SHOW US MORE AMBITION, ROY
Leaving Vardy and Sturridge on bench has echoes of our World Cup failure
ON THE day Roy Hodgson named his final squad for the European Championship here in France, officials at the Football Association were keen to stress one particular point.
After two tournaments, Hodgson was ‘throwing the kitchen sink at this one’. The assertion was based on the England manager’s bold selection of five strikers.
But on Saturday night in Marseille, Hodgson seemed every bit as hesitant as he was in Brazil two years earlier, his reluctance to make ambitious, aggressive substitutions as evident now as it was then.
If he deserves credit for the manner in which England played for the opening 45 minutes, and given how little preparation they had as an XI it was impressive, Hodgson also has to take some blame for their failure to score a second goal that would have almost certainly secured victory against a distinctly ordinary Russia side.
England were crying out for some fresh impetus in attack, with Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling tiring every bit as much as Wayne Rooney in the latter stages of their opening Group B match.
But instead of turning to Daniel Sturridge and Jamie Vardy, two players who might well have followed Eric Dier’s superb freekick with a goal of their own, he ignored his strikers and opted for players he thought would protect England’s slender advantage.
Jack Wilshere was sent on for Rooney, and James Milner replaced Sterling with only three minutes of normal time remaining. Afterwards Hodgson confirmed that he was planning a third change: Jordan Henderson for Adam Lallana.
The decision to ignore Sturridge and Vardy — when the latter’s direct running could have certainly troubled Russia’s streetwise but rather immobile back four — was utterly baffling.
Kane was nowhere near his best, touching the ball not once in Russia’s penalty area. His role as England’s principal corner taker did not help matters but Sturridge should have replaced him even before Dier’s 73rd-minute free-kick.
Rather than play to England’s strength, the pace and ability of their forwards, Hodgson chose to rely on the weakest part of the team to see the game home. He thought his side could defend their singlegoal advantage and he was wrong, as Vasili Berezutski punished with his last-minute equalising header.
In the end the only fireworks let off inside the Stade Velodrome belonged to Russian hooligans but this is not unusual for Hodgson.
His squad might be blessed with a variety of attacking options, with Marcus Rashford also on the bench, but there were unmistakable echoes of the last World Cup.
He took Rickie Lambert to Brazil but when England were trailing Italy 2-1 in Manaus he sent on Ross Barkley for Danny Welbeck, Wilshere for Henderson and Lallana for Sturridge. Against Uruguay it was only after Luis Suarez scored his decisive 85th-minute goal that Hodgson turned to his striker on the bench. It was too late by then, of course, as he had already replaced Sterling for Barkley and Lallana for Welbeck.
Hodgson’s changes failed to have a positive impact during a World Cup memorable for its super- sub performances. Mario Gotze stepped off the German bench to conquer Argentina in the final with one of 32 goals — from a total of 171 — scored by substitutes in the competition.
It is with that in mind that Hodgson needs to approach Thursday’s must-win game against Wales; with less caution and more conviction; with the confidence to unleash the firepower he has packed into his squad against a Wales side who, while impressive in Bordeaux, looked vulnerable to Slovakian attacks.
Late on Saturday night, Hodgson was asked about Vardy and Sturridge. ‘The fact is that if Jamie is going to play he can play any of those front positions and we certainly did discuss him and Daniel Sturridge during the course of the game,’ he said. ‘But after the opening 15 minutes (of the second half), when Russia pegged us back a bit, I thought we were looking quite comfortable. We were looking as though we were going to score a second goal so it was difficult.
‘It was a question more of trusting the ones who had done a job up to then or throwing the dice and putting others on who you couldn’t be certain would come into the game as quickly as the ones who were playing there. Who knows? With substitutions it’s always a question of hindsight but I honestly think that with Jamie, they were not giving us real counter-attacking chances.
‘If you said to the players, “You should be more ruthless in front of goal”, I don’t think they would disagree with you. But there were a lot of young players out there and itit’s hopefully something that will come with more games. It’s obviously something that we need to work on.’
Rooney performed well in midfield but that clearly tempers the threat he poses in attack, as does the fact that Kane took all six England corners.
‘He’s the best striker of the ball we have,’ Hodgson stubbornly declared on the subject. ‘He’s the one who gives us the best delivery. We’ve tried many other players and we don’t get the same level of delivery as we get from Harry. We also have so many players in the penalty area at the moment who are very good at attacking the ball — Wayne Rooney, of course, being one who is very good in that area — so we don’t necessarily need him there.’
Plenty would disagree, with Alan Shearer prominent among them. Kane, like all the England strikers, can only score goals if he is given every possible opportunity to do so.