Disharmony in a locker room spells disaster for any team, and in a month-long tournament like the World Cup, team turmoil could assist in sending teams home early.
France has been marred by poor performance in the early stages of the tournament, and after a sending home of striker Nicolas Anelka and a training boycott by the team the following day, it appears that France has imploded on and off the field.
England is starting to see team turmoil behind the scenes as well - the Mirror reports that some of the senior players in the England team gave manager Fabio Capello a list of demands to be met.
Nine stars, including John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and David James met the Italian for showdown talks amid rumours of dressing room unrest and claims that boredom at the team’s HQ was affecting their performance on the pitch.
They planned to ask him for three changes – switch Emile Heskey with Joe Cole in a changed formation for Wednesday’s vital Slovenia clash, ways to relieve the tedium of his strict regime and more time to study opponents in the wake of the dreary draws against the USA and Algeria.
But the no nonsense boss stopped the gang of nine dead in their tracks by refusing to discuss any of their demands.
Hardliner Capello sternly told the stunned stars that he picked the team and would only discuss overall performance.
In the first sign of rebellion in the manager’s reign, former captain Terry spoke earlier about how they would push for their demands to be met. He also begged fans to get behind the team on Wednesday in the wake of Wayne Rooney’s outburst at those who booed the team after the Algeria debacle.
Terry, 29, said: “The players can say how they feel and if it upsets him then I’m on the verge of just saying: ‘You know what? So what? I’m here to win it for England.’
“He’s feeling the same, the players are feeling the same and if we can’t be honest with each other then there’s no point in being here. We have a responsibility to ourselves, to the manager and everyone else to voice that opinion.
“We hope he takes it on board but it’s him who has the final decision.”
France has been marred by poor performance in the early stages of the tournament, and after a sending home of striker Nicolas Anelka and a training boycott by the team the following day, it appears that France has imploded on and off the field.
England is starting to see team turmoil behind the scenes as well - the Mirror reports that some of the senior players in the England team gave manager Fabio Capello a list of demands to be met.
Nine stars, including John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and David James met the Italian for showdown talks amid rumours of dressing room unrest and claims that boredom at the team’s HQ was affecting their performance on the pitch.
They planned to ask him for three changes – switch Emile Heskey with Joe Cole in a changed formation for Wednesday’s vital Slovenia clash, ways to relieve the tedium of his strict regime and more time to study opponents in the wake of the dreary draws against the USA and Algeria.
But the no nonsense boss stopped the gang of nine dead in their tracks by refusing to discuss any of their demands.
Hardliner Capello sternly told the stunned stars that he picked the team and would only discuss overall performance.
In the first sign of rebellion in the manager’s reign, former captain Terry spoke earlier about how they would push for their demands to be met. He also begged fans to get behind the team on Wednesday in the wake of Wayne Rooney’s outburst at those who booed the team after the Algeria debacle.
Terry, 29, said: “The players can say how they feel and if it upsets him then I’m on the verge of just saying: ‘You know what? So what? I’m here to win it for England.’
“He’s feeling the same, the players are feeling the same and if we can’t be honest with each other then there’s no point in being here. We have a responsibility to ourselves, to the manager and everyone else to voice that opinion.
“We hope he takes it on board but it’s him who has the final decision.”
You would think John Terry would have 'led' this England team for the final time - after his controversy that saw him lose his captain's band for an affair with a teammate's significant other, you would think someone would silence him before he damages his team's chances for success even more...
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