FIFA World Cup 2014 - England: What Roy Hodgson could have done differently?

A broken and disheartened England side look on during England’s game against Uruguay

England’s rather premature exit from the FIFA world cup 2014 has instigated rage, staunch criticism on the manager, and several senior pros in the side.

After the loss to Italy, Wayne Rooney received intense lambasting for failing to finish off a rather easy chance from 15 yards to the goal. The rage was so much that, many English supporters wanted Rooney dropped from the starting line-up for the game against Uruguay.

To further compound problems for England and other senior members of the side, Steven Gerrard inadvertently assisted Luis Suarez, his Liverpool Team mate, for his second and decisive goal in the 85th minute of the game, only to leave the POMS’ chances of progressing in the world cup by a fine thread.

The Center-back partnership of Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka has also been under question for its defensive frailties.

If anyone, who has possibly been the sole positive to come out of this world cup, it has to be Raheem Sterling. He played in the no.10 role against Italy, and put in a commendable shift on the night. But when he was shifted to his more natural RW position against Uruguay, he couldn’t quite affect the game like he did against Italy.

Ideally, England would have wanted Rooney and Gerrard at the thick of things, and influencing the games a lot more, but as you read on, I shall touch upon what Roy Hodgson could have done differently.

The resultant of a no-show from the entire English squad is getting knocked out from the world cup at the earliest possible.

What Roy Hodgson could have done differently?

Going into the World cup, it was always going to be intriguing to see how the Barkleys, the Lallanas, and Luke Shaws were going to fare at such a massive stage. But you can’t help but wonder why Hodgson never gave it a go. The next obvious question would be why have these youngsters in the squad if you are not going to pick them?

When it comes to football, the role of a manager on the Team’s performance is too significant to ignore. And that’s why it is so important for a manager to have flexibility in place, and a couple of alternative systems to work with. Not so sure whether the England manager did that.

Talking about systems and formations, with the players he had, I thought Hodgson could have deployed the 4-1-4-1 formation, and asked Rooney to lead the line. Hodgson was also present at many a Liverpool game during the last Premier League season when Brendan Rodgers, on more than one occasion, played Daniel Sturridge on the wings and reaped good rewards.

With a 4-1-4-1 system, Gerrard could have been used in a Defensive Midfield role, and the likes of Barkley and Henderson/Lallana could have been pushed forward. Personally, I can’t comprehend why Danny Welbeck, who had a forgettable season for Manchester United, was provided with a starting place in both the games against Italy and Uruguay. Welbeck didn’t influence both the games, either. Instead, Sturridge could have played on the LW, Raheem Sterling on the RW, and Rooney up top.

Playing 4-1-4-1 would have meant that the transitional phase of the system could have been a lot slicker, and there would have been a better supply to the frontline.

In the actually deployed system of 4-2-3-1, there was no surge forward from Gerrard and Henderson, who sat in front of the back four, and Sturridge hardly had any amiable supply to work with. If I were Roy Hodgson, implementing 4-1-4-1 is what I’d have done in the very first place.

In retrospect, England would have been very grateful had they had someone like Yaya Toure, who thrives when he drives forward – the reason why Manchester City were so fortunate to have him score 20 goals from midfield for them during their title-winning 2013/14 Premier League season. That for me would be a deserved blame on Gerrard.

Rooney, albeit was at fault for his miss against Italy, wasn’t all that bad in both the games. It’s safe to say that the stature of Rooney is so much that people expect him to do everything on a football pitch single-handedly – which is not possible on every matchday.

Better supply from the midfield to the frontline could have resulted in more goals, which is the ultimatum when it comes to football matches.

To pull the curtains on this article,

It was imperative for Roy Hodgson to be flexible, and he should have demanded a lot more from Gerrard, who didn’t render anything from midfield other than pick those over-head passes he so often does. To put it simply, in an attacking sense England were way below par to realistically garner at least a win in one of the two games against Italy and Uruguay.