Ahead of the forthcoming UEFA EURO 2012 qualifier between Wales v England, Castrol, in partnership with the League Managers Association will be previewing this clash with two former England greats - Glenn Hoddle and Ray Wilkins. They will be assessing how Wales are making the transition to a more youth-focused squad and how they’ll fair against Capello’s English Lions - who are also facing a transition period as the old guard of Ferdinand, Lampard and Gerrard face a challenge from a new, younger breed of Englishmen.

As well as Wales v England, we’ll look at the other UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying groups and using the Castrol Predictor technology to analyse who we think are certain to qualify for Poland & Ukraine and who look as though they’re struggling.   Log onto our live webTV show where you can send your questions and involved in the debate. Glenn and Ray will also give their views on the recent UEFA Champions League & Europa League clashes and who they think will reach Wembley and Dublin respectively.

Glenn Hoddle and Ray Wilkins join us live online at www.studiotalk.tv on Monday 21st March at 11:00 to preview the UEFA EURO 2012 qualifiers.

For more information go to www.castrolfootball.com

H: Ashley House

A: Ray Wilkins – former England International

B: Glenn Hoddle – former England manager

H: Hi there and welcome to Sport Talk, brought to you today by Castrol Edge. My name is Ashley House. Now, with England preparing for what is there first game against Wales since 2005, what better excuse do we need to get a couple of football finalist pundits in the studio to preview that huge game, as well as some of the other big clashes in the qualifying groups. In the studio with me today, we’ve got former England manager, Glenn Hoddle and former England manager and Chelsea coach player, Ray Wilkins. Welcome to the show guys, very good to have you with us. Coming up on the show today, this is what we’re going to be looking at. We’re going to be previewing that England Wales match, we’re going to be looking up some of the other big Euro 2012 qualifying fixtures, and Castrol’s Edge Rankings, who’s at the top of their game at the moment. We’re also going to be having a chat about the Champions League quarter final draw. And remember we are live today, so if you want to get your questions through to Glenn and to Ray, do use the box that’s on your screen, and if you’re using Twitter, then the #Castrolfootball. That’s #Castro, football.

Right, guys let’s start off with the first one then, England against Wales, obviously Ray the expectation is that England’s going to have an easy win, is it going to be that easy do you think?

A: I don’t think it will be that easy, no. Well, we asked Steven Gerrard of course, who can’t make it through injury, having that groin operation. We’re playing in Wales, the stadium will be absolutely packed, great atmosphere. I expect to win, we’ve got far more experience but they…I know they’re struggling, they’re in a transitional period are the Welsh. New manager of course with Gary going in there, and it’s difficult for them because they’re a young side, but they do have some quality in there. Over the last couple of years, their under-21 team has been very, very good indeed.

H: Well, we’re going to talk a bit more about the under-21’s, but Glenn, in terms of the atmosphere, Wales really struggled to sell tickets, I think there were only about 18,000 for a couple of the other games but they’ve sold out the Millennium Stadium, 69,000 people, it’s a heck of an atmosphere there, how much does that matter?

B: It is, I mean, they’ll respond, they’ll want their players to respond, but you know the England players respond to that sort of atmosphere as well. Although it will be heavily based from a Welsh point of view, but the English players have played in front of…the bigger the crowd, the better they will perform. It will be a tricky game for them, certainly the first half an hour I think if Wales were to score, then that would be a real uphill struggle for England, but I think if they can quell that, get off to a good start, England, then I don’t see any problems at all. But you’ve got to give…in international football, you’ve got to give any team all the respect that you have to give them when you play away from home. It will not be easy when it comes to 3 o’clock kick off time there will be a proper game on.

A: It could go one of two ways actually, as well of course. The Welsh boys are young lads and with that crowd in there expecting a performance from them that could either petrify them, or put them in to a good space, but we’ll wait and see.

H: Obviously there’s so many clichés in football – Glenn you mentioned about the early goal and silence in the crowd and all that kind of stuff, does it really work like that? You know that whole thing about “what a great time to score that was”, the thing that always occurred to me

A: I think silence in the crowd, we’ve always said that Glenn, haven’t we? Whenever you’ve gone out and you’re playing against a big nation and a big stadium, the first 20 minutes is vitally important. If they score in that period, more often than not you’re going to be under the cosh for a long period, but if you can just quell that and for the first 20 minutes keep them nice and quiet, more often than not, you’ve got half a chance.

