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I’M fed up with us being plucky losers.After we lost to France all the talk was: “Well done England, jolly good defeat, keep your heads high.”
England manager Gareth Southgate consoled Harry Kane after their World Cup defeatCredit: PA
I can’t stand that.
If I’d been one of those England players I’d be in “don’t talk to me” mode for about two years. I wouldn’t want anyone telling me that I’d done well.
We’ve missed another fantastic opportunity and it’s not a question of effort. We gave absolutely everything.
But our “good effort lads, better luck next time” attitude bloody annoys me. I’m such a bad loser, I can’t take it.
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This is the mentality we have to change.
They’re all nice people in the England camp. Gareth Southgate’s lovely, Stevie Holland is wonderful, Chris Powell is a beautiful man.
But they need an experienced, serial winner around the place.
Gareth doesn’t lack courage, he has tremendous courage. But he’s a good loser. It’s hard to say that but it’s the truth.
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Tony Adams believes Southgate needs to bring in a proven winnerCredit: Louis Wood
They need another voice, an experienced head who’s won stuff at the highest level for their clubs who can have a word in some ears about what you need to do to get over that line which we don’t seem able to cross.
We could have done it in Qatar. We fight, we don’t run away. But losing becomes a habit and it’s hard to shake that, even with all the will and all the skill in the world.
You go on the field fearing what might happen and the more you lose the worse that gets.
I don’t want Southgate and his coaching staff to quit. They are great guys and they’re doing great work.
Gareth’s probably thinking: “Have I taken it as far as I can go. I’ve had three shots at it.”
But is there someone else to replace him?
I don’t think Eddie Howe is ready yet, for instance.
He’s early in his development and probably wouldn’t leave Newcastle anyway. We have the best man at the moment but we have to find a way of getting to the next level.
Gareth doesn’t lack courage, he has tremendous courage. But he’s a good loser. It’s hard to say that but it’s the truth.
Which is why we need that Bryan Robson type of character, a winner who has a word for the manager or players at the crucial times. Someone the coaching team can call on for advice. Sol Campbell, too, might be someone who fits the bill.
France have that in their manager Didier Deschamps who has done it all and we are missing that ingredient among the backroom team.
When we were kids in the Arsenal youth team we were winning everything, so when we progressed to stepping out at Anfield for the first team it didn’t bother us, we expected to win. It was the same for the Class of 92 at Manchester United.
With experience, you get to know what you need to do, when to drop off, when to go forward. You learn what it takes.
Emotionally and mentally we need a significant shift here. We’re doing the same things. We get what we think we’ll get.
Someone needs to get in among these boys and say there’s going to be a moment where you need to step up.
I remember when we went to Rome needing a draw to qualify for the 1998 World Cup and there was a split second when Christian Vieri got in at the near post and he looked like he might score but I just did enough to stop him.
Bukayo Saka was superb before being replaced by Raheem Sterling in the 79th minuteCredit: Getty
Similarly, Harry Maguire had to get across and snuff out Olivier Giroud’s threat. There are moments in a game where it’s your turn, where an individual has to do their bit to make sure the team succeeds.
Players need to know when their moment is.
I was saying to my boy:  “Giroud’s not done anything.” And he said: “Dad, you’re putting a curse on him” — and he pops up with the winner.
He was there when it was his moment, Maguire wasn’t.
And Southgate also needed someone saying to him: “You can’t take Bukayo Saka off, he’s our best player.”
Saka was my man of the match, he was brilliant. And, like I said ahead of the game, their full-backs were not as good as ours.
Theo Hernandez was shocking and Saka took him to the cleaners. Whereas for us Kyle Walker had a good game against Kylian Mbappe.
We are working in the right direction. We’ve got good players but I stand by changing the captain. Harry Kane is the No 9 and did not shirk responsibility for missing that penalty.
But we’ve got to think about what we do now with the captaincy.
That’s more of an issue than the coach and, as I said before, I believe Declan Rice should have the job.
Is Kane going to be the shining star at the next two tournaments?
When are we going to get to the point where we take him off and change it?
It’s hard to do when he’s captain.
Southgate and Kane come as a pair, though, and there’s such a strong bond there.
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It’s another one for the experienced man to advise on and persuade the manager to make that change.
Find the right man for that job and we just might crack it.
England were left devastated following the narrow loss to FranceCredit: Getty More

THIS is the World Cup they said could never work — but one which has run like clockwork.I was one of those who had doubts about a winter tournament, about playing it halfway through the season and about it being in Qatar.
