Last week [against Denmark] was dreadful . They can't possibly play that way again. Eriksson should by now be playing a team who are likely to be in the finals in 2006 and then add one or two as he goes along, |
[England's World Cup-winning full-back and a long-time Fulham team-mate George Cohen has long been considered the ultimate fan of Haynes' ability to shape a game, and in the last few days the tone of his admiration has been the old amalgam of worship and affection.] They said Johnny was slow, ... but over 10 yards he was greased lightning. He saw everything so quickly. He made his own time, his own space. It was the same with Bobby Charlton. Over the short and vital distances, he too was blinding. |
His vision was just outstanding. If you think of him in the same way as Pele then you would come close, |
I have a 100 individual memories of the beauty of John's play. One stands out for the sheer perfection of his skill. It was a charity match which, but for that one second, has faded completely from my memory. The ball came to him at speed on a wet, slippery surface but with the slightest of adjustments, one that was almost imperceptible, he played it inside a full-back and into the path of an on-running winger. I looked at our coach Dave Sexton on the bench and he caught my glance and shook his head as if to say 'fantastic'. Haynes could give you goose bumps on a wet night in a match that didn't matter. |
I saw a photo of it later. I didn't like it. It looked like he was trying to copulate with me. |
If you're going to put it on a scale of one to ten, it's probably some place between a nine and one-half and above. |
The trouble is now we have given four goals away from static situations |
They can, but I am not overly keen on the England manager, |
They were a very good side and quite a power in Europe in those days. They had some very, very good players, Eusebio of course... They were a good technical side. |
You cannot allow that to happen because presumably we are going to meet better teams left in the competition. |