B: I think this particular game, everyone’s expecting England to win and if they go there and in the first five minutes, score, I think that’s the game over, I really do. As a spectator call the Welsh will be going there and there will be 60-odd thousand and they will be expecting maybe just to pull off a miracle. Now, the longer that game goes at nil-nil, the more difficult it becomes for the favourites and the pressure builds up on them, so the early goal in these circumstances or not conceding in many ways for England, will be vital to winning the points.

H: OK, well we’re just going to talk about Gareth Bale obviously, and I’m sure Glenn as a former Spurs player you would have watched him and I’m sure you’re a great admirer. Who else is there to look out for? Aaron Ramsay; are there other people as well?

B: I think Ramsay, and if Bellamy’s fit, I don’t know whether he’s going to be able to play or not, but Ramsay’s a good young player. What he hasn’t had is enough experience maybe with Arsenal. He’s been there on loan and he had the injury so as Ray said earlier, it might work against some of the youngsters if that pressure pot in that stadium builds up too much on them, but he’s a good prospect without doubt, but the pick of the bunch is Gareth Bale. Again Ray, he’s been injured as well

A: He’s a terrific footballer. But Joe Ledley as well at the moment, scoring goals for Celtic also, from the middle of the pitch, so that’s one I’m going to have to watch for, from the middle of the field as well, but Gareth Bale has been absolutely magnificent hasn’t he? Now when he tore Inter Milan apart, not on one occasion, on two occasions. That’s not easily done when you’re playing against a full back of Maikon’s experience and yet he was absolutely outstanding

B: I think it was important for Gareth Beale as manager that he actually got 90 minutes under his belt at the weekend, because he’d been out, he’s been injured hasn’t he, and he’s not quite as sharp as he has been, but that 90 minutes for him, I mean Harry won’t be looking at it like that, because he’s now going to go off on international duty, but for him personally and for the Welsh team that’s a good 90 minutes under his belt.

H: What about the youngsters for England, what about Jack Wilshire for example, I mean I remember watching him was he was 15 at Arsenal reserves and Arsene Wenger was in the crowd and the camera just focusing on Arsene Wenger and you almost saw his head go “oh, hello, we might have one here”. Where does he stand if you’re going to compare Bale and Ramsay to Jack Wilshire?

A: I think you only had to look at his performance in the Camp Nou the other night against Barcelona. I thought he was the only player in actual fact from the Arsenal team that came out with any credit. I thought he was absolutely terrific. Even when it was hot, he wanted the ball, he tried to get it back, he was aggressive, he was fit and I think Wilshire’s really one for the future, he’s a terrific player.

B: He is a wonderful player, very stylish player, elegant player when the ball’s on his left foot. What I like about him is that he show a lot of maturity in the positions that he picks up. He’s very cute in coming behind the ball, things like that take years sometimes for a midfield player to experience that and go through, but he picks up some lovely positions and he’s always available. Sometimes you see him and he’ll run behind the ball and it’s a problem then for the defender then to come and mark him, because you don’t want to go across the line of the ball, and he picks up lots of possession, facing the opposition, for me, that’s really cute as a young, young player and then he’s got the ability to pick the passes that he does, so we’re hoping that he’s going to have a great game next week

A: If you look at the introduction, Ash, as well of Matt Jarvis. You know, Matt only a few years ago was playing for Gillingham, that was a great buy that Mick’s done in bringing him to Wolves, but he really has blossomed into a real decent player. Two feet, so he can go on the outside, he can come in on the inside and put the ball in, and for him to have achieved what he’s done this year, in a Wolves side that’s had their problems, is remarkable and it’s a nice little tribute from Capello to bring him into the squad

B: Yeah, and he scored a hell of a goal at the weekend. He’s coming into the squad with a lot of confidence

H: Let’s have a quick look at the table guides as well. Montenegro obviously on top, but they’ve played the extra game. Would you expect Glenn, England to end up on top of that group, or do you think it’s not going to be quite as easy as people are assuming?

