Who’s next?

Tomorrow we’ve got Slovakia to contend with and Hodgson will almost certainly start with Vardy and Sturridge on the pitch given their impact against Wales. Kane looks dead on his feet and Sterling seemingly can’t seem to find form.

Assuming we defeat Slovakia, then we finish as group winners and face one of the third placed sides, currently looking like Albania, Czech Republic or Northern Ireland, but that picture will almost certainly change over the course of the next three days.

So far in the Euros there have been a few surprises with how certain teams have performed or not as the case with some is. Iceland, for example, have shocked many, including Portugal who haven’t lived up to anyones expectations and definitely not Ronaldo’s, having only scored one goal so far.

Sooner or later if you’re going to progress to the quarter-finals, or semis or even final you have to meet one of the favourites, and that appears to be what Roy’s contract extension is based on, doing well. What’s that, sent home in the quarter-finals, losing on pens to Germany…

First a 2-0 victory over Slovakia!

 

 

 

Rash got the nod!

So that’s it, the torment of waiting over for who will be on the plane to France in a few days.

No begging to John Terry as suggested by Danny Mills, so we’ll be reliant on the defence that has looked a bit shaky in the warm-ups, to balance our firepower up front.

With Rashford and Sturrdige in the squad, it gives Roy options and headaches, but ultimately it should prove to be an England squad capable of scoring goals, and that’s what we need to do to win and progress.

The final warm-up is against Portugal on Friday at Wembley and Roy must be thinking of his starting 11, so now the first headache.

Given Ronaldo isn’t playing it could provide the 3 Lions the opportunity to get the Wembley send off they need before leaving for France.

England 2 – 1 Portugal 

 

After a long lay off

After four months of waiting the 3 Lions will continue their European Chamionship qualification campaign on Friday. Looking to strengthen their table topping place England will take on Lithuania at Wembley before playing a friendly against Italy four days later. After being denied the chance to gather the squad in January, Hodgson has resorted to technology to keep the England focus in his players minds, providing video clips to their iPads, you wouldn’t have seen Bobby Robson doing this. Probably the key inclusion in the squad is Harry Kane who is enjoying top form for Spurs at present. Joining him due to Lallana’s withdrawal is another Spurs debutante , Ryan Mason. Kane bagged a hat-trick on Saturday against Leicester. With Sturridge out it will be interesting to see how Roy will start the Lithuania game. He must play Kane …

Kane on top form

England to win 3-0

And now, the end is here…

And so it may be for today’s captain Lampard and Gerrard who won’t start.

Hodgson is banking on a changed England line up, to the branded Young Lions, to restore some form of pride after being left in a ‘realm of despair’ after 2 defeats and the shortest World Cup for almost 60 years. 9 changes from the defeat by Uruguay, only Cahill and Sturridge survive.

Against the surprise group leaders, Costa Rica, Hodgson will field many of the players that haven’t started or played in the two previous games.
Alongside Lampard will be Wilshere and Barkley, with Milner and Lallana behind Sturridge. At the back Luke Shaw is due to start as is Phil Jones and Chris Smalling as well as Ben Foster in place of Joe Hart.

Myself, I’m in two minds, the game means nothing, but wholesale change to give those on the bus a run out, not so sure. At least Spain, also on their way home fielded a team to try and restore some national pride.

If we are serious about regaining pride, why doesn’t Roy play the best 11, thinking obviously to the Euro 2016 campaign. Will two of the first names on the sheet against Switzerland be James Milner and Ben Foster? Not so sure.

If anything, while defending better than the previous 2 games, we want to see a return to the attacking style shown against Italy, and a precision in front of goal that was missing and gave us an early bath.

And so they face the final curtain.

A more upbeat performance and a win for England with Lampard scoring in what will be his final game with 3 Lions on his shirt

Do or Die!

Now it’s just over 12 hours until the 3 Lions take on Uruguay in a match that if the result goes the wrong way , could have us travelling home like the current World Cup holders, Spain.

All indications seem to show that Hodgson is likely to start with Rooney playing in his natural Number 10 role. We all hope he can perform in this preferred role otherwise Hodgson has to make a swift change, who vows to use any weapon we have at our disposal and Sturridge will do anything he can to win. Sounds like we’re running out with the right attitude!

