Wretched England fail to learn lessons from the past
By Matt Ogborn
Another ignominious major tournament defeat and another morning spent, well, mourning an England football side who always seem to implode just when you think they have turned a corner.
The tired quotes dished out by England boss Roy Hodgson after their lacklustre 2-1 defeat to Iceland in the last 16 did little to soothe the anger, despite his immediate resignation. The former Liverpool manager declared: “The transition from a squad whose average age was 30 to now being the youngest in the tournament is remarkable and exciting for the future of English football.”
That may well be the case, but England still possessed veteran heads to guide the youngsters through the perils of knockout play and possibly even a crack at the trophy itself in the form of captain Wayne Rooney, Joe Hart and Gary Cahill. The fact they looked ill equipped to do so, while other so called top-tier nations have thrived, is extremely worrying going forward for whoever is in charge.
Ironically Lars Lagerbäck, Iceland’s joint-coach, was effusive in his praise of Hodgson afterwards, claiming: “One of the reasons I'm sitting here is thanks to Roy Hodgson and Bob Houghton. I would like to express my respect for them.” Unfortunately for England fans, that means nothing today.
Quite what Hodgson was thinking when he turned all the great work he had produced during qualifying by making unnecessary tweaks during the tournament warm-up games is anyone’s guess.
After playing your best players in their best positions during the triumphant march to the Euro 2016 finals in France, he went rogue and started playing his best players in positions alien to them. Was he trying to inject some sort of hipster vibe into his team? Whatever his motive, it created unrest.
You only have to look at the awkward displays of Harry Kane, in particular, to see how it backfired. Forced out wide initially and entrusted with set pieces, he looked a shadow of the bullish striker we know.
Even though the team carved out a string of decent chances against Russia in their first group game, they never looked entirely comfortable and were punished by a last-gasp equaliser. Heads started to drop in the aftermath and it carried over into the opening stages of the game against Wales.
Thankfully Hodgson decided to throw caution to the wind and his “managerial masterstroke” of bringing on Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge paid off, albeit with a rather fortuitous late winner. Nevertheless, you still got the feeling that the squad didn’t quite know what their coach was actually thinking.
The fact that Tottenham full-backs Kyle Walker and Danny Rose were, arguably, our best attacking threats in the first two games highlights what a mess the midfield was as a unit from the outset.
The Slovakia game confirmed this with a pedestrian and at times abject performance, though it was enough to set up a tie with Iceland, who seemingly offered the better alternative to perennial tournament nemesis Portugal.
Yet again it was the full-backs who looked sharpest with Ryan Bertrand and Nathaniel Clyne lively going forward, which should have given Hodgson food for thought about employing all four on the flanks for the Nice game instead of the mishmash of midfielders who just could not mesh together.
Sadly the British press built England’s chances up again to a ludicrous degree and seemed to forget the struggle of the previous few games. Not only that, they failed to give Iceland credit for the classy way they navigated their own progress through a tough qualification period and early group games. Did nobody remember how Greece confounded everybody time and again to win Euro 2004?
Raheem Sterling was Roy’s headline selection decision for the last-16 clash against Iceland, the under-fire Manchester City winger paying way too much attention to social media instead of honing the various facets of his promising yet erratic game.
It paid off immediately as Sterling won the penalty for Rooney to convert. England, however, have made an art of shooting themselves in the foot and so it proved with the lax marking for the very next attack Iceland mounted as England players congratulated themselves on the opener.
Iceland’s second goal did not come as a surprise; Hodgson's defence has been predictably leaky at key junctures during his reign, while Manchester City goalkeeper Hart has become worryingly adept at producing huge howlers.
The shapeless nonsense that England fans were forced to witness for the remainder of the game showed how out of touch Hodgson and his underwhelming coaching team had become. Jack Wilshere’s arrival off the bench was neutralised by Icelandic grit, with Vardy powerless to help turn the tide on the back of minimal service from midfield.
The swarming urgency and clinical skill at the death that we see from these players at their Premier League clubs week in and week out was horribly lacking in the last third of the game, when balls forward were frustratingly telegraphed and hopeful passes into the box were dealt with easily. In Hodgson’s defence, he could not have predicted how utterly clueless his players would be in this respect.
It was never a "golden generation" who lined up in France - unlike Croatia who will also be kicking themselves over their premature exit - but it was a talented one. Unfortunately for England fans they had a man at the helm who often talked a good game, yet failed to rouse his team enough to supply one.
Whoever replaces Hodgson will be faced with an age-old dilemma: How to get a settled team playing fruitful football in the group stage, so they can tackle any knockout stage with calm heads and a creative verve that unlocks even the stingiest of defences.
Roy's replacement can at least harness the promise shown by tyros such as Eric Dier, Dele Alli and Marcus Rashford - he just needs to meld them together with experienced players who are passionately and patriotically driven to make the Three Lions roar again.