B: No, I think looking at the group, from day one I thought there’s only one spot England are going to come out on and that’s the number one spot. It’s easy to say, you’ve got to get the points on the board, but looking at the opposition…any away game and international football as Ray will tell you, is a tough, tough game. Wherever you go, you have to earn the right to play, you have to earn the right to get the result, but I can only see England winning all those games at home, I can’t see any of those teams taking any points away from England at Wembley I really can’t, so I think we’ll get enough points on the board

H: Well, certainly the Castrol stats seem to say that when you look at it, England’s likelihood of winning 63%, Wales 15% and draw 22%, if you were a betting man Ray, is that roughly how you would see the odds going?

A: I think so. I think that’s just about right to be perfectly honest, actually. I don’t really give Wales too much of a chance against our lads, I have to say.

H: OK, let’s have a look at some of the other big games that we’ve got coming up as well then. First of all, Italy. Now Ray, obviously you’ve got a lot of experience from the Italian game, where would you put the Italian game, the league and their national team at the moment? How would you see they’re faring?

A: Cesare Prandelli at the moment has got a problem, in that the football itself within Serie A is not in a good place, and it’s not going too well at the moment, so from that perspective, the players aren’t really playing with the utmost confidence. If you look at the football in Italy, there’s no one in the stadiums, because of the television situation that has happened in Italy. The real surprise to me is Serbia being in fifth place. The Serbians have got some really good footballers playing in and around Europe, some fantastic footballers. You’ve only got to look at Vidic – Man U, Ivanovic at Chelsea, they really are some talented players, it surprises me where they are

H: So Italy are playing Slovenian, as Ray said the Italian team and the Italian game are in general is not in the best state, but where do you see that game going, Italy against Slovenia?

B: You’ve got to say Italy I think. Slovenia are a very creative side, we’ve seen that in the world cup, and they’ll have a lot of confidence going in to that, but it’s a game that Italy have got to win, being at home and it’s one of those games that as Ray says, they’re not at their best at the moment, but you would think that they would have enough to beat Slovenia. As I say they’ve got some talented players and you have to be wary of them, because they have got the ability to carve you open and can cause you a lot of problems, but I think at home Italy have got to win that one

A: And always with the Italians you’ve got four ten against one, defensively they’ll always set themselves up in a fine fashion, hard to beat

H: Yes, and that’s still the case now is it?

A: Still the case, yes

B: It’s part of their DNA isn’t it?

H: Again, though here, the Castrol stats have got Slovenia, I suppose because they’re slight favourites, 36% against Italy’s 34%. In terms of going to Eastern Europe, I know it’s not quite the same as it was in your day guys…I’m not being rude but going to Easter Europe was much more closed

A: We had a wall to get through!

H: That’s right, you had the Iron Curtain to get through! But, Slovenia, Estonia and all those places…how difficult is it going out there? I mean, you have the temperature difference and all that stuff, but are the crowds different, are the pitches different?

A: I think the main thing with the pitch, if there’s a good pitch, I’d go with the draw all day long, with the Italians playing away from home, I don’t see Italy getting beaten too often when they go on their travels, because they will set themselves up defensively so strong. If the pitch is decent, if they can start rolling the ball around, but if it’s a poor pitch, then you never know what might happen.

B: I mean Slovenia, if you remember, they beat Russia to qualify and that was a good win, they can be dangerous. They’re a dangerous team to play against in a tournament, in a one off situation, or in a big key game, so for them to go and beat Russia obviously means that Italy have got a hard task on their hands, but out of that group you’ve got to still say that Italy will be the number one team

H: OK, Italy obviously in the past have been a big team, these days though, it’s Spain. Glenn, how good is this Spain team?

B: There’s only one team better than them on the planet and that team is Barcelona, and most of their team is Barcelona. If you add Messi, I think Barcelona will just shade it actually, but they’re a wonderful, wonderful football team, they really are and I think to win the World Cup and to do what they’ve done in the style that they’ve done it, you can only see them winning this group, there’s no doubt about it, this is a special team. There’s a lot of young lads in my Academy that we’ve seen and I’ve said Barcelona and Spain, you’re very lucky lads, you’re in a generation who is seeing a very special side, Ray, aren’t they?

A: Absolutely

H: Yes, Ray, we’ve just a live question come in from Jamie, thanks for that. Don’t forget you can get questions into Ray and to Glenn using #Castrolfootball on Twitter, or just on the box on your screen right now: “Arsenal taught another master class,” Jamie says, Ray,” by Barcelona. Is there any other team in history that plays and dominates a game as well as Barcelona do or are they simply mesmeric and out of this world?”

