8. Good on ya art

    From brap999, on Wed 15 Oct 2:03PM

  9. haha be niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice haha

    From Dave S, on Wed 15 Oct 2:02PM

  10. does Paul Parker get paid for this, if so why?

    From martin, on Wed 15 Oct 1:45PM

  11. "didnt even read the article just clicked on this­ page to see what people were ssying about paul parker,­ surprisingly nothing too­ harsh.........yet"

    Hahaha ive done exactly the­ same. I like the abuse

    From danielwheatland, on Wed 15 Oct 1:00PM

  12. #14. Good on you ajmuckles :-)

    Shame you do not­ support Germany :-)

    #15 I think Mr Parker is agreeing­ with you in his third sentence :-)

    From art_tidesco, on Wed 15 Oct 12:27PM

  13. I know this ain't football-related, but Parker,­ you're a @#$% for writing off eastern europe as a­ destination. I drove across eastern europe and russia­ last year and had the absolute time of my life,­ returning to Romania with the wife last easter. Its­ packed to the brim with genuinely friendly and­ welcoming people, the food is great and best of all its­ as cheap as @#$%!!

    From JayR, on Wed 15 Oct 12:19PM

  14. COME ON ENGLAND!

    You have my support whether we play­ good or bad against Belarus or Brazil.

    That's why­ I call myself a "supporter"

    From Andrew, on Wed 15 Oct 12:10PM

  15. England were so rubbish in the second half they gave­ away a kommedy goal of course being jolly decent chaps­ Kazakhstan gave England one back. The only reason­ England won in the last ten minuets was because of­ superior fitness, nothing to do with skill :-)

    Spot on­ Mr Parker.

    Not so sure that Minsk is a destination of­ choice for Stag & Hen Parties yet cause Easy Jet­ have not yet cottoned on :-)

    If England do not come­ away with a 3 - 0 victory us Germans will be laughing­ our socks off :-)

    From art_tidesco, on Wed 15 Oct 12:06PM

  16. ITS THE RESULT THAT COUNTS, IF YOU PLAY @#$% AND­ WIN,GREAT, ALL WE NEED TO DO IS QUALIFY, AND SO FAR SO­ GOOD

    From barry473, on Wed 15 Oct 11:59AM

  17. It will be an interesting match tonight if Barry and­ Lampard pair in the middle and Fabio plays Gerrard on­ the left. I cant help wonder what the midfield would­ look like if Barry had gone to Anfield in the summer­ and made the Gerrard pairing work well that would­ surely have put Lampard in the temporary left slot and­ i dont think it would be a bad idea to try it either to­ see how it works as no one seems to fit that spot other­ than J Cole, i dont think Downing has ever bossed that­ area very well and delivered any strong memorable­ history of passes from there.

    Walcott will draw­ attention off the left side with run ins to commit­ defenders so a good time to try something different on­ the left.

    From john18iwish, on Wed 15 Oct 11:55AM

  18. didnt even read the article just clicked on this page­ to see what people were ssying about paul parker,­ surprisingly nothing too harsh.........yet

    From Dave S, on Wed 15 Oct 11:52AM

  19. Lost their way in the 2nd half!? Sure they conceded a­ sloppy goal which was just an Ashley Cole Error, but on­ the other hand they scored 5 in the second half,­ compared to 0 in the first half! Come on Mr Parker, if­ you're going to put your points of view across, at­ least make them sound half-intelligent and well­ constructed.

    From Ellis, on Wed 15 Oct 11:50AM

  20. I wish the moron filter would delete Paul Parker !

    From Rich, on Wed 15 Oct 11:49AM
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