HODGSON HITS THE JACKPOT!
Roy sees gamble pay off as subs lead comeback
Roy Hodgson came staggering towards the roulette wheel like a Las Vegas patron with one last handful of chips. The game, the tournament, his future as England manager, it was all on the next spin.
on came a striker. Then another striker. Then a third striker. By the end, Hodgson had four of the five forwards he had taken to France in the side — only the jaded starter, Harry Kane, was excluded. Then Hodgson watched the little white ball bounce and ricochet. He saw it come to rest. And his number came up.
so good luck to him. Castigated for caution in the final 10 minutes against Russia on saturday, this could not have been more different. Critics will say Hodgson had little option with his back against the wall and England staring at an early flight home, but that is not true.
He could have tried the softly- softly approach, he could have tried to unpick Wales, to unlock them with Jack Wilshere or Ross Barkley. Instead, he threw the kitchen sink at it. And no, it wasn’t greatly sophisticated. It was old-fashioned British blood and thunder.
But this was an oldfashioned blood and thunder British game. Hodgson bet that England had a calibre of Premier League goal- scorer that would trouble Wales and he was proved right. Jamie Vardy, and daniel sturridge in particular, were too good for them. A mistake by Ashley Williams let in Vardy for the equaliser and the chaos that sturridge and Vardy caused in the penalty area late on made the winner.
dele Alli was also involved — and he needs that confidence boost, having failed to live up to his billing in the tournament so far.
The same could be said of England, who were very disappointing in the first half here and behind to a gareth Bale goal. England had never won a tournament match having trailed at half-time and if Hodgson was not aware of that fact — and he probably won’t have been, because managers rarely are — then he will have been familiar with the narrative of reversal, followed by exit. And that world-class players invariably turn up against England. gareth Bale did. Just like Ronaldinho, Zinedine Zidane, Luis suarez, Marco van Basten and many others, he did the job required of him, in his case beating Joe Hart with a free-kick from 35 yards.
He has scored from free-kicks twice in this competition now and the goalkeeper has been blamed both times, but that does Bale a disservice.
This kick, after Wayne Rooney had fouled Hal Robson- Kanu, dipped and pitched straight in front of Hart, making it difficult at least. Hart got both hands to the ball, though, so should have done more than merely push it towards the corner of his goal. Bale was still celebrating as Hart was muttering and slapping a post in frustration.
It was that goal, three minutes before half- time, that focused Hodgson’s mind on the gravity of England’s situation. Raheem sterling had missed an absolute sitter after seven minutes, Chris smalling had come close with a header from a Rooney corner — yes, he takes them again now, as he should — and gary Cahill had forced a save from Wayne Hennessey, so England had been the better team.
yet their play had been slow and pedestrian and something had to change. Hodgson withdrew the disappointing Kane and sterling, introduced sturridge and Vardy and it did. sturridge has been one of England’s most impressive performers in training, apparently. He deserves to keep his place in the slovakia game after this.
It was his ball that made the first goal and his finish that won the match with the second. He played as if with a point to prove, having lost his starting place since the last World Cup. And Vardy did what Vardy does, he scored. A proper poacher’s goal — a goal-hanger’s goal to be blunt — but it got England back into the game. sturridge played the ball in from the left and, at that moment, Vardy was two yards offside.
His lucky break came with the way Wales captain Ashley Williams dealt with his cross. Williams had been unconvincing all game — James Chester was the best of Wales’s defenders — and this was a calamity. He headed the ball into Vardy’s path, turning him from an offside striker to one with the best view in France.
Just the goalkeeper to beat and the ball sitting nicely. He didn’t meet it cleanly, but the shot off his shin powered the ball into the turf and past Hennessey. Vardy glanced sideways to make sure the linesman wasn’t getting any clever ideas and wheeled away in celebration.
Marcus Rashford was the next forward on, for Adam Lallana, when Hodgson sensed momentum being lost. A draw would not have spelled the end for England but it would have made a third- game win essential. Hodgson clearly didn’t want to live with that pressure.
He sensed that Wales were panicking, dropping too deep, that this could be a win capable of changing England’s tournament fortunes. His team pushed on and Hodgson made no attempt to advise otherwise.
It is hard to overstate what a departure this was for Hodgson in his England career. Before this
game, of the 204 substitutions Hodgson has made as England manager, just 37 of those put on were strikers — or 18 per cent. So to bring on three forwards — a game after electing to use Rooney in midfield for the first time — is new ground.
The faith in Rooney has been justified too and for the second game in succession he was among England’s best players, even if he ended the game playing almost beside Eric Dier, such was England’s emphasis on attack.
The winner came in injury time, about the moment that Russia had equalised against England on Saturday and from sheer, bloody-minded persistence, too. Danny Rose started the move, feeding the ball to Sturridge, who played it in to Vardy and continued his run.
From Vardy to Alli, who got the ball in a tangle around his feet but still managed to return it. Sturridge shrugged off a challenge and, with scarcely any back- lift, defeated Hennessey. It is his trademark finishing style, giving the goalkeeper little time to react. Now it was Hennessey’s turn to beat the ground in anger.
We hear a lot about Hodgson’s love of culture and taste for the finer things, but it turns out he reacts to a lastminute winner much like the rest of the planet. Up he jumped, arm raised, fist clenched in vindicated celebration. Lip readers will also confirm the precise nature of what was said in that moment of elation and these were not words found in every book. One of Irvine Welsh’s maybe. Gary Neville, meanwhile, channelled his inner Mourinho and sprinted half the length of the touchline to celebrate with the players. He hasn’t long been retired and old habits die hard.
And so to Saint-Etienne and perhaps another new England starting XI. The one against Russia was a surprise too, but the men who revitalised the game here — and Sturridge in particular — deserve another chance. If it doesn’t work, Hodgson can always throw the lot on black, or red, again. Nobody is going to indulge an England manager who creeps through the competition anyway. What has he got to lose?