Crowd trouble has been replaced with more singing and dancingCredit: AFP
Morocco fans created a racket inside grounds across DohaCredit: Getty
Redknapp says the tournament has been a success so farCredit: Getty
But it’s been a success you couldn’t have imagined.
And despite all the scare stories beforehand, it has been a real enjoyment every way you look at it.
Conditions have been fantastic for the players, it’s not been roasting hot and we’re not having stoppages every game to throw bottles of water over them.
The football’s been great, we’ve had plenty of shocks — and as long as it doesn’t include England, we always love that — but most of all it has been fun.
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One of the huge things that sticks out for me is how everyone — and I mean EVERYONE — is saying how safe it’s been.
Look, we all know the issues about having it in Qatar, and I’m not going to sit here and start saying everything there is rosy.
But, in terms of this tournament, I think back to how everyone was kicking off at the thought of not being able to have a drink at the games, and it’s laughable.
Yes, there’s a different culture towards drinking over there.
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But it’s their culture, their country and you can’t say it hasn’t been a better World Cup all round because of it.
Has everyone forgotten those scenes at Wembley for the Euro final?
What about all the fighting in France in 2016?
How many times have the headlines been about fighting and aggro?
And it’s always when people have been on the drink.
We could take a big leaf out of their book in terms of the approach to it, although I’m not daft enough to think we will change our mentality over it.
But this will go down as the World Cup when we all felt so safe, where the fans were behaving and we weren’t rattling up the number of arrests.
Supporters are still lighting up the stadiums, singing and dancing on the Metro and in the streets, where women, kids, and families are having the time of their lives.
In fact it’s been such a success that I’d have no problem with the Middle East staging the World Cup again — or with it being in the middle of our season either.
And on the pitch there have been some huge shocks. Who thought Morocco would win their group and Belgium go out? Or Japan would beat Spain AND Germany.
There was one of the biggest upsets ever when Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia and Cameroon became the first African nation ever to beat Brazil.
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Of course, the big names have stood out like we always hoped and thought they would.
Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo… they’ve all been headline news at one stage or another.
But the one player to leave a huge impression on me is Harry Souttar, the centre-half born in Scotland who plays for Stoke and was sensational for Australia.
If I was still a Premier League manager, he’d be the one I’d be trying to sign.
I saw him three years ago on loan at Fleetwood and thought he had a real chance then and have kept an eye on him ever since.
He got a real bad injury a year ago and only came back just before the World Cup.
Harry’s 6ft 6in, quick, strong, he can pass a ball and knows the English game – he’d be a great buy for someone.
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He reminds me of Dan Burn, who went round the houses on loan, went to Brighton and then ended up at Newcastle and everyone’s raving about him.
But, all in all, it will go down as a fantastic World Cup — and the great thing is we’ve still got another week to go!
Stoke’s Souttar impressed RedknappCredit: PA
Fans were on their best behaviourCredit: Getty
England crashed out in the quarter-finalsCredit: PA
Senegal fans came with props and paintCredit: Getty More

IF I had to pick one defender in the world to handle Kylian Mbappe, I could not think of a better right-back than Kyle Walker.And he might just turn out to be the one who holds the key to England reaching their second World Cup semi-final in a row.
Redknapp is backing Walker to ‘handle’ MbappeCredit: Getty
Mbappe is the World Cup 2022 top scorer with five goalsCredit: Getty
It doesn’t take a genius to realise that Mbappe is the biggest danger to our chances when we play France on Saturday.
You need someone special to deal with a player like that — and Kyle is the perfect man for the job.
I know exactly how good he is because I was his manager for three years at Tottenham. He’s an even better player now.
He’s quick, strong and as tough a man to beat one-on-one as anyone. In short, the ideal man to cope with Mbappe’s speed and power.
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But Walker might just be England’s secret attacking weapon down the right wing as well — if he chooses the right moments to bomb forward.
Mbappe is obviously a massive threat, we all know that, but he’s not a modern wide player who you’ll see charging back to help his defence.
When he loses possession he tends to walk around, hang about the halfway line waiting for France to win it back and get it up to him again.
As a right-back, that leaves you with a decision to make — can I trust my winger if I do go or am I risking getting caught out of position if he gives it away?
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Walker’s touch map against Senegal
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Well in Walker’s case, when the moment is right he definitely CAN trust Bukayo Saka, because he’s such a clever player.
