On Tuesday Paul spoke in a press briefing ahead of England's game against Uruguay at Anfield. TheFA.com brings you the full transcription of what he had to say...

It’s the first time you have met up since the manager announced plans to step down, would you like to see a new man in sooner or later?

"To be perfectly honest I’m must concentrating on the World Cup. Sven is in charge for the World Cup, he has been for the last few years and he’s done well and got us to where we are today. Now as much as anything we want to win the World Cup for him as much as anyone else."

Do the players not care what the FA do?

"We do care, of course we do. It’s very important that they get the right man for the job. It’s up to them when they appoint the man. At the moment we know where we are for the next two or three months, we have Sven in charge. We have a very important tournament coming up and that’s what we’re all looking forward to."

David Seaman got a lot of stick after the last World Cup, does that scare you?

"You relish that sort of challenge. If you go into it worrying about what people are going to talk about afterwards then you are on a loser before you start. You have to be very confident. If you do make a mistake it gets highlighted but you can’t worry about that before the game. "There is a lot of pressure, it means a lot to people. We are footballers and people think sometimes we don’t care, but we do care. It matters to us more than anything. We are the ones there playing and we want to win every single game."

You are the man with the shirt, is it yours to lose?

" I don’t look at it like that. I have no intent to lose it. I’ve been in there a couple of years now and hopefully providing my form stays good and I don’t’ get injuries I can be there for many years to come.

Do you find it easy to switch between Tottenham going for Europe and a World Cup?

"It’s different. It’s my form for Tottenham that keeps me in the England team. This is the first get-together since Christmas and it’s nice to get all the boys together.

You don’t think that no matter what happens at Tottenham you will still be in the England side? 

"No, not at all. Your form has to be right all the time. Every single game you play you have to play as well as the last game. A big part of goalkeeping is consistency and limiting the errors you make.

We’ve seen what Rooney can do in the Carling Cup Final, how important is it that he’s fit this summer?

"Yes, very important, it’s very important that everyone is fit. I think the manager has said it on numerous occasions that we have got a good chance of doing something at this World Cup but everybody has to be fit and on top of their game. You saw how unfortunate Michael Owen was to get injured and Alan Smith’s freak injury the other week. That just shows how you could lose two players and that could happen the week before the World Cup. It shows how things can happen."

Is that the biggest fear, that after four years preparation it could be gone in one second?

"It is, but you can’t think about it like that. If you start worrying about injuries going into games that’s when you will start to get injured.

Were you disappointed when you saw Michael hobble off in that game?

"Yes, disappointed because it was me involved in it. I knew straight away when he did it. When we had the collision he said straight away ‘I think I’ve broken my foot’. He’s had a rest now and everybody is really pleased he’s come back to fitness, nobody more than me. Hopefully he can be firing on all cylinders in the summer.

It sounds like he’s forgiven you?

"I don’t think there was anything to forgive. You make me sound like a villain! "He’s on the way back. He’s running and stuff and hopefully he’ll be playing soon. That’s good news for him and his club and especially for the country.

How aware are the players that this is the final friendly match before the squad is picked?

"We’ve been looking forward to the World Cup now for a long time, since the day we qualified. The next thing after that was the draw, and then to the friendly in March. That’s upon us now. This is the last match together before we meet up together to prepare for the World Cup. So it’s a big game for us."
We’ve heard how popular Sven is, is there a feeling amongst the players that they would have likd him to stay?

"I think we would all like the manager to stay, he’s done very well. We want to do as well for him in this tournament and send him out on a high. "He’s a very liked man. He’s very popular amongst the players and he’s done a good job. It’s very disappointing the circumstances that have forced him to leave. But we are all going to do well for him in the World Cup hopefully.

They keep changing the rules for goalkeepers with back-passes and offside, do goalkeepers ever feel victimised because it favours strikers?

"To be fair it is tough, some of the decision they get are harsh. But the game is played at such a pace these days that for the human eye to see tough decisions isn’t easy. They are going to make mistakes and get it wrong sometimes. 

Is there a bounce among the players going into this season after the Argentina win?

"Yes I think so. People say you are only as good as your last game and our last game we beat one of the best teams in the world,. It’s a very pleasing result and very good for confidence to beat a team like that, especially in the circumstances in which we did it."

With so few games left is it important we play our strongest teams in the build-up games to the World Cup?

"Yes, I mean we’ve got one game on Wednesday. There’s a lot of talk about players being rested but the team will be announced an hour before kick-off and we can’t really comment until then. "I think the manager will start with his strongest eleven, he’s said that from the beginning. IT is a friendly game and it’s the last time we meet before the WC so he may want to look at other players before he finalises his squad.

