March 4, 2015

Roy Hodgson getting Praised after Changing England Team

By Marc

England boss Roy Hodgson has been getting a lot of praise for the way he has been able to reduce the age of the England team and still get results.

Since the early exit from the World Cup 2014, England have been on a winning streak and this has been achieved even after the inclusion of several young names to the squad. The team has been going through on a positive note, but Hodgson says that it will not be before 2022 that this current team achieves the peak. The recent run of form has raised expectations ahead of the World Cup 2018.

More importantly, England will be one of the favourites – on this form – for the Euro 2016. The next match is a qualifier against Lithuania in March.

This will be followed by friendlies in the summer and it will provide Hodgson with an opportunity to take a look at new players like Charlie Austin and Harry Kane. A number of experienced stars like Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, and Ashley Cole have left the national team in the last 12 months. However, Hodgson has been able to seamlessly replace them with the likes of Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkley, and Phil Jones.

Over the next few years, England will be concentrating on improving the defence to go along with the attacking options. “Realistically I would say the current crop will be at their peak in 2022.You can win things when you’re not at the peak of your powers, so I wouldn’t write off 2016 or 2018.My work is to get the best out of them now and we are doing our level best to go there next year and win it. Harry Kane hasn’t yet played an international game, Sterling hasn’t yet reached 10. So, yes, I am excited but we need to keep things in perspective,” said Hodgson.