Q You could be asked to play left-back, right-back or in the middle. Does that faze you?
A "No, not really. There may be a few options open to the manager and hopefully I’m one of them. It’s a team thing and the main thing is to get to the World Cup. We’re all desperate to play but only eleven can play and I’m just hoping that when the manager picks the team on Saturday I’m in it.
"But the main thing is the team and to get to the World Cup. To get three points out of a possible six last time was disappointing, the minimum we expected was four. But it’s still in our own hands, we know what we’ve got to do and I think we can do it.
Q Do you think your versatility can help you?
A "It’s always helped me. People say it goes against me but in my experience at Liverpool it’s always helped me whether I’m in the team or not. It’s always an option that I can be on the bench and that I can get an extra cap out of certain situations and hopefully this time it will happen again."
Q What are your first impressions of Peter Crouch?
A "His overall play and link-up play at Liverpool has been outstanding since he’s been there. I feel a little sorry for him that he’s had to play on his own up front because he always seems to have his back to goal and the way we’ve played is that there’s no-one going beyond him. It hasn’t helped him in terms of getting into goalscoring positions. His actual general play has been outstanding. It isn’t as if he’s been missing chances because we haven’t created anything for him to be honest. He created a great bit of skill against Chelsea on Sunday, the one real chance he did have, he took it on his chest, flicked it over Carvalho but it wouldn’t come down and John Terry came over, again, and made a great challenge. I’m sure if he gets his chance he won’t let anyone down because everyone at Liverpool is very impressed with him. Hopefully he can get his first goal."
Q He did play well with Michael against Colombia?
A "I think he created one of Michael’s goals. Coming into the international set up is a step-up for him but coming to Liverpool was a ste-up and he’s settled in great.
Q What was going on with you and Frank at Liverpool on Saturday?
A "I know Frank, I roomed with Frank with the Under 21s for two or three years and we’ve got a great relationship. It was just a bit of banter. I had a little bet and I’ve paid him!"
Q When you get together with England clubs are forgotten?
A "Oh yes, of course. When we come together here we’re all together and all for England. The main aim is to get to the World Cup. We all play against each other for our clubs, not just Liverpool v Chelsea but Arsenal and Man United, these are all massive games. But then we come here and want to get results. Everything is put to one side to get our country to the World Cup."
Q It doesn’t take much to get up for the games when the World Cup is at stake?
A "No. It’s an England match. There’s a bit of an edge because it’s very close to the World Cup and we realise if we get six points we’re there. I think there’s a few permutations if results go our way but we have to concentrate on getting six points and then we know we’re not worrying about anyone else. That’s the main aim."
Q Everyone assumes Terry or Sol or Rio will play, does that annoy you. Do you think you’re on a par with those three guys now?
A "No, it doesn’t annoy me – they are fantastic players. Terry at Anfield was outstanding on Sunday. As I’ve said before Rio and John Terry are actually younger than me, Sol is bit bolder, but these are players I look up to.
"Terry is outstanding. In the Euro squad 18 months ago I just sat there watching him and Sol was outstanding as well. And Rio was probably one of the best defenders in the last World Cup. That shows the competition, I’ve got no qualms. I realise how good these players are and I’m delighted I still get picked in the squad amongst these players."
Q You played left-back for Liverpool is that a role with Cole out that you feel comfortable with?
A "Obviously I’m most comfortable with centre-back but I played left-back when we won European trophies under Houllier. My most favourite position is centre-back but if you get a game for England anywhere it’s a great honour.
I hope it will come but we’ll see.
Q You don't fancy England playing three at the back?
A "Well I mean it would probably be great for me because it would mean another centre-back's position but that's not my decision, that's the manager's decision. He's always played 4-4-2 so I would expect that to be the same."
Q Tell us more about what you think of John Terry?
"We're similar types of players. He's a real defender, proper defender. The most important thing if you are a defender is to keep a clean sheet and defend right and put yourself on the line for your club or country and I think he does that as well as anyone."
Q Peter Crouch hasn't scored since May. What sort of character is he, will that prey on his mind and make him more nervous?
A "May was the end of the season wasn't it, so since the start of the season he hasn't scored. So he hasn't scored for six or seven games and he's missed a few through injury as well. With the way we play he's more of a provider, he's always got his back to goal and we're only playing one up front. That's just the way the manager felt suits us for Liverpool at the moment, he may change who knows. But as an actual target man for Liverpool he's been excellent.
"There's no doubt he's a good finisher, you can see that in training. And last season at Southampton, he didn't get in the team until about Christmas time but he ended up scoring 15 or 16 goals in a team that got relegated so that's an outstanding achievement. I know people are looking at his goalscoring because he hasn't scored yet but there are reasons for that I've mentioned. You only have to look at his record for a team that got relegated.