A: We’ve always had wonderful football teams. The Brazil team of ’70 I’d go back to a lot, you guys probably wouldn’t even remember them Ash, but they were a wonderful team, but I think what this team has is not only in possession are they wonderful, but out of possession, they’re prepared to work as well. I think the Sacci team of AC Milan, were probably one of the closest out of possession in how hard they worked to get it back and how good they were in possession, but this Barcelona team, when I saw them play against Real Madrid about a month ago, I thought they took the game to a different planet. It’s almost a different level of football they played.

B: It’s incredible, they don’t need a centre half, the centre half doesn’t pass any…when I say they don’t need their centre half I mean the centre half doesn’t play any balls long. If you look at the stats, it’s everything so short and it’s incredible how they build from the back, right the way through the pitch, and get their main men on the ball in the right positions, and as Ray says, they lose it, they press so hard. Their training – I was listening to a couple of guys talking about how they train – and I think it was Mascherano and he said the only training they do is pressing of the ball. They know they’re very good on the ball. He said every single day, Guardiola spends half an hour where it’s press, press, press, win the ball. I don’t know how they win it off each other though! Perhaps they get the youth team in! You know, it’s press, press and they know they’re the best team in the world, they know the techniques, they know the shape and the style of play. It’s the defensive side that they purely work on and that surprised me a little bit I must say, but as you say Ray, they win it back so quickly

H: What is it that...there are lots of teams that dominate possession, a little bit like Barcelona, maybe not quite as much, but what is it about Barcelona that means they can actually almost always, Ray, turn it into goals and into victories. I mean Arsenal dominate games, don’t they, but they don’t always turn it into victory.

A: You obviously have to add in players as well, Ashley. In Messi this young man, we talk about rotation and using players, this guy plays every game, he plays every game for Argentina, he plays every game for Barcelona. There’s not a lot of rotation goes on with Barcelona. They actually play and Glen made the best point; they get the right players in the right areas where they can damage people, and their movement is such that you’ve always got three or four options in possession of the ball, so it’s very seldom that they give it away and they are a wonderful outfit.

B: They have got such a flexible front three. Whoever’s playing, if it’s Villa, if it’s Pedro and Messi, they’re never in the same position, but you find them drifting into new positions all the time, such talented players, but they’ve got that license to really make that move and then when you’ve got two players like Iniesta and Gerry behind you, just popping balls through and bending their runs…young centre forwards out there should look at the way they make their runs, and the timing of it. They never go straight, they always bend their runs first and then they go in, and they’ve got the providers in their as well. We’re talking about Barcelona more than Spain, but it’s pretty much the same team.

H: Well, one of the things about Spain of course is that Cesc Fabregas, who many would argue is one of the best players in the premiere league, doesn’t even get a look in there, so when you see those stats there and you see 70% Spain chance of winning, 10% for Czech Republic, they’re no mugs the Czech Republic, but to say 10% what does it say about Spain?

A: I think Peter Czech’s going to be a busy guy. Spain are just wonderful at this moment in time, and if you go right through, under-21 teams, 20’s, they’ve got the same crop, they’ve got a great crop coming through, this is a very, very good time for Spanish football. Very good

H: Yes, indeed, let’s move onto the next one here, this is one of the tightest groups definitely in terms of qualification. Norway are playing against Denmark this week, Portugal obviously in between them as well. Where do you see the Scandinavian teams at the moment Glenn, where’s Scandinavia and football heading?

B: They’ve always been strong, they’ve always been difficult to play against, I mean England over the years has always had Sweden has been a problem to England over the years. Norway and Denmark, you know they’re going to be physical, you know they’re going to be fit. Technically, they’re a little bit behind still, but they do come up with some special players every now and again, that’s the key to them, they’ve got some special players over the years. Simmonson, of yesteryear and Norway have always produced good players. But this is a Scandinavian derby, it can go either way. I haven’t seen Denmark do much, but I know that Norway are always a strong, strong side.

H: Again, the stats there, Norway 47%, Denmark 26%, a lot of that will be based on the fact that they’re playing at home I expect.

