Hockey World Cup 2018: England looks to bridge the gap to big teams

One problem is that people put teams like the Netherlands and Belgium on a pedestal and we need to stop that, says England coach Danny Kerry ahead of the Hockey World Cup 2018.

Coach Danny Kerry has refused to make any predictions, saying that the margins between the teams like England and a top team such as Australia is small.

Bobby Crutchley resigned as coach of the men’s team in May this year, leaving England Hockey to seek the services of Danny Kerry, the national women’s team coach to take up the role.

Kerry, who has been the England women’s head coach since 2005, accepted the new challenge in August on short notice — right ahead of a major assignment. “They (England) are nicely positioned to surprise a few people,” Kerry said about his team, according to the FIH website.

The 47-year-old, who guided the England women’s team to gold at the Rio Olympics, refused to make any predictions. “... going into the World Cup, I am not going to be drawn into predicting how we will do, but attitudinally we have nothing to lose,” he said.

Kerry said the margins between the teams like England and a top team such as Australia is small. “The problem is that while the gap between the top-ranked teams may be small, it is a gap that is going to be difficult to bridge. Part of the solution may lie with the players’ mentality,” he said.

“There is definitely the potential for us to close down those small margins, but one problem is that people put teams like the Netherlands and Belgium on a pedestal and we need to stop that. My job is to stop players putting people on pedestals, only then will we be able to bridge the gap,” Kerry said.

Squad: George Pinner, Harry Gibson, Adam Dixon, Liam Sanford, Mark Gleghorne, Jack Waller, Michael Hoare, Luke Taylor, Harry Martin, David Ames, Ian Sloan, Barry Middleton, Zach Wallace, James Gall, Phil Roper, David Condon, Will Calnan and Sam Ward.