WILL ROY BANK ON BARKLEY?
The crucial questions Hodgson must answer
ENGLAND produced a perfect 10 in qualifying but, as they so often flop on the big stage, boss Roy Hodgson knows the real test will come at Euro 2016 next summer.
MATT BARLOW looks at the major questions the England manager still has to answer…
WHO GOES TO FRANCE?
ROY HODGSON used 33 players in the qualifiers but the manager will know his strongest team.
It probably features Jordan Henderson, Jack Wilshere and Fabian Delph in midfield, with Wayne Rooney, Raheem Sterling and one other in attack.
Options are plentiful up front but Hodgson is very fond of Danny Welbeck, who revealed yesterday he should be back playing in the new year.
The Arsenal striker, 24, had knee surgery in September but said yesterday: ‘It’s difficult to put an exact date on it, around the new year. After I had the operation, I was in a leg brace for about four weeks — which wasn’t easy. I had to do a lot of machine work, about six hours a day.’
In central defence Hodgson likes Chris Smalling with Gary Cahill and his mind was set on Luke Shaw at left back. John Stones could challenge Nathaniel Clyne on the right, and no- one comes close to Joe Hart in goal.
It does not feel like a team ready to challenge Germany, and Hodgson is wary, despite his perfect 10 in qualification. ‘Young team’, ‘work in progress’, ‘lessons to learn,’ was the thrust of his message post-Lithuania.
Expectations are kept low — if he can convince his paymasters that reaching the last eight is a triumph, the manager might get a new contract — but they are low for a reason. It is hard to imagine going beyond the last eight with this team unless luck favours England. Denmark in 1992 and Greece in 2004 offer hope to all.
For seven months, his blueprint will come under attack from the demons of form and fitness.
If Hodgson’s preferred XI is Hart; Stones, Smalling, Cahill, Shaw; Henderson, Wilshere, Delph; Sterling, Rooney, Welbeck, then six of them are currently unavailable.
History shows i njuries will ravage the best-laid plans. The back-up is scarce, desperately so in some areas, but someone can force a way through as Sterling did before the World Cup in 2014. Someone always does.
THE BARKLEY DILEMMA
ROSS BARKLEY has emerged from the final two qualifiers with his reputation and confidence enhanced. If anyone is to break in, he is best-placed as he matures into a top-level footballer.
Hodgson has reservations about Barkley’s risk- taking nature. Delph is more Roy, but Delph is injured, and by no means certain to play regularly at Manchester City even when fit.
Barkley is integral at Everton and his flair and invention will ensure popular support for his inclusion as dreams take hold ahead of France.
After his goal in Vilnius, Hodgson said: ‘He is not always going to score spectacular goals and dribble past people as if they’re not there and, against better But opposition,he is balancinghe’ll find his that decision-harder.r making in a way that we think is s very, very good. He has certainly not done his cause any harm.’
THE ROONEY QUESTION
THE captain’s place will come under greater scrutiny if Daniel Sturridge or Harry Kane finds their groove. Rooney is not in great form at Manchester United but, f or the time being, his l eadership, experience and presence remain crucial.
THE MIDFIELD RIDDLE
JAMES MILNER and Jonjo Shelvey stepped in against Estonia and Lithuania but neither looked the answer to England’s central puzzle: the absence of a defensive midfielder. The balance hinges on this and, at present, it boils down to a choice between Michael Carrick and Wilshere.
Carrick brings control, Wilshere energy and aggression. Both have fragile bodies and neither has much defensive instinct.
Play them in tandem — or either one with Henderson — and it is back to the shape which failed in Brazil. England have looked more dynamic since with a 4-3-3 or the midfield diamond, initially designed to give Sterling the freedom to operate centrally, but recently discarded.
Dele Alli is a wildcard worth keeping an eye on. He is only 19, and not to be rushed. Hodgson will monitor him at Tottenham, willing his accelerated progress to continue. Those who know Alli well expect him to kick on, but this tournament may be too soon for him to break into the team.
BACKROOM UPHEAVAL
FA CUTS and the relocation from Wembley to St George’s Park near Burton-on-Trent are forcing changes. ‘There’s a lot happening,’ said the manager. ‘A lot of our staff were full-time, more London-based than Burton.’
He will not lose anyone before the Euros, but the support staff — medics and admin — will be hit and the backdrop of uncertainty will disturb the settled environment he likes.