England boss Roy Hodgson didn’t appear to know what his best starting team was in Brazil. Picture: Clément Bucco-Lechat

Published: 1 July, 2014
by RICHARD OSLEY

BE outraged. Stop holding it in. You can say it and it’s ok: England were a disgrace at the World Cup and the manager should do the decent thing and hand the job to somebody else.

You can think of the endless friendlies and qualifiers England seemed to play – dull, boring training drills rinsing the Wembley crowds for ticket money in the middle of the club season – and yet when they got to the finals in Brazil, Roy Hodgson still did not seem to know what his best team was. He didn’t even know which formation would suit the players he had picked. 

But where is the anger? I’ve yet to see Roy’s face morphed with a root vegetable on the back of a tabloid newspaper. Rather than be furious at the pathetic draw against Costa Rica, a match in which pride should have fuelled a victory, this latest insult was buried behind the Luis Suarez biting controversy. England were able to skulk off unnoticed, like thieves in the night.

More charitable people say England were unlucky to be in a tough group, but Costa Rica were able to top it with a team essentially blessed with spirit and pace, and not much else. People also say England actually did well against Italy and Uruguay but were just unlucky.

The goals England conceded were not unlucky. They were embarrassing. And never did the Italians or the Uruguayans look under siege when we were chasing equalisers. Our purple patches seemed to last for five or 10 minutes and the nation became hung up on Raheem Sterling’s ability to beat a man or two, regardless of whether this talent led to genuine opportunities for goals.

People also say, with a cringing loyalty, that Hodgson did the best he could have done with what he had.

Actually, no. No, no, no. Don’t let them get away with that. Not only did he fail to craft an obvious, regular starting XI over two years of prep, but he made glaring tactical errors which should now be the source of greater national disgust. 

Ashley Cole and John Terry may not be the most admirable human beings but they don’t bite people and are clearly better defenders than Chris Smalling. What’s more, he played Danny Welbeck. This in itself was a comically bad choice, but his blunder was compounded by playing him on the wing. 

The guy’s a bounce-off-your-head centre forward, not a wide man. The same error was made with Wayne Rooney. If he plays, at least play the guy in the right position. 

There were other dud decisions, like asking Stephen Gerrard and Jordan Henderson to play so deep it was like playing with a back six. Choosing Henderson over Jack Wilshere in the key moments should also be scrutinised too. Wilshere is better at picking a pass that can unravel a defence.

Yet somehow England, with a few mumbled apologies, seem like they’ve been let off the hook for a disastrous World Cup campaign. 

And still Hodgson won’t budge.

The response to these criticisms is that we should all have had low expectations of the team. 

If that’s the case, maybe the players should return home to low expectation wages. Teams with far lighter-salaried players are preparing for the knockout stages right now.