Funnny Hodgson gets appointed for the majority of my mates it was a case of he's useless, no clue, whats he done, or the best one look at what he did at Liverpool. Now after getting 4 points from the opening 2 games he's a god. I dont love Roy however I was quick to tell them he'd have us organised, we'd defend deep and try to protect a lead and it would be a little 'boring' - last night excluded of course. I assume many of you did the same. Funny old game.
Roy is a good tactictian working with an average squad. Picking 2 up-front was right for the first half, and bringing on Walcott when we went behind was evidently a master-stroke (much to my doubts at that point). What he cannot change is the poor Engand defending. At the free kick we defended too deep, there was a lack of leadership and people who forgot to track their opponents run into the box. However, the first goal was excellent - superb vision/accuracy from StevieG and clinical finish from a AndyC. Having got the win, the Ukraine match will be a good test.
Hodgson is clearly hampered by the players he has at his disposal. Terry and Lescott is a calamitous pairing; when Cahill got injured, it should have become Lescott/Jagielka. Gerrard and Parker look so tired after about 30 minutes, but there is no depth in the CM with Lampard/Wilshere injured. But yes, amusing to hear so many people do a 180 on the issue of Roy Hodgson. But don't forget, they will 180 again if England lose to the Ukraine.
I expect it to all change the minute England lose a game, all the usual suspect who didn't want him will come out the woodwork and decry how useless he is. Let's face it England were average even before he took over. Roy has a system that he sticks too. It took a few months for him to turn round Sanchez tactics, and get the players on board playing his defensive system. Once he had that system in place at the back he worked on passing and keeping the ball in midfield. He got rid of Bullard because he was too disruptive to the system. He needs players who buy into his system.
Agreed with everyone. Roy was the best man for the job, I hear no end of people moaning how he's not good enough, like our England side is a team of superstars! Harry would've been the wrong choice as his strength is in the transfer market and working with big players - useless in the England job. Roy makes the most of a team's strength and organises and disciplines them, he's the perfect underdog coach, which is what we are!
I struggle to think why England already think they have qualified for the quarter final. France will sweep a poor Sweden team aside and Ukraine have home advantage. They sure looked a damn sight better than England did in their game against Sweden. England were poor against France and completely outplayed and narrowly beat a very poor Sweden team. I don't see where this new found delusion has come from? Germany, Spain, Russia, Croatia and Italy have all looked far better this tournament.
Although I agree to some extent I do think that the Sweden game does give the team momentum going into the next. If, as should happen according to the teams on paper, England do win, they will be going into the knockout stages on a high. The goals Sweden scored were down to individual errors at set-pieces, Nasri's was a great strike, although the players around him did drop off. The heartening thing is that the weaknesses are not inherent in the system, like under Capello and Eriksson, but are solvable with a bit more training and drilling. If they fall short down to personnel in this tournament there is a good base for the next. Players like Welbeck, Parker, Hart and Carroll are playing with an enthusiasm that has lacking for a while.
Do one Bandit! Nobody is saying we're already through, but we're in a good position to do so. We just beat Sweden for the first time in a competitive fixture, after surrendering a lead no less! And nobody is saying we look like the best team in the tournament either!
That's not very nice Bidley. I said nothing directly relating to you. All I'm saying is that the usual England can win the tournament hype has begun to creep back in after two uninspiring games. If England win the tournament you can expect me back here with my tail between my legs.
I've seen no hype of the sort, just pure elation that we managed to beat Sweden in the manner we did. Although we made ourselves suffer against Sweden because of two horrific defensive errors, the fightback was inspiring. If that'd happened two years ago the scored would've remained 2-1 or worse, and we'd be out. If we make it out of the group it will still be a massive achievement, and a good showing against Croatia/Italy/Spain would be even better. I don't mean to be aggressive, but coming on this thread where everyone is giving cautious praise for the win (at the most) and stating the bleeding obvious like we need putting in our place just smacks of a wind-up!
