BRITAIN’S BEST COLUMNIST FROM MARSEILLE
ROY HODGSON arrived at Stade Velodrome with his collar unbuttoned but by the time he was belting out the national anthem, it was fastened beneath his perfectlyknotted FA tie.
And that was his only concession to conservatism all night. That was the end of Roy the fuddy-duddy.
For a while, for a half, at least, this was open-necked England. This was cavalier England. This was risk- taking, armchancing, belligerent England. This was young England.
They still didn’t win but Roy ( below) is a glass half-full man.
Even though a mediocre Russia should have been despatched in double-quick time, let’s join him.
Forget the agony of that final moment and try and raise the same glass.
Let’s pretend Harry Kane taking corners remains just a recurring weird dream.
Let’s gloss over the defensive uncertainties and Joe Hart’s scattergun distribution.
Let’s turn a blind one to the wastefulness in front of goal.
Let’s wonder later about the calamitous way in which they conceded the late equaliser..
And, yes, let’s forget the scoreline – particularly after the first-half performance, the draw was hard for England to stomach.
Yet at least for 45 minutes, this was – in terms of tempo, adventure and intent – a decent mood-setter.
You don’t have to announce yourselves on match day one. You don’t have to make a statement in the opening act.
Anyhow, with only eight of the 24 nations bidding au revoir after the group stages, there is nothing remotely decisive about the first match.
But all the same, a statement felt necessary from an England team hauling a trailer of tournament trash behind them. That is why it felt like the result AND the performance mattered here. (That’s if anything really did matter after the sickening scenes in Marseille over the past 48 hours.)
Hodgson got half of both – if you see what I mean.
Bear in mind, the starting 11 had never played a minute of competitive – or even friendly – football together.
What they maybe lacked in familiarity, they atoned for with out-of-the-blocks vibrancy. Rooney conducted the symphony of hard-running, trick-pulling incisiveness.
I remain unconvinced that – against harder-pressing, better teams – Rooney can be effective in a deep role but he was
here.
A danger-clearing volley one minute, a danger-creating volley the next. It was example-setting stuff.
Yet there is no doubt this is the template for Hodgson’s Euro 2016.
Only Kane looked lethargic, barely more mobile chasing a long pass than when jogging to take those corners. Raheem Sterling was inventive, fullbacks Kyle Walker and Danny Rose were daring, Adam Lallana was in non-stop Klopp mode.
Yet Lallana’s – and Sterling’s – profligacy deep in Russian territory betrayed the deepest England worry to come from this game.
That is the lack of a tournament cutting edge. There wasn’t a sharp enough one in Brazil, there wasn’t here.
It was eventually provided by Eric Dier but it needs to come more often from more conventional sources.
And, of course, it was negated by that dreadful concession in added time.
It felt so typically England but, hey, let’s be Hodgson. Let’s be half-full. Roy has loosened his tie and it might not feel it but England are up and running.
And there are more reasons to be optimistic than pessimistic after this.