ENGLAND BOSS HODGSON WARY OF A STERN TEST IN GLASGOW
Hodgson happy with progress but wary of stern test in Glasgow
ENGLAND 3
Rooney 59 pen, Welbeck 65, 72
SLOVENIA 1
Henderson 57 og
ROY HODGSON knows only too well that a trip to Celtic Park tomorrow night will test England’s character to the full.
While his team amble their way through a highly uncompetitive European Championship qualifying section, Gordon Strachan’s resurgent Scots are honing their skills and sheer will to win in the undoubted Group of Death.
And they may well have the scent of Auld Enemy blood on their nostrils as fringe men seek to show the manager they can play a part in a far more thrilling campaign than their counterparts south of the border.
Hodgson’s favoured diamond strategy will be put to the test should he choose to persist with it against Strachan’s side.
There is a fine balancing act to be mastered in a game like this one in Glasgow’s east end. How far does a manager experiment and how far does he have to put on a show against his cross-border rivals?
When England last ventured north to play in Glasgow, in 1999, a bizarre diamond rush was unfolding in the Scottish Highlands; one which appears to have since fizzled out and come to nothing.
As the English make the same journey, 15 years on, Hodgson is polishing his formation and exploring options while hoping the sparkle he discovered in Switzerland proves to be more than a flash in the pan.
England’s midfield diamond caught the Swiss by surprise in September but it has enjoyed limited success since then and was abandoned by Hodgson at half- time during Saturday’s win over Slovenia.
Has it served its purpose? It was designed to get Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling into the team without dropping Wayne Rooney. But Sturridge was injured in training before that game in Basle and Liverpool team-mate Sterling is not in the same irresistible form.
Success came at Wembley on Saturday when Hodgson changed to a 4-3-3 with Sterling on the right and Daniel Welbeck wide on the left — where the Arsenal man performed with more energy and commitment than Hodgson might have expected from Sturridge in the same position, and scored twice.
It has been an awful couple of months for Sturridge and yet Hodgson’s switch to the diamond in Switzerland came with a feeling that this had been decreed as the best way to Euro 2016 and beyond.
It was the way to cram England’s best players on to the pitch, and into key areas, which logic dictates offers the best chance of success when stronger teams come into range at a tournament.
Without another sea change, the next 18 months is about refinement for the England boss: helping players understand the complexities of the system and how to react when it fails, as it did in the first half against Slovenia.
‘ We’re moving in the right direction,’ said Hodgson, following a night when 100-cap Wayne Rooney and two-goal Welbeck rode to the rescue after Jordan Henderson’s own goal gave the Slovenians a shock lead.
‘I do think we can get a lot better but we can’t do more at the moment than keep working at our game and trying to win the games in front of us. We won’t be patting ourselves too much on the back. We know there’s a long way to go before France 2016.
‘We know there are a lot of stern tests ahead of us and it starts in Scotland. I hope the players who get a chance to play will be able to stand up to any pressures and learn from it. Any lessons we take will only be valuable in the future.’
Glasgow will certainly challenge the strategy. Can England develop this system against a confident and in-form team amid the potential frenzy of Parkhead?
When Sir Alf Ramsey was greeted warmly by a Scottish football writer at Glasgow Airport before this fixture in 1968, he is said to have replied: ‘Welcome to Scotland? You must be f****** joking!’. These days the job demands more diplomacy.
‘I will change the team in Scotland,’ said Hodgson. ‘But we’re not looking to play a totally different team because we know that this is going to be a tough game. A game like this in Scotland will probably tell me a little bit more about this team.
‘We know what we’re in for and we’re up for it. I am going to need some experienced players on the field. I can’t just make wholesale changes because we want to go up there and give a performance.’
The England boss wants to look at particular players in specific roles, including Stewart Downing within the diamond. Downing was among the substitutes on Saturday but was never likely to come on because he was troubled during the warm-up by a slight knee injury picked up in training last week.
‘I do believe he’ll be available against Scotland,’ said Hodgson. ‘That’s good news because I’d like to see him in an England shirt at some stage during the game.’ Michael Carrick had been earmarked for Glasgow until he pulled out injured. Luke Shaw and Calum Chambers are others who might be tested again, and Saido Berahino is in contention for a first cap, possibly from the bench.
Having sent Joe Hart home for a break, there will be a rare chance in goal for Ben Foster or Fraser Forster, who returns to Celtic Park for the first time since his £10million summer transfer to Southampton.