It’s been quite a year for Ray Wilkins after the Chelsea assistant manager saw his side pick up the Premiership and FA Cup trophies – and the former England captain is hoping that it only gets better this summer as he watches Fabio Capello’s men in the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Ray was speaking exclusively to www.sellsgoalkeepingacademy.co.uk and is throwing his support fully behind SGA, after recognising the important of top goalkeeping coaching in England.

“The season has been absolutely splendid,” said Ray, who earned 84 caps for England. “We are thrilled with the way things have gone – it really has been fantastic. The Champions League was one situation we would have loved to have done better in but we can’t be perfect all of the time.

“The season that the boys have put in has been nothing short of spectacular. The double to me as an Englishman is special. It is very rarely achieved and once achieved, it is never forgotten. We have gone down in history and when we started out last August, we would have taken the double. What a fantastic situation to be in.”
The former midfield talisman knows all about Italian managers after tasting success with Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti – and he has nothing but faith in Fabio.

“The thing about Italian managers is that they are extremely well-organised. They are disciplinarians more often than that and I say that tongue in cheek, because Carlo is not! He isn’t the stereotypical Italian manager and he likes a laugh and a chuckle with the players. I do believe that Fabio has done a wonderful job with the England players and turned it around for us. We have an excellent chance.

“In my humble opinion, this is the best opportunity we will have for a long, long time. At the moment, we have a number of players who are of exceptional quality. I really believe that if we are going to win it, it will be this year. In our starting line-up, I believe we will have six world-class footballers.

Sports science is now incredible. When the Chelsea players finished the season after the FA Cup Final, they were fitter than the same time last year, albeit a year older. Sports science has moved on although I don’t think the pace of the game can move on. Where it goes now, who knows? We have a wonderful game that we should embrace and hopefully the World Cup will show that.”
Goalkeeping has come a long way since the slowest player on the pitch was put between the sticks – and Ray believes it’s essential that England get back to their best and produce the best goalkeepers in the business.
“England used to have the best goalkeepers in the world and we need to get back to that. That is vitally important. A goalkeeper is part of a very select group. As a coach, we love them so much because they can save you 10 or 15 points a season.

“Goalkeeping is all about technique and decision-making – it’s hard for goalkeepers because if they do make a mistake, more often than not, it’s a goal. Therefore we need to coach these players in the best possible fashion so when they play, they know exactly what they are doing.

“Why would anyone want to be the last line of defence? But goalkeepers do it and god bless them, we love them for it. It’s a difficult situation they find themselves in. The more we can teach goalkeeping, the better it will be.

“Lots of young kids look up to goalkeepers and they are tremendous athletes. I’m really pleased that Sells Goalkeeping Academy has taken the mantle of goalkeeping training on board because this will make a profound difference. We need to get back to being one of the best goalkeeping nations on the planet – this Academy can help with that.”