Apart from the Camp England psychologist working with the players individually and as a group to help them achieve the right mental state Stevie G has warned there is no hiding place if they fail. Needless to say he didn’t study Psychology at Liverpool Uni, but he’s got a point!

To add to the ‘corrected’ forward formation Uruguay are without Pereira and Lugano so there should be an even greater opportunity to penetrate the Uruguay defence, that looked vulnerable particularly during the second half against Costa Rica.

Of Suarez, Cavani, Forlan and Ramirez, only rigorous hard work will ensure they can’t impress their presence on the game.

It is certain to be another high tempo encounter, with the 3 Lions emerging victorious.

3-1 to En-ger-land, En-ger-land, En-ger-land!

2 Wins, should be enough…

Now the impact of the defeat against the Azzuri has sank in and the focus is firmly on winning against Uruguay on Thursday and Costa Rica next Tuesday.

Uruguay are not invincible, conceding three goals against Costa Rica, but seem likely to have Luis Suárez back in the team.

Football, whilst being more important than life or death (paraphrase – Bill Shankly), is still simple, we need to score more goals than the opposition. There are 2 questions facing Roy Hodgson before Thursday’s do or die match with Uruguay, how to stop Suárez and how to organise the attack to score goals.

Probably the biggest, and most talked about is whether to play Rooney or not. Playing out of position on Saturday he was uncomfortable and with the exception of the pass that enabled Sturridge to score, didn’t do a lot and missed a key chance. There are options, but one choice that is no longer an option is the inclusion of England’s most threatening weapon since Gascoigne, the 19 year old genius of Raheem Sterling.

Raheem Sterling skirts Pirlo

So then how to best deploy the attacking diamond, with the likes of Sterling, Wellbeck, Sturridge, Rooney, Lallana and Barkley at Hodsgon’s disposal. Should Rooney play, it must be in his natural position, with Wellbeck on the left and Sterling on the right. Alternatively dropping Rooney to the bench and Sterling as he started against Italy. A fully recovered Oxlade-Chamberlain would be a a welcome addition to Hodgson, but not sure if that will be the case. Still without the Ox we have enough capability up front, if organised in the optimal way.

Then the Suárez issue, pity we didn’t have a Nobby Stiles, or Norman Hunter, a few delicately placed knocks and he would either give in or bite somebody in retaliation. Hodgson has to give someone the task of keeping a tab on him, and hope that he is not fully fit after his knee op.

So, all is not lost, 2 wins and we should be in the next round.

A repeat of Costa Rica’s victory over Uruguay, not so sure, but the goal scoring tallies are going up!

Or bye bye England?

Maybe a draw would have felt like a fairer result, but Balotelli’s goal separated the teams and leaves the 3 Lions with difficult task to survive to the next stage.

Raheem Sterling was rewarded for his impressive form in training and given the start that many wanted, and it was deserved. He showed flair and pace and no fear running at the Italians.

After just 3 minutes Sterling’s shot into the side netting beating Sirigu resulted in a ‘goal’, at least on some of the tv channels covering the game.

Unfortunately, as Sterling’s lack of celebration confirmed, it wasn’t a goal.

England pressed hard on Italy and look like they can threaten any team, but still looked fragile at times at the back, and down the left. Italy causing us problems, Pirlo again being given too much freedom and orchestrating as usual.

It was on 35 minutes that, as a result of what looked like a move that has been well rehearsed, Pirlo dummied and set up Marchisio who struck the ball from around 25 yards through everyone in the penalty area and beat Joe Hart.

The fight back couldn’t have been better, just two minutes later Rooney put in a cross that Sturridge put beyond Sirigu, all level.

In the goal celebrations Gary Lewin, the 3 Lions physio, injured his ankle and was stretchered off.

The scoreline stayed level to the break, needing Jagielka to head off the line and seeing the woodwork hit by a shot from Candreva.

England came out for the second half with the same 11 but switching Wellbeck to the left to try to strengthen the defensive capability.

It wasn’t long into the second half that Balotelli got away from Cahill to nod in a cross from Candreva. England behind again.