If you’ve got a scatterbrain up there, you worry about going on the overlap because if they lose possession, you’re going to get punished by someone as good as Mbappe.
But Saka’s a good player, he knows how to protect the ball and find Kyle at just the right time — and that’s how we can open France up down the right-hand side.
So while the big danger lies down Mbappe’s flank, it’s an area where we can hurt France as much as they can hurt us.
Kyle just has to choose the right time to go, probably only a couple of times in each half, but we will get chances from it — and they could be the difference.
That’s when it will be vital Jordan Henderson is aware and realise that if Walker’s gone, he must be prepared to drop in and cover.
I see it very much as a 50-50 game but I tell you one thing — I genuinely wouldn’t swap our squad for theirs.
And while everyone in England seems to be worrying about Mbappe, they’ll be doing the same about Harry Kane. I’m sure France defender Rafael Varane is.
Harry’s had a bit of criticism from some but against Senegal he was absolutely fantastic, linking play and bringing people into it.
Getting his first goal will give him a big boost — not that he’s ever short of confidence — and he’ll be bang up for this.
Kane looks right on top of his game again and we’ve seen what he can do at a World Cup when that’s the case.
Saka and Phil Foden will always be threats whoever they’re up against, while I look at the strength on the bench and just think, ‘Wow’.
Marcus Rashford, Jack Grealish, Mason Mount . . . the talent we’ve got to bring on is better than anyone’s.
And then of course there is Jude Bellingham, who is already a phenomenal player and having such a great tournament.
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To me it’s a really good squad, so why shouldn’t we go all the way this time?
First things first, though, let’s beat France — then we really can start to dream.
England are averaging 65 per cent possession in Qatar More

IT WAS easy to see why Gareth Bale got all the headlines after winning — and scoring — the penalty that earned Wales a point against the United States.I’d now rate him alongside John Charles as the greatest Welsh footballer of all time — and as someone who saw the Gentle Giant play, I never thought I’d say that.
Gareth Bale has already made his mark on the World Cup for WalesCredit: Getty
Harry Redknapp thinks he knows how Wales can make it through the groupCredit: Splash
What a career he’s had — and what a dream he is for a manager. I know that as well as anyone after working with him at Tottenham.
He’s very similar to Luka Modric in that they’re both family men, both great trainers, great attitudes, perfect role models… as is Harry Kane, I should point out.
You’re never worried about picking up the paper and seeing pictures of any of them falling out of a nightclub or making the wrong sort of headlines.
When he took the penalty against the US, there was no doubt where it was ending up.

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It might sound obvious but what a striker of a football Gareth is.
So Gareth scored the goal and got the spotlight… but he wasn’t the one who changed the game for Wales.
That was Kieffer Moore, who came on at half-time and gave a perfect example of everything I say about the modern game — that the age of the big, bullocking centre- forward has gone.
Years ago every team would have a Duncan Ferguson-type figure. A forward who’d put themselves about, be a real nuisance and was generally just a real handful.
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And the centre-halves trying to cope with them obviously had to be big and strong as well to meet the challenge.
If you were up against a 6ft 4in fella built like a brick outhouse, you would have to be a certain build yourself or you would just be bullied out of it.
But the modern striker is all about movement, buzzing around, and the centre-backs changed accordingly. They got smaller as well — became more footballing defenders.
So when Wales chucked Moore into the equation on Monday, suddenly they were a totally different team and the States really couldn’t cope.
Kieffer Moore could be the answer to Wales’ World Cup hopesCredit: Reuters
There was a focal point to the team, which allowed Bale to get forward and on the ball a lot more… and we saw what happened.
Now, at 33, Gareth’s not running past opponents so much but popping up all over the pitch — and he only needs half a yard in that final third to get a shot away.
As for Moore, I’ve seen a lot of him at Bournemouth this season and he wins virtually every header he goes for, whether it’s corners, free-kicks or long balls from the back.
You play it up to him, he holds it up, backs into defenders and puts the fear of God up them because they’re simply not used to playing against blokes like him any more.
These days everyone wants to be a No 10, strolling around the place, buzzing round feet.
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Kieffer is a great throwback to the old-school strikers but the other night he was the one who changed everything for Wales.
He might not have got the headlines his performance deserved — but I’m sure he got plenty off Gareth and the rest of the Welsh lads, because they’ve got a right chance now. More