England and West Ham goalkeeper Rob Green is about to set sail for South Africa to help England in their almighty quest for World Cup glory. Unbeknown to most, Rob gained 10 GCSEs, studied law and psychology and had to think twice before giving up his studies to become a pro. The SPG caught up with Mr. Green for a chat about this summer’s World Cup, life as a top Premiership footballer and becoming England’s No.1.
You made your debut for Norwich City as a 19 year old and went on to make over 250 appearances for the club before signing for West Ham United. What would you say are the main differences between The Premiership and The Championship? As a goal keeper the thing you notice most is that you get punished a lot more quickly for any defensive lapses or if the team gives the ball away. Before people have time to react the ball is gone and is either in your goal or very close to it. You have gotta play good football to keep the ball in this league and there is always that pressure that if you do give it away you’re gonna be struggling.
There is also a case to be put forward for The Premiership being dividing into leagues itself. Is it fair to say that apart from the ‘Big Four’ the vast majority of clubs are actually fighting to stay in the top division every season rather than competing for the spoils? It’s a difficult one. You know pretty much every season you can pick the top four teams in the league, but it’s really a toss of the coin to see which of the other clubs are gonna have a good season. We’ve got Chelsea at the weekend and no doubt we are gonna go into that game believing we can do a job on them. The difference is the consistency of the top four teams. They have that great ability of churning out results. That’s what I was saying earlier, the top four teams will punish you very quickly. That’s why they have players being paid so much money. It’s a strange one but there’s not much difference between 18th in the league and 8th.
Students are normally quite cautious with their money as they don’t tend to have a lot of it. What are your views on the spiralling wage structures at Premiership football clubs these days? I understand the argument that people will have that footballers get paid far too much money. If you put it on a personal level and an employer offers you that type of money to do a job, what are you gonna do? It’s a very difficult thing to turn down. Obviously there is also the argument about the difference in wages between the top league and the lower football leagues. If you look at American sports though like baseball and basketball, those guys get paid a hell of a lot more than footballers. It’s a difficult one that’s hard to justify.
Week in, week out, we see referees getting it wrong. What are your views on bringing more technology into the game for major decisions? I don’t think it’s out of the question. Sports like cricket or rugby have a natural stoppage where the video evidence can be used. In football this natural stoppage isn’t as regular. If a player puts the ball past me and it is not given as a goal, the ball could quite easily go up the other end and be in the opposite goal without any halt in the game. I wouldn’t be against it but implementing it into the game would be really difficult. The FA would need to come up with a way of including the technology without ruining the game in any way.
Why is it that goalkeepers hammer defenders when they let in a shot at goal? Surely that’s why you’ve got a job!? The thing is though that you’ll get players who don’t want to get in the way of a shot! They’ll duck or get out of the way! If I did that as a goalkeeper and I didn’t stop the ball going in with my face or whatever other part of my body I’d get slaughtered. It’s a team effort so if you have to get the ball in the face then tough.
What’s the best goal you have ever conceded? Painfully it was scored by my manager Gianfranco Zola. It was against Chelsea in the FA Cup when I was at Norwich. It was a mid air flick through his legs and it went in the top corner. Devastated.
In regards to the national team, how impressed have you been with the England coach Fabio Capello in the run up to the World Cup? He’s different to any coach that I have ever worked under. He’s the manager, he gets his point across and if you have a problem with that then tough. He’ll tell you how it is and I think we all need that as a player. You can’t really argue with his style, he’s proven himself to be consistently successful.
Who’s impressed you the most in your profession? Either someone you’ve played with or against? There are quite a few but overall I would have to say Javier Mascherano. His ability to pass a football is fantastic. The things he can do with a football put most of us to shame. It was the first time I had seen someone with that type of ability. I had really never played with anyone with that type of quality before, it was frightening. It was something new to me and to get to train and play with this guy at West Ham was something special. I’d also have to mention Teddy Sheringham. He was getting on a bit when he was at West Ham but his mind and football brain was something else. Sharper than anyone in the team. In the penalty area I would have to say Jermaine Defoe. His feet and instincts when he gets himself into the penalty area are superb. I’d also have to mention Wayne Rooney. This guy can play in any position including goalkeeper and he is actually brilliant in every position. Overall though I’d have to choose Mascherano. There is something just a bit different about his quality and he stands out for me.
Thanks very much for your time Greeny. Good luck for the World Cup. No problem, take it easy.
Delicious
Digg
Facebook
MySpace
Stumbleupon
Twitter
