New England manager Sam Allardyce says he can’t wait to start working with the set of players now at his disposal.
The former West Ham United and Sunderland boss was appointed as the new Three Lions boss on Friday and reported to St. George’s Park for his first day in the job on Monday morning.
Allardyce is already excited at getting out on the training pitch in late August, when he’ll call up his first England squad for the opening World Cup qualifier in Slovakia on 4 September.
Allardyce enjoying his first press conference in the job at St. George's Park
And he can’t wait to meet with the squad to create the kind of environment and team spirit which he has always fostered at his previous clubs over the years.
"Man management is my biggest asset, to try and help players to enjoy themselves and be better than they already are," said Allardyce.
"Hopefully that will work on the England side, I think it’s worked everywhere else that I’ve been and I’ll have that approach in this job.
"I’ve managed some world class players – Fernando Hierro, Yourri Djorkaeff, Jay Jay Okocha, Gary Speed, Nicolas Anelka and Michael Owen - and the good thing about talented players is that they make life easier because they know what you want and it takes you less time to prepare and they should take that responsibility.
"So working with the England elite players is going to be very exciting for me, because I think they can take on board what we want to do because they’re the best in this country.
"The game of football is to be enjoyed and I’ve enjoyed my life in the game for many, many years now.
New England manager Sam Allardyce with his first Three Lions shirt, as he started work at St. George's Park on Monday
"I think the bonding of the team is very important, while we’re all together and trying to create a good team spirit and have some fun.
"It’s [the England job] the pinnacle of my career so I want to enjoy this the most."
Allardyce is one of the most experienced top-flight managers in Premier League history having been the only man to take charge of five different top-flight clubs.
But he was also keen to dispel the myths that his teams only play in a certain direct or long ball style, with the one-time Blackburn Rovers chief preferring to utilise the assets at his disposal to the best of their abilities in order to get the right result.
"Style of play has always been a tag for me that I can’t shake, in terms of everybody thinks it’s this style or that style," he explained.
"But I played with Jermain Defoe down the middle on his own last year, so with the style of play that’s normally associated with me, I wouldn’t have spent last year with Jermain Defoe playing up front on his own at 5’10”.
"Working on people’s strengths is the main thing and we worked on Jermain Defoe as a player, that could not play up front on his own, and that was across the board – he can not play up front on his own.
Allardyce speaks to Jermain Defoe during their time together at Sunderland
"So what did Jermain Defoe do? He played up front on his own all season and scored 15 goals in the Premier League and 18 goal in total, so whatever people may tell me, it doesn’t stop me from doing something else or trying to create an opportunity.
"I’m pragmatic really, choosing styles or systems depends on the players you have available to you and depends on who we’re playing.
"My coaching technique is to try and give the players an opportunity to win a football match wherever they’re playing, whether that’s home or away, and to make them aware of the opposition they’re playing.
"I expect the players to be very adaptable and I don’t expect a player at this level to be only able to play one position or one system, I think they should be much more adaptable and capable than that, especially at elite level.
"Depending on the opposition, we may change the style in which we play but individuals and collectively as a team, it is very important.
"It may be the same system but we change the team slightly to suit the opposition so that we can win the game."
Sam Allardyce speaks to the media following his appointment as England manager
