Coleman livid with Kolarov comments

Wales manager Chris Coleman has reacted angrily to Serbia left-back Aleksandar Kolarov’s comments about his side’s playing style.

The 25-year-old, who signed for Manchester City from Lazio in 2010 for 17 million pounds, upset the Welsh faithful after claiming that all teams in Great Britain play the long ball, ahead of the two nations’ FIFA World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.

But Coleman responded to the claims, diverting the attention onto the problem that could face Serbia rather than his side’s style of football, namely Gareth Bale.

When asked about the claims, he told reporters: “That’s up to him. How much has he actually seen of us? Has he watched our games? Has he been scouting us?

“It’s up to us to keep Mr Kolarov busy. If Gareth plays down his side he’ll have to concentrate hard on his own style of play rather than worrying about us.

“They’ve got their own problems. We have been told that the game has been switched to Novi Sad because the crowd in Belgrade are disillusioned with their national team.”

The former Fulham and Coventry boss was keen to focus on the upcoming fixture rather than dwell on Kolarov’s comments, and said his side must repeat their performance in the controversial 2-0 loss to Belgium to have a chance for success.

He added: “We must have the same attitude we showed against Belgium on Friday night. We’re looking forward to this, it’s a big game for us.

“Their players will have to concentrate on themselves rather than worry about us. We won’t comment on other teams’ style of play. We’ll get on with what we have to do.”