A: Yes, I think that’s the case, Ashley, and I think…I don’t know. The draw stands out for me, I’ve got to say. I think they’re so close these guys, whether it be at home or whether it be away, I think the draw is the likely result. I don’t like to keep sitting on the fence. I think that is probably the draw. (17’36”)

B: I don’t like to keep sitting on the fence actually, and I think that’s probably the draw

H: One of the things with the groups that we’ve just looked at, and obviously with Portugal in there and the group that we looked at before with Spain, and we’ve had a question from one of Castro’s Facebook community, from Matt Lynch, who says; “Do you think that seeding for the qualifiers gives the smaller nations pretty much no chance of getting to the big tournaments, and then a correlative of that is, does it hinder the larger nations from improving, because the route to the finals is so easy, the standard of competition for them in the groups is actually quite low.” Would you agree with Matt?

B: I don’t think it’s easy. For the European situation those groups are tough. You always have maybe an easier side in the group, but I don’t think it’s an easy…certainly when you get to the finals, it’s almost like the World Cup last sixteen, that’s the quality of it. How are the minnows ever going to improve if they’re cast aside? A lot of people have said about they should go through a preliminary…one team goes through, but football is about the whole family, and I think the minnows, if you like, if there are any, they’re improving and the reason that they’re improving is that they’re playing against…they might get beat. In years gone by Ray, we played in the game, I’m sure you played, we beat Norway I think 7 or 8 - 1 at Wembley. Those days have gone. Those days have gone. They’ve got better and better, the smaller teams are getting better. They can only get better by playing against the big boys, the big fish and the big sides then might have to look at some younger players and it’s a nice time to nurse them in. You want world football to get…and European football as we’re talking about now, you want it to get to the standard to get better and higher and that’s the only way to do it.

H: Is that ever going to happen, Ray? Do you agree with Glenn that the Faro Isle’s, the San Marino’s, the Cyprus’s of the world, that they they’re going to get better? Are they really improving?

A: I think it’s important as well from an individual’s perspective, as well. You might get one or two players within that team that are of exceptional standard. Now, as Glenn said, if they’re not playing against the best, they’re never going to improve, they’re never going to be seen to be taken out of that football and play at a higher level. So from an individual perspective it’s better that these guys do get the opportunity to play against a big fish

H: Yes. Talking about…you’ve talked about some of the individuals, Glen obviously you work with your academy in Spain. How do the academies scout in those small nations? Is there a way of trawling through the youngsters in the Faro Isles and San Marino? Is there a way of doing that?

B: Oh, you’d be amazing. It’s funny you should say that. The Faro Islands, we’ve had two players at the FA the Faro Island’s Federation have sent to us and they had six months with us to improve and develop, and they’ve gone back and one of them is now in the first team, he was under 21 when he came to us. So we’ve had two of those guys come down. We’ve got other Federations, smaller Federations that are prepared to send us some players down, because of the experience that we’ve got and the development that we’re doing at the academy. It’s not about just playing match, match, match, it’s developing players and improving players, so yes, Faro Islands is something we’ve connected up, and there’s a few from other countries as well. From the Middle East, we’ve linked into as well, so I think it’s a great opportunity for them.

H: Ray, question from you from Alex who says; “Why don’t England ever play a 4-4-2 with Lampard advance, Gerrard defensive, Lennon and Walcott on the wings and Crouch and Rooney up front? That would kill everyone.”

A: Well, we’d like to think it would kill everybody, but as you’ve seen in the last World Cup, when you’re playing against the sides with the technical ability of the Spanish, when you the play the 2 in there, it becomes very difficult when you don’t have the ball because you never see the ball, that’s the problem. And we’ve had a few problems, as simple as it is, if Glenn and I were playing if Glenn was further forward then I would cover Glenn and vice versa. That’s the way it functions, wide players, they tuck in when the ball is on the other side of the pitch and it is pretty logical stuff, and I do agree to a large degree, 4-4-2 we saw Manchester United play Chelsea at Stanford Bridge the other night and it was a great…it was a bit of a throwback really. It was up and at ‘em, you attacked, we attack, but I think if you play international football in that manner, especially against the better teams, then you’ll get punished big time