Q Your form has been outstanding, is that just maturity or have you done things differently?
A "Yes, it is probably a bit of that. I got a bit help off Rafa Bentiez as well, he's certainly helped us as a back four and defence. He's a big student of the game, he's studied teams. He's shown us videos of them and his aim is to get us as solid and as tight as possible. It was going quite well until Sunday! But a big shout out for the manager of the club he's certainly brought me on. As you said I'm getting older and maybe the age of
27 to 32 is the prime for a player, especially a centre-half, and hopefully that will continue."
Q People expected England to win the World Cup, not to struggle to qualify. It puts a lot of pressure on you doesn't it, not to let the country down?
A "Yes, but that's playing for England. Obviously there's pressure. The stick we got after Northern Ireland we can't complain about that, we should be beating Northern Ireland. But if we qualify we want to go really close to winning the World Cup and with the quality of players we've got we should expect to go really close.But we have to put that to the back of our mind and make sure we get there first. There's no good talking about what we're going to do when we get there, we have these two games and six points to make sure we're there.
Q You said how well John Terry played on Sunday, even when you lose can you find time to admire the opponent?
A "Yeah, it seemed like he had a magnet between his ears. Every time the ball went he was there, he was heading everything away, cleaning everything away. Last season I voted for him as player of the year and the way he has started this year it looks as if I'll probably be voting for him again."
Q In your book you said you felt you did well in Europe last season because it's more of a tactical chess game wheareas the Premiership is more of a battle. Do you need more players who battle in the Premiership?
A "Yes, I think that was one of the reason we bought a certain type of player in the summer. That's the reason we bought Crouchy, we felt we needed a target man away from home to relieve a bit of the pressure. The ball kept coming back too quickly. He brought in Sissoko who is more that type of player, he's very aggressive as well. And he's bought the keeper in who he feels is an improvement on what we've got, so right through the spine of the team he's tried to improve. Them three players are all physically big strong lads as well. He felt that we needed that after his first season in the Premiership."
Q Can England thrive without a defensive midfield player in the team?
A "It's difficult, Frank and Steve are outstanding players and I think Steve if he does play that holding role could probably be as good as anyone in the world. He can tackle, he can pass, he's got pace. He reads the game superbly well, he's always putting out the passes. The manager changed it in the last game, who knows what he's going to do this time but with them two players hopefully they can have some sort of arrangement with the manager or between themselves. I think when you are attacking you are susceptible to the counter-attack. Obviously you do need someone there. We've had success at Liverpool with Hamann in the role, you look at Makelele at Chelsea as well.
It's part of the game. The teams now a lot of goals are scored on the counter attack so you have to make sure you are strong when you are attacking and that you don't get caught. I think that kind of thing is important but it doesn't really matter who it is, as long as one player does do it."
Q There was a lot of expectation at Liverpool this season but you find yourselves a long way behind Chelsea again and looking like another season as also-rans. Is that a disappointment?
A "Another season of also-rans? We won the European Cup last year so that wasnt' a bad season! We want to be challenging for the league. We're Liverpool Football Club, we've won the European Cup so the next thing is the league. It's the one missing off the list. I mean the way Chelsea started. I remember a few years ago Newcastle being 12 points clear of Man United and Man United coming back to win the title but it took Newcastle until Christmas to get 12 points clear, it took Chelsea just two months. That shows you how strong they have been at the start of the season, but hopefully they will lose a few games and that will make it more competitive.
But at the moment we've just got to concentrate on beating Blackburn when we get back from international duty and not worry about what's going on at the top of the league at the moment because we are way off. Our focus now is just to take each game as it comes and win some games where you wouldn't say we play the big teams and that's always been a problem for us over the years so we have to make sure we try and take as many points as we can. If we get as close as we can then we can then start thinking about challenging those top teams."
Q Does the fact that you walk into the England dressing room as a European champion make you more confident?
A "I'm sure it does. You look at the Champions League final and you admire those players who are playing and never think it's going to be yourself. To actually get there and actually win it we will remember it for the rest of our lives. It was one of the greatest games of all time. As I said we can't rest on that, we can remember when our career is finished but we want more of that. We haven't really challenged for the title over the last few years at Liverpool and it's something we would like to do and something we're envious of the Arsenal and Manchester United players every season. It's something we'd love to do, but to win that trophy last year is something maybe other players in the England squad can be looking at us about, whereas in the past we were looking at them. We've achieved something ourselves."
Q Could you play the holding role?
A "I'm not good enough to do that for England. No, there's better players than me to play there."