Former West Ham striker Bobby Zamora reveals Liverpool and England regret

 

Bobby Zamora speaks to The Offside Rule Exclusives about why he has no plans to be a professional coach and two of his career regrets.

When looking back on his playing career Bobby Zamora doesn’t have many regrets. The former West Ham, Brighton and Fulham striker enjoyed an impressive 16-year top flight career including fulfilling a boyhood ambition to represent his childhood team West Ham and playing for England.

But, the 38-year-old, who retired in December 2016, has revealed one rare regret is turning down the chance to sign for Liverpool in the January transfer window in 2011.

Zamora was at Fulham when Roy Hodgson left for Liverpool and the former striker told Offside Rule Exclusives the current European champions bid for him, as did Spurs, but former owner Mohamed Al-Fayed blocked the deal.

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“Maybe I should have dealt with it differently and done what I’ve seen other people do to get the move that they want,” he said. “I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Fulham when I stayed there but maybe that would be one regret, not going to Liverpool or Spurs at that top time. Probably Liverpool more than Spurs.”

That wasn’t the only regret the former striker had that year. Just six months earlier, he was included in Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad but pulled out due to injury.

“In my mind I thought, if I went to the World Cup, would I train? Probably not, because I needed to rest my Achilles. If I wasn’t training, would I be selected? Probably not. In my mind, I thought I should just get it done and get it sorted for the next season,” he explained. “Now, looking back, I probably should have been selfish and experienced the World Cup.”

Zamora didn’t get to experience the World Cup, picking up just two caps before he hung up his boots in 2016. Having put his playing career behind him, he’s now focused on a social housing foundation he runs with Rio Ferdinand and Mark Noble and coaching, albeit he admitted he has no plans to become a coach professionally.

He said: “Coaching professionally is an absolute no-no for me. The pressure in terms of owners, fans and the media, it’s 24/7. I wouldn’t want to be a coach in the Premier League or with a professional team. It’s not for me and never really has been. I’ve got my coaching badges up to B and I don’t want to go any further. That’s just needed for the elite boys and I’m fine with that.”

While his tests in the professional game are over, the former England striker isn’t ruling out a test of a totally different kind.

“Do you know what I would like to do? The Island with Bear Grylls, that’s what I would love to do. I love the outdoors, I go fishing, I love that sort of outdoors escape thing and that’s a real challenge.”

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