The midfield dilemma

Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are considered to be two of the greatest midfielders in the world, but time and time again they fail to reproduce the form they show at club level on the international stage. But Fabio Capello should be capable of getting the best out of the pair, says Harry Redknapp in the Sunday Mirror.

Harry Redknapp is convinced that England will never have a better chance of winning the World Cup.

Fabio Capello’s 23-man squad arrived on South ­African turf last week with the expectations of a nation on their shoulders.

But Redknapp believes 44 years of under-achievement could come to an end if the squad Capello has assembled reaches its full potential.

“I genuinely believe we have a great chance of ­meeting with success in South Africa,” Redknapp told ­Sunday Mirror Sport.

“If you look at the strength and depth of our squad, we shouldn’t be going there with any fear.”

He added: “I accept there is strong competition from the likes of Spain, Brazil and ­Argentina – but let me tell you, they will be worrying about England, that’s for sure.

“Aside from one defeat we qualified with ease and the players will take all that ­confidence into the ­tournament. So we will be arriving in the best shape possible.”

Redknapp will be an expert for the BBC during the World Cup and his forthright ­opinions are bound to make for compelling viewing.

And while he has clashed with Capello in the past, it doesn’t detract from the fact that he thinks the Italian is the right man to be leading ­England.

Redknapp added: “If I have an opinion about something I’m not frightened to air it, but it doesn’t detract from the fact that I have a great deal of ­respect for Capello and what he has achieved.

“His record in management is very impressive, and when you combine that with the players he has at his disposal with England, people should be optimistic.

“Naturally I’m very patriotic, but if I didn’t genuinely feel we had a chance of success I would say it.

“If I thought the manager and the players weren’t good enough I would be the first to say.”

One of the biggest debates surrounding England for the past few years has been whether the midfield ­partnership of Chelsea’s Frank Lampard and Liverpool’s ­Steven Gerrard is effective.

Redknapp said: “Capello has proved that these two can play together and to be honest if you can’t get the best out them in the same side you shouldn’t be managing.

“I’ve always been ­surprised by this debate and some of the criticism levelled at the ­players for failing to deliver.

“Lampard and Gerrard are two of the best midfielders in the world and I think they will thrive in South Africa.

“They are part of the golden generation of players who were expected to bring home silverware for England but for one reason or another it hasn’t materialised.

“I don’t think any player wants to look back on his career with regrets. For some of the England players this is their last chance to enjoy success in the World Cup.

“It’s now or never. They won’t be looking for excuses, they will be going to South Africa determined to return home with the trophy.

“I accept that it’s not all about ability and sometimes you need some luck along the way. But I have always believed you make your own luck in life.

“The bottom line is if we don’t win the World Cup we have to accept we were probably not good enough.

“I’m convinced our destiny is in our hands and if the players we have at our disposal maintain their form we have a great chance.”

The Money-Makers

Jodie Lewis has been hailed as the next big thing for British athletics, and The Times' Richard Lewis takes a look at what makes her so special.

In many respects, Jodie Williams is a typical teenager. Ask her mum, Christine. “Her bedroom?” she says. “We don’t even talk about it. You cannot get in. You just trip all over the stuff.”

But in so many other ways Williams is anything but average. “She is very disciplined,” says Christine. “Thanks to athletics, we don’t have any worries about her having to go through those things a teenager has to go through with drink and drugs and the late nights and stuff.”

On Friday afternoon at the David Lloyd sports centre in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, the final day of half-term week, at times it is difficult to remember that Williams is just 16 years old because the new sprint sensation of British athletics has such a mature approach both to life and to her sport.

“Many junior sprinters compete at senior level too quickly. They’re going to the Olympics at 16 and that’s what leads them to burn out so quickly. For me, competing at a junior level is important at the moment,” she said.

“There has been a bit of pressure for me to go to the European championships and Commonwealth Games [this year] but I have to tell them ‘No’ and hope they will listen. I’m just going to give all senior competitions a miss this year.

“Naturally, I would love to compete at the London Olympics in 2012. If I can make the team, even if it’s in the relay, to go along for the experience would be incredible, but I don’t need to rush into any big senior competitions. There is quite a strong psychological aspect to the sport. Before you race your legs can turn to jelly and you think, ‘I can’t run’. But you have to push it all to the back of your mind and tell yourself, ‘Right, you have to do this. Just run’. Yeah, I’m quite mentally strong.” Not bad for a girl who cannot tidy her bedroom.

Her school knows all about her achievements now. “There are a few walls dedicated to me at school,” she said. “They try to play it down but they are quite proud of what I have achieved and they like to put newspaper cuttings on the wall.

“It is tough sometimes when all my friends are going out on Friday and Saturday nights and I know that I have training the next day and cannot go. I miss out on quite a lot but I have not lost friends.

“They all call my legs ‘The Money-makers’ and are highly supportive of what I do.”

The big change has come in the past 18 months, coinciding with her joining coach Mike McFarlane, the former British sprinter who shared Commonwealth Games 200m gold with Allan Wells in a dead-heat finish in Brisbane in 1982.

“He’s been through it all before,” says Williams. “You have to be mentally strong, but he won’t tell me what he thinks I can achieve. We talk about it. We go through all that and he just sort of lets me take it on board but he won’t tell me what times he wants me to run or anything like that.”

With half-term week over, the pressure is back on, but not because of athletics. Next month she will compete at the world junior championships in Moncton, Canada, but her priority is completing her eight GSCEs.

Just your average 16-year-old? Probably not. She has been featured in the teenagers’ magazine Shout and last week appeared on the front cover of Athletics Weekly. She also has a sponsorship deal with Nike. But then again, there is her bedroom.