VIDEO: Pearce's German memories
Saturday, 26 June, 2010
Stuart Pearce looks back on his own personal history with Germany.
To view the exclusive interview with Stuart Pearce now, part one by clicking here and part two by clicking here.
England coach Stuart Pearce is one man who needs no reminding of previous clashes with Germany, having faced them in both the 1990 World Cup and Euro 96, and he feels the Three Lions are in good shape ahead of Sunday’s Second Round clash.
As something of an international competition veteran in both his playing days and as Head Coach of the Under-21 team, Pearce was always confident that England would progress through their Group C fixtures.
“It is only if you have been there as a player or a coach or a manager that you can understand what the players are going through,” he told FATV.
“Perhaps people were getting a little bit fidgety about our first two performances, but you have to put a level tilt on that and say there's nothing to panic about.
“I could say we've been there before, I've walked this road before, and it might be a case of passing on those little gems of wisdom on to the players of the next generation.
“I think we're buoyant at the moment. We're near enough at full strength and everyone is vying for a starting place.”
Victory against Slovenia last Wednesday secured England’s passage to the next phase, where they now meet Germany in Bloemfontein and Pearce believes there could be further improvement the longer the competition goes on for England.
“It was certainly an improvement of performance (against Slovenia), there's no doubt about that,” he added.
“Certainly in the Algeria game, we felt as a group that we didn't do ourselves justice. We really needed to put a performance on and win the game, and we did both.
“We feel as though there is still a lot of improvement to be made, but the one thing with these players is that they are prepared to roll their sleeves up and improve every session - obviously we've got a big game on Sunday now to look forward to.”
There won’t be any shortage of knowledge about the German team either, as Pearce’s Under-21 side faced a Germany team in the Final of last year’s European Championships which contained several of their current team in the line-up.
“From my point of view, my job at The FA is primarily as Under-21s manager, but to be here with the Seniors and work with the likes of Milner, Hart and Lennon who have come through is fantastic,” he said.
“The Germans have done that as well, bringing through five or six players to their squad from last summer, and a few of them are in their first team and doing particularly well.
“They are a good side, we knew that last summer in terms of the individuals we faced in the Under-21s. The likes of Ozil and Neuer have had an impact already, as well as one or two others.
“It will be an interesting game and certainly Germany have taken the right route in giving the youngsters their head and it's bearing fruit.”
To view the exclusive interview with Stuart Pearce now, part one by clicking here and part two by clicking here.