Praise Hodgson for a job well done – England are top of the group with two …

By
Jamie Redknapp


PUBLISHED:

22:39 GMT, 11 September 2013


|

UPDATED:

22:39 GMT, 11 September 2013

England’s 0-0 draw in Ukraine was a horrible game. Horrible to watch and it would have been horrible to play in.

Anybody who felt it was going to be an open game with midfielders getting beyond the front players hasn’t been watching Roy Hodgson’s teams; he’s a tactical coach, not a cavalier one.

The need in Kyiv was for the result, not the performance. Anyone who thinks differently is in cloud-cuckoo land.

Big responsibiilty: Roy Hodgson is close to leading England to the 2014 World Cup

Big responsibiilty: Roy Hodgson is close to leading England to the 2014 World Cup

This is what the Football Association bought into when Roy was appointed, this is why they made him England manager.

So let’s do something original — and applaud him for a job well done.

I don’t see why people are being critical. Who expected anything different? A draw in Ukraine, England are top of the group and with two home games to come.

Yes, Roy is negative sometimes — he was born for that result. He would have been planning it in his sleep for years: how to set up a team to draw 0-0 in an important World Cup qualifier.

Praise due? Hodgson can be a clever, tactical coach

Praise due? Hodgson can be a clever, tactical coach

Scrappy affair: But, crucially, England got the job done in Ukraine

Scrappy affair: But, crucially, England got the job done in Ukraine

You can’t dig him out for that. It was a very good, needs-must point — like a golfer scoring a scruffy par four, you take it and move on to the next hole.

As for the players shrinking in the shirt, the problem with England is that there is never a middle ground.

Win a match and you are a world-beater destined to be the next golden generation. Lose a game (or fail to play how the romantics desire) and you are useless.

Disciplined: Steven Gerrard is a key player for both club and country

Disciplined: Steven Gerrard is a key player for both club and country

Steven Gerrard played no differently than he has been playing for Liverpool this season. Disciplined, controlled, putting out fires.

Jack Wilshere looks like he is suffering from a lack of confidence. He is struggling. Maybe he has a lack of faith in his body after suffering so many injuries in quick succession. It happens,  I know.

But Wilshere is a young man, he will go through peaks and troughs. He was the youngest player on the pitch and this was only his 11th cap.

So we can be critical (and it wasn’t pretty), but let’s have some realism too. Well done, England. Now let’s win two games and qualify.

Frustrating night: But Jack Wilshere remains a world-class talent

Frustrating night: But Jack Wilshere remains a world-class talent

The comments below have been moderated in advance.



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Carrick should be playing ahead of Gerrard, Lampard and Wilshere. The result is ok but 73% passing accuracy for England in that game says it all. Imagine playing in scorching hot conditions in Brazil next year and continuing with the English style of kick and rush and long balls from Hart, Gerrard and the back four. It’s pathetic that we can’t string more than three passes together. Swansea play better football with “inferior” players. We should still qualify but it shouldn’t be in doubt in such a weak group. Have we progressed at all? Maybe a little, but the signs are not good.

Ben
,

Tunbridge Wells,
12/9/2013 11:51

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Yeah but look at the way the team has been playing especially away from home, utter garbage. I’ve seen better on Sunday mornings. Face it if we’re going to park the bus in brazil just like at euro 2012. What is it? Lack of passion? Not good enough? The premier league is just a mirage about how good English football really is. FA and grassroots, coaching etc is a complete failure.

terry
,

London,
12/9/2013 10:51

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Flair skill and invention are what is needed plus players who can change pace quickly.

Goals would be a bonus too.

DIENAMO12
,

Godalming, United Kingdom,
12/9/2013 10:14

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no one is saying it’s not a job well done on the way to rio jamie , people are just questioning the fact that 11 players which most at one stage of their career have been deemed world class why they can’t get the ball down and muster up 5 or 6 consecutive passes between them plus a bit of quality in the final 3rd???

MARK26
,

sheffield, Ireland,
12/9/2013 09:49

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well said Jaime. 100% agree

armo83
,

Norwich, United Kingdom,
12/9/2013 09:37

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Wont win a tournament playing kick and run football, too much short term thinking. Whats the point in qualifying all the time just to continually fail.

JohnnyBananas
,

UK,
12/9/2013 07:16

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‘Job well done’ a bit steep – job ground out would be more accurate. Still, I think Roy and the lads can do the business now, which would make him a more successful manager with (perhaps) less talented players than some managers before him.

TakeASecondLook
,

Manchester, United Kingdom,
12/9/2013 00:55

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The problem with setting out to get draws in certain games, so you’re left in a position where you need to win your final 2 homes games to qualify, is that it leaves no room for error.

What if our best 5 players are injured? What if the team freeze on the big occasion and play badly? What if the referee has a stinker and sends a couple of our players off? What if we have terrible luck, hit the woodwork 7 times and concede a freak goal in the last minute?

We’ve drawn our last 3 games against Montenegro, so I don’t think anyone would be shocked if we drew again next month.

That would mean we’d have to beat Poland in a high-pressure match in front of a nervous crowd just to make the play-offs and given that we’d have gone 16 months without a win against a proper team in a competitive match by then, I think victory would be far from assured.

Anyone betting on England to finish in the top 2 at 1/33 or betting on them to qualify at 1/16 needs their head checked.

Fergus Sira-Lexon
,

England,
12/9/2013 00:30

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