B: I think that’s the problem. Personally, I’ve always said it and I was in the position of having to pick a team for England and go to the World Cup, I played 5 in mid-field, I played 3 at the back when we were in possession and I think, Ray and myself played many, many games and I remember a game against Spain in Wembley I played in, they had 5 in mid-field and we didn’t see the ball, we lost 2-1 and we were chasing shadows playing 4-4-2 and many games like that happened and we didn’t have enough bodies in there. One, to keep it and to win it back and I think it’s a problem to us at the moment. I think Lampard and Gerrard are made for 3 in the mid-field. However you want to play that, if you want to play it 2 at the back and 2 up front, or you want to go 4-3-3 or 5 across, those 2 with a sit-in player behind are absolutely tailor made to then get in the box and do what they’re good at, and I think this is a problem. I don’t see us winning anything if we stick to a rigid 4-4-2. Barcelona play the back 4 but they don’t play 4-4-2. Arsenal play the back 4 but you can’t see their shape, it’s not a 4-4-2. Too many times in the World Cup, in my opinion, you could see their shape when we’re possession and it was too easy to shut down, and that was the problem.

H: You mentioned that particular game when Spain played 5 in mid-field, as a manager or a coach Ray, when you see that happening how easy is it to be flexible, or is it difficult because you’ve practiced everything down to such a tight degree?

A: Well, you do but you’ve got to have flexibility when you’re training and coaching as well, normally against teams that you know are going to monopolize the ball, then you’ve got to set your stall out totally differently and that’s Chelsea as well as England. When we would play against Arsenal we would function, especially playing away from home we would function slightly differently than we would if we played at Stanford Bridge, so you do have to mix and match, but it’s also having the personnel to do it. You’ve got to be very fortunate when you go into a job that the personnel there are able to perform to the level, and be able to be quite flexible. And you as a coach and Glenn as a manager would have to look upon it as well, and you do have to have the foresight to say, well hang on a second, this isn’t quite working out now we need to change something and get cracking in a different mode, so you do have to be flexible

B: In international football it’s difficult to do that. I think we should be further down the line in playing some different systems and knowing what to do to have players just adjust into a system. It’s harder to get that when you’re not with them daily as a club manager, that’s the real crook of international manager, that’s the negative side. But I think after you’ve been with them a couple of years, the players should know. That’s what you’re training camp’s about, that’s the extra time that you’re given now when you’re playing together for 2 games, by now if we’re going to play with 5 in mid-field or we’re going to play with 3 up front, or if we do go into a 3 at the back…I don’t see that flexibility in England at the moment. I think we’re very rigid in the way that we playing

H: OK, I want to move away from international football just briefly, you mentioned Chelsea/Manchester United, Ray, and we’re going to see that again of course, the question that has come in from thegoal.com website is; “Is international football in decline compared to the Champions League and as I said, we’re going to see Manchester United against Chelsea in the Champions League. Would you agree with that Ray, is international football in decline?

A: Well, I don’t think it’s in decline as such, but the Champions League is such a wonderful competition that it seems to have taken over international football. I won’t say international football is in decline, because that’s the pinnacle of your career, whether you’re a player, whether it be as a coach, whether it be as a manger

H: Is it still?

A: Oh yes. You want to play for your national team and you want to play as much as you possibly can for them as well, but there’s so much football being played at the moment and injuries being picked up, that the Champions League is such a wonderful competition that it does tend to overshadow, what’s going out there in international football

H: We’ve got another question here as well, Glenn, from sportexpressandchampion.ru asking similarly, we were talking about Spurs and the Champions League, saying; “How do you rate the Russian players in the Premiere League, Arshavin, Pavlyuchenco and Zhirkiov and in which order would you put them on and how they’re doing?” Maybe not do that but how do you think the Russian players are fitting in?

B: I think they’re doing OK. I think the players you’ve just said have done well. They haven’t excelled. They’re not at the top of the tree in the Premiership at the moment, they do find it difficult to adjust to the way that we play and possibly live even, because when you do move abroad – I myself was lucky enough to move abroad – it’s how you settle in to the pitch which is the key to how you perform on it and maybe that’s been a slight problem for them, but they’ve done well and there are some good player. Pavlyuchenco for Tottenham, he comes on as sub and changes things 9 times out of 10. He did it again against West Ham, nearly created a couple of goals and Arshavin’s pretty similar, comes on from the bench and gets affection from the bench. He affects the game from the bench, probably more than when the pressure’s on him starting. So they’re doing well but progress report is they can do better.

