6 reasons why Sam Allardyce is the right man for England

LONDON - Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce is set to be named as the new boss of the England national football team. According to British media reports, the 61-year-old will succeed Roy Hodgson, who stepped down after a disastrous Euro 2016 campaign last month. Here, we look at why Big Sam is the right man for the Three Lions...  

HE'S A MASTER IN DEFENSIVE ORGANISATION

If Sam Allardyce was being marked for his passion for defensive solidity and organisation, the A-Grade he would attain would be irrefutable.

For all of England’s attacking talents, the defensive aspects of the game will take precedence. England would become harder to beat under Allardyce, and as the old adage goes, if you don’t concede you will not lose.

Although England dominated possession for large spells of their matches, organisational issues accounted for 50 per cent of the goals that Roy Hodgson’s side conceded. This would not occur under Allardyce’s watch. Every player would have their defensive roles drilled into them and they would all know what is expected - to a tee.

HE'S NOT AFRAID TO STICK TO HIS GUNS

Hardened by managerial  tenures at Blackpool, Notts County and Bolton Wanderers, Allardyce was an unflappable figure when it came to his roles at West Ham and Newcastle. While the former craved for football to be played ‘The West Ham way’, Allardyce stuck to his guns and played football in the way that had served him so well over the years. It wasn’t pretty by any means, but it was effective.

The same would be apparent if he was manager of England. The masses would be crying by football that they would define as attractive, but in this results driven business, and the possibility that the new manager will be paid on a performance basis, fans should expect ruthless, direct and effective football that quite simply gets the job done.

HE'S GOOD AT MANAGING CREATIVE PLAYERS

JayJay Okocha. Youri Djorkaeff. Ravel Morrison (briefly). Ricardo Vaz Te. Playmakers flourished under the supposed rigidity of a Sam Allardyce regime. Not only were they part of the well-oiled Allardyce machine, but they were all given the freedom to shine like the lights they are.

Expect the same with the current England squad under Allardyce’s guidance, with players such as Ross Barkley,  Dele Alli, Adam Lallana and Raheem Sterling thriving in the era of a new England.

HE KNOWS HIS BEST TEAM

A large criticism of Roy Hodgson was that he didn’t know his best team. Constant changes disrupted England’s momentum at Euro 2016 and played a major role in their premature elimination. Allardyce would provide this consistency, and at this time of uncertainty, it’s exactly what England need.

Getting towards the latter stages of the season, Allardyce rarely made changes to his Sunderland team. Out of the the last eight games of the season, Allardyce named the same starting XI seven times - with the final game of the season being an anomaly as they had secured Premier League survival by this point.

It’s therefore no surprise that Sunderland formed their best run during this period, only losing once in that period, and picking up 12 points - winning against Chelsea and drawing against Arsenal in this period.

HE CAN GET THE BEST OUT OF HIS PLAYERS

Allardyce hasn’t managed football’s most industrious clubs, but he has a track record of getting the best out of his players and over achieving as a result.

At Bolton Wanderers, he galvanised the likes of Ricardo Gardener and Per Frandsen to play a key role in their promotion to the Premier League in 2001 and even helped them establish themselves as players capable of playing in the top flight. Kevin Nolan grew into a lynchpin. Michael Ricketts even won an England cap under Big Sam’s tutelage. His biggest achievement was guiding Bolton to last 16 of the Uefa Cup after guiding the club to seventh the season before.

Similarly, he oversaw the resurgence of Carlton Cole at West Ham while helping the likes of Jack Collison and Mark Noble to progress and play a key role in their promotion back to the Premier League.

In a similar way to knowing his best XI, Allardyce would be able to motivate and inspire the England team should he be chosen to be the next manager. As proven in the past, he will under-promise and then over-perform, and take England to further heights than achieved under Roy Hodgson.

HE EMBRACES INNOVATION

At Bolton, Allardyce became one of the first managers in the Premier League to embrace the new technology era. After ProZone was rolled out in 1995, Allardyce was one of the first managers to use it, and it became a prominent part of his training methods during Bolton’s early days  in the Premier League.

This methodical nature and the obsession with statistics signalled a new era in football, and while many ridiculed this new concept, Allardyce continued to thrive with the new information at his disposal.

It’s this kind of innovation and freshness that the England side need. Too often, they have been stuck in an inertia with the aim of being traditional. England need people with new thinking, new ideas and new ambitions, and they should be allowed to do it their way. With all of these things in mind, Allardyce would be the idea candidate for the job. AGENCIES