Back to Sven, what’s he done for you do you have a good relationship with him?

"I think all the players have a good relationship with him. As you say I repect him because he gave me my chance at this level and he’s stayed with me for a long time now. He’s a genuinely nice man, he’s a likeable person. The public may have a different perception of him but that’s the worst thing about being a footballer, people have a view of a person without knowing him. To actual know the man he’s a genuinely nice man."

It’s difficult on the outside to get to know what he is like?

"The perception people have of the manager is the perception of the media or what they put on TV. But to know him as a man he’s a very nice man.

Did you feel angry at the time at the way he was treated?

"It’s difficult, to go to that extent to stitch somebody up is disappointing in a year when we should all be getting together to get behind the team. You should be wanting the team to do well and maybe not going to that extent to try and cause disruption.

Has it brought the players closer together?

"Yes, it brings them stronger together definitely, without a doubt.

So the team is even more likely to do well as a result?

"Well, maybe not because of that incident but because with the team spirti and bonding together bad news does tend to bring you closer together.

Were the players ringing up each other about it?

"No It came out of nothing, didn’t it? One day you looked at the paper it was all there, it came as a shock to everybody I think. But I don’t think it was one of them things where you picked the phone up and started ringing everyone. We couldn’t believe it to start with.

What was the reaction of the players?

"This is the first time we have been together as a squad since it’s all happened. The manager will probably sit down this afternoon and talk to us and tell us his thoughts and feelings."

You say he is likeable, does he get angry and shout?

"No, he has a very calm persona. He’s very good in the dressing room, but he’s not a ranter and a raver. He’s more of a motivator in a quiet way.

You clearly don’t buy into the idea that he betrayed the confidence of the players?

"It’s a difficult situation for him to be put in. To talk about other people and other players. You don’t know what was said and what wasn’t said, nobody will do. It was a difficult situation for the manager to be in and a difficult situation for the players to be in, we just want to forget about it now and concentrate on what is coming in a big tournament."

The way you are talking the players would never hold it against him?

"No, I don’t think so. Everybody makes mistakes and he’s our manager and we want to do well for him."

Do you trust him?

"Yes."

What do your foreign colleagues at Spurs think about it, what does Edgar Davids think about it for instance?

"To be quite honest it’s not something we talk about in the dressing room, so I’ve not really spoken to Edgar about it. I’ve not really asked him his opinion!"

Is it slightly odd to think that while you are playing in the World Cup someone else, the next England manager, is watching you. And a new man could come in with new ideas after the World Cup. Is that slightly unsettling?

"I think it’s an old saying that you take every game as it comes and I think maybe we have to take the next six or seven games because that’s where we know where we are. The manager will be in charge until the end of the World Cup and I honestly don’t think we should look any further than that now. I think we should let the manager get on with his job, get on with playing the World Cup. Let’s all look forward to having a successful World Cup and then there’s something else we can worry about and talk about after the World Cup.

On a personal level it must be odd that you are playing World Cup matches to impress a new manager with him watching you, judging you."

"I’ve never thought about that, yes. But I don’t think the players will be thinking about that at the time. We’ve got a very important World Cup coming up and each game is important in itself. We have to concentrate on winning each game and I’m sure if we do well in the World Cup it will be an easy job for whoever comes in next."

With everything in our favour, like it being in Europe and the age of the players, is this THE time that England have to strike?

"I think it’s the best chance we’ve had for a long time. You look at the strength we’ve got in the squad. I don’t think people are hiding behind anything, the manager has said it we have a great chance. We’re one of four or five teams that have a chance of winning it and I think we are. You look at the group, we would like to top the group I think. If the results go as they should we could maybe get Poland next and we’ve beaten them in the qualifiers already. You get to the semi it’s a one-off game, you need to play well and a little bit of luck on your side and who knows where we could go. If only it was that easy!

When we go through the team we think we’ve got a couple of the best strikers, midfielders and centre-halfs in the world, do you think we’ve got one of the best goalkeepers in the world?

Yes, without a doubt, yeah. Hopefully come the World Cup I’ll give everyone a chance to see that." 

Is that how you see yourself, one of the best keepers in the world?

"I’m not a person who sits around looking in the mirror thinking I’m one of the best in the world. But when I go out on a football pitch I like to show people I can do the job well

You’re very sane for a goalkeeper, they are normally a bit mad?

"Goalkeepers are a little bit different, some more than others. I’m as daft as anyone else on the training ground and I like a laugh in the changing room but there is a time and a place to be serious.