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England 'playing like a team', says Lampard

07/10/2008

Midfielder Frank Lampard believes the turnaround in England's fortunes has come about because of the team ethic instilled in the players by manager Fabio Capello.

The Chelsea midfielder played an integral part in the national side's impressive 4-1 away win over Croatia during the last international window, sparking hopes of a rejuvenated England side for the upcoming qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Belarus.

And Lampard believes the progress made under the Italian has come about because of his insistence that the players play as a team and work for each other, rather than throwing together the best possible group of club players.

"It is very important to talk about the team," Lampard said

"The Croatia performance shows when we play as a team that is what's important. The manager is focused on that very much.

"He will pick the team and the players are there to play as a group."

Referring to the difficulty previous managers have found in pairing himself and Liverpool's Steven Gerrard in the centre of midfield, Lampard added: "We are breaking it down too much.

"If you look too far into individual things you can find problems."

Capello's theory of the team taking precedence over individual talent is no more obvious than in his recent squad selections.

Newcastle United striker Michael Owen has been omitted from both of the last two squads in favour of the in-form Jermain Defoe.

Capello has shied away from including both the shorter, predatory strikers alongside Wayne Rooney.

But he has picked Emile Heskey and Peter Crouch - both being chosen for the ease with which they can fill the target man role and complement the shorter, quicker Defoe up front.