Sterling confident of brighter times for England

IT may have been a summer of woe for England but Raheem Sterling is confident “exciting times” lie ahead.
England's Raheem Sterling.England's Raheem Sterling.
England's Raheem Sterling.

The World Cup could not have gone much worse for Roy Hodgson’s side, whose terrible performance in Brazil was underlined by the fact they collected just a single point.

There has been little time to get over that disappointment, though, as nine weeks on the squad have reconvened ahead of tomorrow’s friendly against Norway and opening Euro 2016 qualifier in Switzerland.

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An inexperienced, new-look group has been selected for the matches, which Sterling is hopeful can mark the beginning of a positive new era.

“It was a disappointing time,” the 19-year-old said of the World Cup.

“This is the first time we’ve met up and we’re looking forward to the exciting times ahead with the talent we have got in the squad. We were working hard in training (yesterday), the lads that have been recovering as well, so we’ve all been working hard to make sure there are exciting times ahead.

“Obviously this was the first day we’ve been together so it has been really good to know some of the new lads. It is a new chapter.”

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Talk of a new era is rife in the build-up to tomorrow’s friendly at Wembley, although the players are not being allowed just to forget their World Cup failings.

Rather than sweep the episode under the carpet, Hodgson is analysing England’s performance with his players to see how they can best move forward.

“The manager sat us down briefly (on Sunday) and tried to go through what he thought we did well, what we could have done better, tried to analyse where we can go from here,” added Sterling.

“I think that is the best thing to do, really, to try and make sure we don’t repeat that disappointment at our next major tournament.”

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Sterling will be key to maintaining that good, attacking philosophy shown in flashes during the tournament. So too will Wayne Rooney.

The Manchester United forward was last week handed the captain’s armband following Steven Gerrard’s international retirement – a decision which has Sterling’s full backing.

“He is someone I am really looking forward to learning off and gaining experience off,” he said.