Thursday, August 17, 2006

McClaren joy at debut

Video Safari

Steve McClaren was delighted to start his England tenure with a thumping 4-0 win over Greece.
In his first game since replacing Sven Goran Eriksson as coach, McClaren could not have wished for a better start to his reign at Old Trafford.
New captain John Terry set the ball rolling before a deflected Frank Lampard effort, and a double for Peter Crouch, wrapped up the game by half time.
McClaren was hugely impressed with the outcome on his debut and was particularly pleased with how his team dictated the game.
"They've taken on board a lot," McClaren told Sky Sports News. "I think they expressed that, especially in the first half.
"Scintillating football, great goals. We controlled the game I think and that was the key.
"We controlled the game through our passing, through our possession and through being patient.
"We were getting people in certain areas where we wanted them to."
After the World Cup quarter final, penalty shoot-out defeat to Portugal, McClaren hopes he is now presiding over a new era for the national team.
He added: "We've made a good start. We have set a standard and we have to maintain that standard.
"There are a couple of weeks before we play again and we have to make sure we continue that.
"There is still a lot of convincing to do, there are still some doubters out there.
"Considering we had them (the players) for three days, the work we have put into them, I think there's more to come from this team."