Hodgson regrets defending England in Kyiv
Roy Hodgson has admitted he was wrong to praise England’s performance in the 0-0 draw in Ukraine this week.
The Three Lions boss walked into a storm of controversy led by ex England striker Gary Linker for the way he defended his men.
Hodgson said he was satisfied and came in for ridicule from fans. Lineker described the performance in Kyiv as “awful” and ended up in a war of words with the England boss.
Yet Hodgson now says he was too quick to jump to his players’ defence and blames the euphoria he felt at achieving a result which kept them top of the group with two games to go.
Hodgson blamed the fact he had to give his views on the game shortly after the final whistle and was not given enough time to reflect on the game.
He admitted: “I suppose we have some degree of regret. I was hoping the 0-0 would be seen more positively but when I go into press conferences they are just a few minutes after the game.
“I felt quit euphoric and sometimes it is easy to over exaggerate the performance. If there was an error committed it was mine because of the intensity.”
Match of the Day host Lineker – who is England’s second top scorer in history after Sir Bobby Charlton – refused to back down after his comments and insisted if would continue to be critical if the performances are not up to standard.
Yet Hodgson confessed: “I have no problem with Gary. Reflection changes things.”
Written by: Ray Ryan