Even back then England had very talented and technical players.”Your problem is that as soon as you lose a game your confidence disappears You are far too critical of yourselves. England could easily have beaten Italy, there was no difference between the two sides at all.”With this, Klinsmann has to leave for training. Everybody at the club, from a waiter to a track-suited, middle-aged member of the management, nods at him appreciatively as he makes his way out on to the pitch. Whatever their differences, the club will be sorry to lose him.I wish Klinsmann good luck for the remainder of the season, and for his forthcoming fatherhood “Thanks,” he shouts back “Have a nice day!” He is a free spirit, that’s for sure.

And not even he knows quite what is going to take place next in his extraordinary career.. CLIVE WHITE

Chelsea 1 Southampton 0
It smacked of a gamble at the last-chance saloon for Graeme Souness, but the Southampton manager’s decision to omit the enigmatic Matt Le Tissier from his starting line-up at Stamford Bridge last night failed to pay off. Southampton are in free-fall and it will take more than one man, one senses, to halt their descent towards the First Division.Chelsea, caught between the need to finish as high as possible in the League and saving themselves for their FA Cup semi-final against Wimbledon, were there to be beaten. But the days when Southampton hit anyone for six, never mind Manchester United, are long gone and they have now won just three of their last 22 League games.The timing of Le Tissier’s “demotion” – Souness claimed it was due to a “chronic foot condition” and groin problem could not have come at a worse moment for the Channel Islander, with the announcement today of the English squad for the game against Mexico on Saturday week.

For better or worse, the languid one must hope that Glenn Hoddle has already made his mind up on that score. But it is hard to imagine Le Tissier getting anxious about anything.Injured or not – and the man himself said “it’s a surprise to me I was left out” – he emerged from the substitutes’ bench after 52 minutes only to make no discernible difference to the outcome. “I’m not 100 per cent fit, but I still feel I could have an impact on games,” he said.On a night when Chelsea’s shortcomings in defence in the absence of Franck Leboeuf were frequently exposed, they at least had cause to be grateful for the goalkeeping of the much maligned Frode Grodas for a win which sees them leapfrog over two clubs into fifth place.As is often their way, they were rescued by the quality of their forward play and Gianfranco Zola in particular. His strike after 22 minutes brought the architect-cum-demolition man level on 11 goals with leading scorers Gianluca Vialli and Mark Hughes, whose chest-down was whipped home by the diminutive striker.Chelsea (4-4-2): Grodas; Sinclair, Clarke, Johnsen, Burley; Petrescu, Di Matteo, Wise, P Hughes (Parker, 69); M Hughes, Zola. Substitutes not used: Myers, Vialli, Morris, Colgan (gk).Southampton (4-4-2): Taylor; Van Gobbel, Neilson, Dryden, Charlton (Benali, 76); Slater, Berkovitch, Magilton, Oakley (Le Tissier, 52); Ostenstad, Evans. Substitutes not used: Maddison, Basham, Beasant (gk).Referee: S Lodge (Barnsley).

Whenever Liverpool have approached a match in Europe this season, one team seems to intrude on their preparations. They meet SK Brann of Norway tonight in the European Cup-Winners’ Cup at Anfield, but the memory of Brondby will be playing on their minds. On the face of it, an industrious but ordinary Brann ought to provide few problems for Liverpool who, after a 1-1 draw in the away leg in Bergen, will progress to the semi-finals with something as mundane as a scoreless draw. Simple, except the circumstances virtually mirror last season’s Uefa Cup tie when Brondby got a late goal at Anfield and precipitated what is known on Merseyside as Black November.
Liverpool’s March has been murky enough, with a defeat at Aston Villa, a draw against Nottingham Forest and a structural collapse against Newcastle that was only underpinned at the last moment by Robbie Fowler. A Brondby- type reverse, however, would evoke darker thoughts of another trophyless season, not withstanding their second place in the Premiership.Roy Evans, the Liverpool manager, said yesterday the emphasis would be on attack, with safety an underlying priority.

Brann, after all, will have to take risks in the latter stages if neither side has made a breakthrough by then.”It’s pointless trying to get a 0-0 draw out of it,” Evans said “That’s suicidal. You end up with a Brondby situation where someone gets a late goal and you’re out. We have to try and win the game from the start but be sensible about it – we can’t leave ourselves wide open.”Evans’ priority is to avoid the “silly goals” that have dragged back Liverpool’s thrilling attacking play in recent matches. “We are going to be concentrating on the way our defence is set up, rather than on individuals,” he said.