There are plenty of positives for England – Shilton

IF England coach Roy Hodgson’s plan was to lower expectations as the business end of Euro 2016 approaches then it worked a treat, judging by the scathing reaction to his side’s 0-0 draw with Slovakia in St Etienne on Monday.

Hodgson made six changes to his starting line-up for their final Group B game, benching the likes of skipper Wayne Rooney and Dele Alli to rotate his squad, but despite overwhelming possession his side offered precious little creativity.

Hodgson came under particular fire yesterday, with British newspapers calling his selection gamble a failure. Others suggested it had bordered on arrogance.

Several back pages screamed “Second Rate” while another labelled England “Toothless Lions”.

The performance against Slovakia was described as “confused” – an adjective neatly summed up by one graphic illustrating England’s “touch map” like a swirling ball of red wool in the centre of the pitch with few incursions into the danger area.

After the euphoria of Daniel Sturridge’s last-gasp winner against Wales last Thursday the mood was “here we go again” yesterday with England’s path to the latter stages of the tournament now looking treacherous.

While a match against the runner-up in Group F, likely to be Iceland or Hungary, although possibly Portugal, should be winnable, a quarter-final against hosts France in Paris is now a distinct possibility. It was not all doom and gloom though. Former England keeper Peter Shilton said: “I wouldn’t go for all the criticism because England have controlled every game,” he told the BBC.

“Let’s not get too downbeat. There are plenty of positives.” – Reuters

Group C Germany 1 Northern Ireland 0 Poland 1 Ukraine 0