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Hodgson's England...
When Capello departed England back in April there was only one name on everyones lips to replace the Italian. Of course that name was Tottenham hotspur boss Harry Redknapp. The FA took their time appointing Capello's successor and the announcement was a surprise to many, except the powers that be inside the FA headquarters.
After announcing Roy Hodgson as the man to guide England through the European championshjips and into brazil 2014 the fa declared that hodgson was the first and only choice in their minds. Whether or not that is true we will never know, but after the Redknapp rumors failed to materialise Hodgson was the only other viable choice.
Hodgson had a rough time at Liverpool after succeeding rafa benitez, but with the majority of fans only having eyes for kop legend Kenny dalglish, hodgsons reign at anfield was always going to be a struggle. That 6 month spell at Liverpool should not undermine hodgsons fine work before and after Liverpool.
Fast forward 16 months and a successful spell at west Bromwich albion and roy hodgson now has the task of leading England into euro 2012. With his squad announced there were a few eyebrows raised. Most notably the absence of Rio Ferdinand from the squad. Speculation has been rife that Ferdinand's absence was a result that roy hodsgon had picked John terry over the Manchester united defender after the racism allegation against terry directed at rio’s brother anton.
Without getting drawn into the policitcs behind hodgsons decision to exclude Ferdinand, here is the opinion of the writer on which player should have made the trip to Poland and Ukraine.
With all terrys attributes, his performances have not been to his high standard for the past two seasons. This fact, coupled with his removal from the England captain position undermines his inclusion over Ferdinand. Rio Ferdinand has struggled with injury in the latter part of his career but made a surprising 38 appearances in all competitions last season and was a cornerstone for United's defence in the absence of Nemanja Vidic through injury which renders that argument irrelevant.
His form last season cannot and should not be questioned as united boasted the second best defensive record in the league, a record that Ferdinand was clearly a major part of. Ferdinand still remains a very popular member of the England camp which is another reason why he should have been chosen over terry. With terrys reputation being severely damaged after being stripped of the captaincy twice just over two years all logic points against selecting the Chelsea defender over Ferdinand.
However, hodgson is the boss and will have his arguments for his selection of terry. It is job to unite the England dressing room and mount englands challenge for the trophy this summer.
England will struggle to go toe to toe with europes footballing giants so the best chance hodgsons men have of succedding in Poland and Ukraine is to play on the counter attack.
This brings up hodgsons second headache. With rooney suspended for the first two games who will lead the line for England? If England are to employ the counter tacking game then danny welbeck would be the ideal choice. Welbeck would offer more than Liverpool frontman andy carroll in this role. The Manchester united youngster is able to stretch the defence, has pace to get in behind teams and as he shown in the friendly against Belgium at Wembley, he has an ability to finish that carroll lacks.
Summing up englands chances in this tournament, to reach the quarter final stage should be considered an achievement given the circumstances surrounding their warm up to Poland and Ukraine. Should England qualify from the group, a group in which rejuvenated france are expected to win, they will likely face current holders and tournament favourites spain.
England's main objective in this tournament should be all about hodgson and how he cam manage England under tournament circumstances. Should hodgson and England achieve relative success this summer then the hype around England's chances for brazil 2014 will begin to gain some momentum.
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