LAMPARD BACKS FA

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has said that the search for a new manager to lead the England national side will not be hurting their chances of performing well at the Euro 2012. England are probably the only major team to come into the Euro 2012 without a manager after the resignation of Fabio Capello a few months ago. Stuart Pearce has been put temporarily in charge of the team, but it is highly unlikely that he will be given that position full-time. Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp was linked with the job heavily, but the English FA are yet to approach the former Portsmouth manager regarding the vacant England manager job.

Yet, Frank Lampard believes that the search for a new England manager will not disrupt their preparations ahead of the Euro 2012. England are in the group containing France, Sweden and hosts Ukraine. France are seen as the only real contender for England in their efforts to qualify for the quarter-finals. Despite the lack of a new manager, Lampard has said that the number of inclusions of youngsters that has happened in the last few years is certainly healthy for the national team. The 33-year-old midfielder is likely to play in his last major tournament for England.

“It’s something, as a player, you learn to cope with – managers leave at times you don’t expect them to. Can it be a negative because we’ve lost a manager and we lose our way, or can it be positive because we galvanise ourselves, whoever comes into lead us galvanises the team and it goes very well? We’ve seen that happen so many times. The important thing in this situation is that you’ve got the ability in the squad and in the players,” Lampard told reporters. England will be playing friendlies against Norway and Belgium shortly.