H: And still talking about Spurs; Real Madrid, easy game for Harry Rednapp’s men or…?

B: Easy game! I wish there was! Personally I think it was a wonderful game for Tottenham because I would have worried if they’d have got Shalcom, because everyone at White Hart Lane would have said we can get to the semi’s now, the pressure would have been on them because the pressure has been taken right off because Real Madrid are Real Madrid, there’s only one Real Madrid, but the fact that they’ve got the second leg at White Hart Lane is a real key for me, they can do it. They can do it. If they’ve done it against Inter, they can do it against Real Madrid

A: They’ve still go to be in the tie after the burn about, that’s the important part. That’s not being negative, that’s doing what they did in Milan and that’s playing with the ball when they can play with the ball. Milan put it in their half of the pitch as well. And using the attributes that they’ve got. Milan were taken aback when the left back kept putting into onto Peter Crouch’s head. They thought “my word”. And because the 3 forward players of Milan wouldn’t work hard enough to shut him down, he kept getting ball in, after ball in. And if Peter Crouch is available, hit him. So long as you’ve got runners going in that box to get on the end of it. And I think Tottenham have got a decent chance against Madrid

B: Yes, I do

H: Madrid have got Maurinho. He’s fairly canny isn’t he? He might have noticed that Crouch plays up front and he’s 6’7”

B: He’s not playing though, Maurinho, is he? He’s got a vast amount of talent and let’s be fair, Real Madrid are still a wonderful team, it’s only that Barcelona are so far in advance of them, I’ve watched them a lot this year. They have their moments, they have some fantastic players in that team, Spurs are going to have to play like they did against Inter Milan at home and AC Milan away. They’re going to have to give themselves a 9 out of 10 performance to get through the 2 times, but Maurinho will come up with something, but I think he’ll just be simply thinking, he’ll know it will be such a tough game at White Hart Lane. He’s going to have to go there with a lead and I personally can see Spurs…the way Harry sets his team up is to be admired, and he’ll still go and attack and I can see Spurs getting an away goal, which would be absolutely mammoth for them, it really would.

A: And Madrid might be about Ronaldo. They might be, which is a massive cloud for them. Massive. So we’ll keep our fingers crossed for that one

H: Well funny you should mention Ronaldo, actually. The Castrol rankings for the top 10 players in the European Leagues, Ronaldo comes in second behind Leo Messi. Are there any surprises for you on that list? You’ve got Messi at the top, then Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain another Real Madrid player, then Frank Lampard in fourth

B: Gomez is one, I’ve always liked him. Funny, I didn’t know he’s number 5 there, but Gomez is the lad up front for Bann, he’s strong, he’s got mobility, he scores goals, he’s a real handful. He’s got everything as a striker. As a striker you’re waiting on the service you’re going to be given, and this lad has had a really good season and I’ve always liked him and it’s interesting to see him at number 5

A: I’m surprised to see Flourent Malouda, where’s Gareth Bale? What number is Gareth Bale? I know he’s had his injury problems, but Frank Lampard’s been out for 2 and half month

B; Higuain’s been out most of the season

A: Yes. How Gareth Bale isn’t in that group, I’ve no idea. And Modric at Tottenham. I don’t see Modric. Modric has been absolutely outstanding, again on Saturday. My word. Did you see the game on Saturday? Some of his touches, his moves, his desire to play the game it’s just fantastic. I love Modric, I think he’s a fantastic footballer

B: I think they’ve got the top man right though!

H: Just about! Glenn, to do with the individual players, a question here from Eurofootball.ru; “Glenn, Arsene Wenger once said that as a footballer you were ahead of your time and if you’d appeared in English football a decade later, you’d have been more successful.” I’m sure you’ve been asked it before, but how did you react when you heard Arsene Wenger say that about you?

