Coach Allardyce asks England to use Euro disaster as motivation

Newly-appointed England chief coach Sam Allardyce said that he wants to harness the "bitter experience" of the European Championship to motivate his footballers on the road to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Allardyce was confirmed as Roy Hodgson's successor on Friday after compensation was agreed with Sunderland.

Hodgson's England won just one of their four matches in France and were eliminated by Iceland in the last-16, but 61-year-old Allardyce has vowed to bring a sense of pride back to the nation and he wants this summer's disappointment as motivation.

"I think first and foremost it's about regaining, perhaps, a bit of confidence they have lost after the Euros. Let's get started from day one. Let's put that to bed, let's start delivering, gain from the experience that you gained at the Euro," Allardyce told the England football association website on Friday.

"It's a very bitter experience as we all know but that inner drive...players should keep, they should hold it and use it as a positive, say 'we don't want to experience that again. We going to get into the qualifiers, try to qualify for the World Cup and when we go next time we're better prepared, I think mentally, to succeed."

Asked what he would bring to the job, Allardyce said, "Man-management, I think. Many, many years accumulating great coaching techniques and, yes, accumulating sports science ideas, which everybody knows has been one of my biggest adventures from 2000-01 when I took Bolton into the Premier League.

"And creating a backroom staff that delivers a great service in all areas and departments. You have to manage that, not just manage players but manage staff, to delegate to them and to give confidence to produce the qualities they have which are actually better qualities than me," the former Sunderland head coach said.

The 61-year-old further said, that, "I love finding a person with greater qualities than me in their department and promoting their strengths. That gives me greater strength to do my job.

"I think I'm the right age with the right experience and hopefully I can pass on a lot of knowledge and experience to the team and the staff that works behind the team to try and get a very happy camp that becomes a very successful one," Allardyce said.

--IANS

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