Hodgson - Guru or Lucky

[HomerJSimpson]

Big fan of Hodgson from his Fulham days. He got the best from an average side so we could go and beat sides like Juve and Hamburg. Seems he's doing the same with arguably another mediocre bunch. Maybe he knows what he's doing.

One thing though, its a good job I've watched Fulham all these years. Makes watching England easier as both seem to find a way to make it as hard as possible. Is Hodgson a good manager or has he got lucky so far. The Ukraine game will go a long way to showing his credentials as we only have to avoid defeat

 

[Neddy]

Got some big decisions right tonight (Carroll, bringing on Walcott). He is and will continue to get the very best out of this bunch of players but we don't have the technique required to go any further than the quarter finals and I think tonights performance only goes to further that theory.

 

[louise_a]

I dont know what he said at half time but we comfortable in the first half and then fell apart for 15 mins, it was only bring on Walcott we started playing again.

 

[sawtooth]

Arguably the weakest England squad in the past 30 years but I think Roy Hodgson is a great coach and he will get the best out of this team. Whether thats enough or not remains to be seen - probably not.

I know that he can't be blamed for players completely leaving their markers and leaking silly goals like that. Thats down to the players period.

 

[AuburnWarrior]

I watched a sound bite on him before the game and loads of old Swedish players were raving about him.

Look, to win one of these tournaments you need a massive amount of luck. Tonight, his tactics/picks/subs worked. I'll take that. Will they work against Ukraine? Will they work in the next round? Who knows. All I know is that there's one name on the cup and it isn't England.

It's Spain.

 

[AuburnWarrior]

That's down to the player's period.

I knew we were bad but I didn't think we had to contend with that as well......

Mind you, the adverts state that tennis, rollerbladeing, etc can be done during this 'monthly' episode......

 

[palindromicbob]

It'll be interesting to see what happens next game. Rooney is back. I'm betting he'll be red carded!

 

[Rooter]

Arguably the weakest England squad in the past 30 years

Not to pick on you sawtooth, but you are not the first to say this! This is what surprises me though? Look at the squad in club terms and surely it's pretty good no? Pay part from la Liga, surely the prem league is the best quality, with the best competition and teams? Look over the past few years, always an english team or 2 in he last 4 of champs legue etc.. Every player tonight plays for an English team...

So we have

hart, lescott, Milner, man city - prem champions
Terry, cole, Chelsea - champions league winners
Welbeck, man utd, 2nd in prem league,
Walcott, oxlade-chamb, arsenal - prem league top 4ish And champs league knockout stages
Johnson, Gerrard, Carroll, Liverpool - ok, not the best season, but most clubs would snap any of these guys up
Parker - spurs, arguably the player of the year in the premier league

How is this not a strong team? Rooney waiting in he wings, Ok some of the more fringe players, ala downing, Henderson etc may not be ideal, but with Barry and lampard getting injured and a number of high profile people turning down being on the reserve list, it's not ideal...

 

[Golfmmad]

At last Walcott got some decent time on the pitch and still don't know why he wasn't used sooner against France.

I thought Caroll was the right choice for this game, he was immense and a thorn in Swedens side, particularly in the first half.

The further they get in the competition the more confidence they'll have. Not saying England will win the thing but you just never know.

Germany has their name written all over it!

 

[Liverbirdie]

I don't think either, I think Hodgson is at his best when there are low expectaions (first time ever for England, at this championships).

One game should not define a manager, but these days it can.

 

[AuburnWarrior]

Germany has their name written all over it!

Yes, they have.

As long as Germany is spelt S P A I N. :lol:

 

[Golfmmad]

Yes, they have.

As long as Germany is spelt S P A I N. :lol:

Not so sure about Spain, I like them, don't get me wrong, but after watching them the other night just didn't think they were as good as in the last World Cup. Not so strong and incisive as they usually are.

Italy are good this time, watch out for them.

 

[AuburnWarrior]

I honestly think that you can never pick the winner from the group stages.

You want to watch the team that starts slowly and gathers pace......

 

[Golfmmad]

Mmm, I wonder who that could be.

 

[jpenno]

Mmm, I wonder who that could be.

Ireland are gathering pace going downhill rapidly

 

[MegaSteve]

Considering how little time Roy has had in the job its difficult to find good reason to criticise... Maybe in a year or two's time when he's had proper chance to put together a squad of his choice rather than previous managers leftovers...

Right now there's only one 'world class' player at his disposal... I believe in the future there are others who have the potential to be so... But not right now...

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Thought Terry looked a bit slow last night.
Wellbeck and Carrol seem to work well together.
I would leave Rooney on the bench.
That would send a messege through the team.

Some very ordinary players though.
I had a look at the subs and I have never heard of some of them.
Perhaps that is a good thing.

 

[A1ex]

England aren't a great side so why are we judged on that level?

We played a very English game last night. Hard work, high tempo and direct. Intead of trying and failing to play possession football, we went back to our strengths. We played well bar two set pieces. I doubt many teams will threaten us like Sweden did from those either.

Their keeper made three absolutely world class saves aswell, we could quite easily have scored 5 or 6.

Rooney has to come back in, the only special player we have. The whole team/formation/style is perfectly suited to him aswell. He loves playing just off Welbeck, they link up well. He also links up very well with Gerrard, he's got the workrate and can be direct plus adds a touch of class.

The only issue is on the wings with Milner/Young, who have both been very poor. Milner covers Johnson well so will probably stay. Young is fortunate theres no left winger of note and may get another chance.

We need to put 3 or more past Ukraine and top the group. Croatia/Italy are very beatable, Spain not so. Just hope we don't sit back and play for a draw.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I dont know what he said at half time but we comfortable in the first half and then fell apart for 15 mins, it was only bring on Walcott we started playing again.

What happened in the 1st 15 minutes of the second half was nothing to do with what Hodgson said, it was down to player incompetance.

 

[JustOne]

I thought it was the best English performance I've ever seen. Against France we were playing with a flat back 8 whereas last night we generally only had the 4 and played 10ft higher up the pitch.

The midfield closed down the ball better (getting possession back quicker as they weren't sitting in defence) and it was nice to see we often had two targets up front.

If that was Hodgson then I have to take my hat off to him. Haven't got a gripe about any of the players on the pitch apart from Gerrard gets useless when he's tired and yet I can't see anyone brave enough to him (change him for Oxlade after 70mins perhaps?).

Really, really, REALLY glad that Lampard isn't there as he's useless for England.

Admittedly the Swedes did score two goals that we should have defended better. Hopefully that's an easy fix... is there another team as good in the air as them?