B: Well, it was a nice compliment to have and obviously I worked with Arsene at Monaco. I think it was different in our ear. When Ray played, we played together and we would love to play on the pitches now. The surfaces they play on are like carpets, some of the games we had to play on were like a mud bath and if you’re a creative player which we were, it was very difficult to create. And also the back path rule I think has helped the creative player, because I didn’t like it when it came in and I think it could be changed, in the area you should be allowed to pass back, but at the end of the day, it stretches the pitches and it makes the pitch…the space is there. And obviously now if you breathe on someone you can get booked if you’ve had too much curry! That’s the sort of thing that…so the creative games 10 years after we played started to evolve like it is now, and yes, I think it would be more rewarding for players like Ray and myself to play now.

H: Has English football changed in the last decade, Ray, or has football generally changed?

A: I think the influx of foreign players, our game’s definitely changed. The regulations have changed and therefore our game has changed immensely. The foul for example now has been taken out the game. It’s a yellow card, basically. Any foul on the pitch is a yellow card, so the regulations have changed as football’s changed and I agree with Glenn, the pitches now…you have the opportunity to play with your head off the floor, which in times gone by, your head was stuck to the floor just to make sure the ball didn’t bobble away! Or if Graham Souness was going to come behind you and petrify the life out of you! That was what it was about! But now the pitches are so good that you can play all the time with your head up off the floor and I think that’s so important

H: Another question here from Joe Lang, take this one to Glenn; “Some of the very best managers in the world today were never world beaters as players. Why do you think that is?”

B: I think that it shows you the difference between playing and management. They’re worlds apart, they really are, it doesn’t mean if you’re a decent player that you turn into a good coach. Personally, I only started looking at it through a management window when I got injured in Monaco. I didn’t think I’d ever stay in management, I really didn’t and I was 31 in Monaco, had an injury for a whole year and just started to look through different eyes, completely, and that’s what changed me into management, so I had a year of preparing myself if you like, to go into management but it was all internally. I didn’t go off on courses or whatever, I just watched Monaco play basically, and I lot of teams on television, with a different eye and I think you can do that as a player, certainly I took that opportunity when I was out injured. I think Bobby Moore tried it, Alan Ball had relative ups and downs, but it’s not a pass

A: I think sometimes Ash, as well, from the top player when he goes into management, he finds it very difficult to understand the inability of somebody that he can’t do what he did. And I think a lot of top players really struggle with that. Alan Ball I believe, when he went into management wanted his team to play with one and two touch. Well, Alan Ball played with half a touch, he was that good. His first touch was that good that it was almost like half a touch he played, and he couldn’t accept the frailty of the guy with the guy that he was playing with, so if you can’t do that, you’ve got a big problem

H: OK, another question here, this one for you Ray, we’ve talked a little bit about this already but this is a very specific one from Phillip, who says; “Ray, who do you think is the best player; is it Aaron Ramsay, or is it Jack Wilshire?” Who would you rather have playing in your team?

A: Well, unfortunately Aaron’s progress has been halted for a time and a good time as well. He’s had a nasty injury, so at this moment in time it would be Jack Wilshire. He’s very Brady-esque in the way that he plays, but Ramsay most definitely has the talent to get up to that level again, and please God the injury doesn’t take too much out of him

H: Ramsay had an amazing under 21’s tournament between England and Wales, it ended up going out to England only just and he’s a bit older than Wilshire as well

A: Yes, but he’s very talented. He can score a goal as well. You saw the area he got himself in at West Brom on Saturday, which was a little bit unfortunate – it came off the bar and he couldn’t get a good enough second touch, but he’s a very good player. I’ve got a lot of time for him

H: OK, last question, we’ve got time for one more, this one’s for Glenn; “Hi Glenn, I’m your biggest fan ever. I used to send you birthday cards from Nigeria in the 80’s until you moved to Monaco and I’ve even named my first son after you. My question is would you ever return to club management?”

B: Well, I wouldn’t say no to that, but I’ve got to say, what I’m doing with my academy and trying to give these guys a second chance, really, from being released from clubs is a good concept and I’m enjoying it, but I didn’t do it to replace management, no, and whether I go back into club management, possibly? I don’t know. I haven’t shut the door on it. Maybe international management, who knows? At the moment I’m pretty content in what we’re doing

H: OK, guys. Thank you very much. Unfortunately that is all we’ve got time for. My great thanks to Ray and to Glenn for joining us. Thank you very much indeed. If you do want to see how your predictions for the qualifiers will unfold and view the latest rankings do have a look at the website: castrolfootball.com. For now though, thanks for joining us on Sport Talk.