Roy Hodgson is a man preoccupied with the bright future he foresees for
England, writes
Alex Hess, but he needs
a productive present if he is to realise it.
Roy Hodgson has a habit of keeping one eye on the future so he will doubtless be aware that were he to still be
England manager in two years’ time, he’ll be making history – or at least, equalling it.
Only one other man,
Walter Winterbottom, has managed the side at four major tournaments. If England avoid disgracing themselves in
France this summer, there’s a good chance
Hodgson could become the second.
“I have my sights firmly fixed on the future,” was his rallying call as his side departed for the last
European Championships, in
2012. “
I am not prepared to make the Euros the be-all and end-all in terms of the way I want to hopefully make a mark on the team and hopefully play in the future.”
“I think this team is still very young,” Hodgson reminded us after the three grim games that comprised
England’s World Cup campaign two years later. “
I’ve never doubted for one minute that as this team moves forward, not just to 2016, but even on from there, they will become stronger and better. The experience bodes well for the future.”
It is fitting, then, that there has been a greater focus on England’s future than usual as they go into this summer’s Euros.
Gone at last are the days when the grizzled ‘golden generation’ were expected to deliver, and deliver big, in the here and now; instead, much of the talk lies around the core of nascent and quietly exciting talent that has presented itself to Hodgson since the debacle in
Brazil.
While that tournament included both halves of the Gerrard-Lampard duo (combined age: 70) that had come to embody England’s inexplicable, inexhaustible wretchedness on the big stage, this time around Hodgson has named England’s youngest squad for 58 years, and the youngest of any nation heading to France.
Marcus Rashford, whose emergence has come to epitomise the fearlessness and exuberance of England’s fledgling cohort, will be the tournament’s youngest player.
All of which has given Hodgson good reason to revisit a familiar theme. “I do believe that a lot of these players will go on to future tournaments and be even better than they will be this time,” he said, prior to naming his final 23 last month. “Most of them are at the start of their careers, and I am rather hoping they will be seen as players of potential.”
Certainly he’s right to be enthused by the quality of his young squad, even if much of that quality still remains latent. The problem for Hodgson, which has so often been the problem for Hodgson over the years, is that the glorious future he loves to assure us of must be balanced against the need to achieve something – anything – in the present.
This summer, that need will be stronger than at any
point previously: it’s long been
English ritual for the national team manager to be tarred, feathered and shown the door in the wake of a shoddy tournament showing and there is the strong sense that this championship will be the truest and fairest barometer of Hodgson’s project after four years in the job (and what have essentially amounted to two no-strings test-runs, in 2012 and 2014).
“My view would be that he would go on beyond the summer because at this moment in time he's doing the right things and making the right decisions, not just for himself, but for the team long-term,” said
Gary Neville last week.
And while you wouldn’t expect Hodgson’s right-hand man to say much else, there is
...
By Alex Hess
Credit:
http://x.5la.net/?url=www.eurosport.com/football/euro-2016/2016/roy-hodgson-england-and-what-the-future-will-hold_sto5639445/story
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- published: 08 Jun 2016
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