As soon as the group was
drawn the FA and England were preparing for an inevitable early exit from the
World Cup. Roy Hodgson himself admitted, "It
is difficult. There is no doubt with Uruguay and Italy we have almost got two
number one seeds in our group” whilst Greg Dyke made the infamous and
pessimistic throat-slit gesture. But
make no mistake, Group D was no ‘Group of Death’. This is not the glorious
Italy team of old, they are much weaker defensively and lack conviction going
forward – and were deservedly beaten by Costa Rica. Uruguay have suffered a
sharp decline since winning the Copa America in 2011, were also deservedly
beaten by Costa Rica, and rely heavily on a couple of select players. Costa
Rica have performed admirably, but ultimately have a population of fewer than
5 million and had one player in the self-proclaimed best League in the World
last season (who was injured for this tournament). With the players available, England should
have at least qualified in second – however, Hodgson seems to be receiving very
little backlash from the mainstream media (primarily the BBC) whatsoever, and
has received assurances on his future from the FA.
In 2010 England crashed out
of the World Cup and Fabio Capello was widely derided and mocked, with a dash
of xenophobia, and many in the media called for his head. This was a man who had won multiple leagues
in both Italy and Spain, not to mention the Champions League, and still wasn't good enough for England. But it seems merely because he is English, Hodgson is
beyond reproach. Now, I am not suggesting Hodgson is an inept manager – he has
managed extensively abroad, is evidently intelligent and multilingual, a quality
that should be applauded and is sadly rare with modern English managers - but
he is not the type of manager England should be persisting with at this moment
in time. He does not fit any bill – he is not the free-spirited attacking
manager some have made him out to be, and he has proven both at the Euros and
now at the World Cup that he is incapable of grinding out results at knockout
tournaments with England. Yes, England did not play too badly in either of
their two defeats (so far), but that was largely down to the relative
mediocrity of the opposition.
Everyone knew that England’s
defence was vulnerable, yet Hodgson did not select a single natural defensive
midfielder in the entire squad. Jordan Henderson, who had a fantastic
season in a midfield three, was left to cover far too much, with Gerrard not
fulfilling a role of any kind. Gareth Barry, who has played consistently well
anchoring a midfield this season was not selected, on grounds of age, but Frank
Lampard, who now does not really fit into a rigid 4-2-3-1, still was. Natural
strikers – Welbeck and Rooney – were played out of position, reducing their
capabilities going forward, and leaving attacking full-backs Baines and Johnson
woefully exposed at times. Baines was widely lambasted following the Italy
match (despite the recurrent overlaps he had to contend with), as was Rooney,
but the man who forced that situation upon the players seemed to escape
criticism. So many fans and pundits could see the situation unfolding, but
relatively little action was taken. James Milner, England’s best defensive
winger (who could also fill in at central midfield) has not played a single
minute of football.
Perhaps such decisions
would be excusable if England had been immeasurably potent going forward. But
they were not – two goals in two games is not impressive. It could be argued
that they had many more shots than Uruguay, but to me this is indicative of a lack
of clinical finishing, and more importantly creativity and incision. Too often
the fullbacks made good attacking runs but were never found, with natural
strikers understandably wanting to cut inside. Gerrard often slowed the game
down with his typical Hollywood balls, which are painfully easy to defend
against, and there was an absence of a natural playmaker. The solution to this
particular problem was probably Ross Barkley, if not maybe Adam Lallana or even
Jack Wilshere, but as Hodgson so positively said: “I'm not prepared to address
your obsession with Ross Barkley. If he's going to be the
player we want him to be, he has to make better decisions of when he turns with
the ball.”
Hodgson may well be right
when it comes to Barkley, but those are not the quotes of a positive,
attack-minded manager. They are the quotes of a naturally negative,
conservative defence-minded slightly antiquated manager, who felt the media
pressure to seem offensive. Brendan Rodgers, Roberto Martinez or Arsene Wenger
would never have criticised a 20 year old player in that manner – and it is a
manager of that ilk England should now seduce.
Grassroots football should
be invested in, but I don’t believe a massive overhaul of the system is
required. England had and will have the players to play genuinely attractive
and attacking football, with the right players to balance the system. This
World Cup could have been refreshing, exciting, and a sign of significant
progress from 2010 – but crushingly, it was inevitably an abject failure. And
the buck stops with Hodgson.
By Alex Jennings