Hodgson brought on Ross Barkley after an hour and we had more chances but didn’t convert them, Rooney shooting side and Barkley’s attempt being saved.

The conditions made the last 20 minutes or so tough going and time was running our for the 3 Lions and Pirlo hit the bar from a free kick.

And that’s how the scoreline finished 2-1 to Italy and a uphill battle for England who are in a fight for survival with Uruguay on Thursday after they had a shock 3-1 defeat by Costa Rica. A fight that will almost certainly involve Luis Suarez.

It’s not over yet, but kicking off the tournament with a defeat isn’t the best start for the 3 Lions!

3 Friendlies then it’s Brazil!

Later today the 3 Lions will play Peru in the first of three friendlies before it all kicks of in Manaus on the 14th June.

Hodgson is prepared to test many of the squad in the next two matches in Miami against Honduras and Ecuador but tonight is likely to see the starting line-up for the first match against Italy.

There has been much speculation about Rooney’s state in the run up to this World Cup, questioning if he is ‘past it’, and whether Hodgson has the balls to drop him if he doesn’t perform as he hasn’t in the past few tournaments.

An attacking diamond of Lallana, Sterling, Rooney and Sturridge could be on the cards and this proves to have pace and goal scoring ability, two much needed abilities if we are to progress in Brazil.

In the run up to the World Cup all the noises coming from the England Camp are upbeat, much different from that of the Capello era, which must be a good thing for the mental state of the players.

Rooney and Gerrard relaxing

Tonight’s game is the Wembley send-off for the 3 Lions and the crowd will be hoping to see a few goals given the opposition who can’t really be a serious comparison to Uruguay as billed by the FA. If we do have the attacking diamond with Sturridge on top and they’re on form we should be expecting at least 2 or 3.

England 3 – 0 Peru

Home Internationals – Leg 1

Tomorrow night the Republic of Ireland visit Wembley in the first of 2 friendlies with other members of the British Isles. The second, after the summer, is against the old foes Scotland. Two friendlies…

It will be the first time England have played the Republic since the England ‘fans’ turned to violence in 1995 and the match was abandoned.

1995 match abandoned due to crowd trouble

Now things are different, we hope and expect. The FA have asked fans not to sing IRA songs, as they did in San Marino apparently.

After the completion of the domestic season and the sadly all German Champions League final; a bit bizarre given the Wembley stage, this and the away game against Brazil on Sunday are the last tastes of English and England football before the summer.

A few ‘first choice’ players are already out of the frame, Gerrard and unfortunately Wilshere among them and Kyle Walker who suffered an injury last week in the Bahamas. This leaves Johnson likely to start adding pace from the back. After a period of good form since his Chelsea departure Sturridge is given a first start to partner Rooney up front.

Ashley Cole to captain England

Tomorrow, to honour gaining his 100 Caps a couple of games ago, Ashley Cole will lead out the 3 Lions. After a somewhat confusing communication from Hodgson, first stating that Frank Lampard would remain captain and then confirming that after discussion with Lampard, Cole would be the captain for the match with Lampard’s blessing.

No IRA songs, and a 2-0 victory for the 3 Lions.

“Rio, Rio what’s the score?”

That was the chant from the stand and the banks outside of the Stade Olimpico as England summarily dismissed the barmen and shop owners of San Marino.

Welcome to the cheap seats

There was no other expectation than a convincing victory, and that was what was delivered. The 3 Lions biggest win since 1987, that was against Turkey also 8-0.

It was one-way traffic from the off with England attacking with ease. It took 12 minutes for England to take the lead, much less than the meeting in Wembley, with Della Valle putting the ball in his own net to save Rooney the trouble.

From that point on England scored at the worst case every 17 minutes. Scorers, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Defoe with a brace, Rooney, Lampard, Young and Sturridge.

It’s always difficult to determine what a match like this means, a warm up for the Montenegro game, who beat Moldova. However it allowed Hodgson to test the centre back pairing, see Baines really start to challenge Cole for his place and see the attacking combinations available.

On Tuesday, it’s tougher opposition in Group leaders Montenegro, but come on it’s Montenegro not Spain or Germany.

Another 3 points, 3-1 to England.