Chelsea Voice

England yet again falls in a major international competition. The inevitable penalty shoot out agony was the way out with every generation feeling the same heartbreak that comes along with England and shoot outs. The tournament came about after a reasonably detached patriotic grip that usually takes over the country. For reality seemed to have struck the majority, with expectations of a magical England win highly unlikely. Hope did start to gain momentum after topping the group, but the bygone atmosphere of a complete white and red takeover wasn’t present. Hodgson, after a fine season at club level, may look back on this as a first step to his new plans, yet there seemed to still be a misjudgement of players and tactics that should be applied. Though getting to the quarters may be seem a success, especially after the injuries that were suffered pre tournament, going out in the fashion tat England did doesn’t seem to show a successful tournament. This though could have been altered by playing an expansionary attacking policy, something that was never going to happen under Roy. There will be the calls for “Roy out†but this will be most likely limited unlike past competitions and managers reigns. However this would be another backwards step for the FA, as what England need is stability; the way that the football was carried out was far from pleasing. Defensive football does work, as primarily showed by Chelsea in the past season, yet it is becoming a constantly repeated cliché about defending in a game, already being used over numerous times during this summer’s tournament. This ‘Chelsea’ way can work, but under the right conditions and in the right places with the right players, something that England and Greece alike were not capable of achieving. The 4-4-2 that was used wasn’t correct in trying to defend, yet it seemed this is what Roy was aiming for. During the group as well as against Italy the football was defensive instead of offensive and wasn’t flowing at all. Implementation of tactics and players was the cause, and this would be down to Roy. Therefore maybe his work wasn’t at the level that a major competition needs. Furthermore there seemed to be a inability to replace those who were clearly underperforming, most prominently in Ashley Young, whose season had given hope to be a key player yet drastically underperformed from the first game. Though the ‘Ox’ maybe was out of place, he and Walcott offered needed change or at least the chance. Along with this James Milner was played out of position. To his credit his work rate was excellent and man did try his upmost to perform yet he wasn’t the needed winger. Scott Parker looked no more than average, failing to show himself on the major stage, being an average player in a good team and this shone through which contrasts to his time at West Ham. These problems needed to be addressed and Roy wasn’t able to. Even more worrying perhaps is looking back further, with the avoidance of Adam Johnson, Micah Richards, Daniel Sturridge and Michael Carrick, all of whom were some of the players that Roy overlooked and could have made the required impact unlike those started and those sitting on the bench e.g. Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson. Though the negatives from the campaign can be drawn and when looking further in can be viewed as more damaging, Hodgson does deserve a longer amount of time to bring his real feel to the team, as not even having the chance to get to know the players at his disposable to full affect. If he can improve the tactics then there may be hope, this will most notably be aided through the emerging young talent in the likes of Jack Wilshere, Tom Cleverly and the progression of players like Danny Welbeck and Joe Hart. All of which offer a bright future. Progressed was stopped for England in the quarter finals, yet there were some stellar performances that can be noted. Gerrard as captain did have a decent tournament, and with three assists from five of the goals scored he had a positive affect, even if his general performance wasn’t outstanding. Joe Hart was a player that really showed his dominance as England’s future number for the next decade, looking magnificently strong and confident, making some class saves and still being at a young age with his peak to come. Though a penalty miss from Ashley Cole will live long in the memory, gaining his 97th cap and not placing one foot out of line, he was another player that really performed, following the success he has enjoyed for Chelsea and sometimes forgotten England displays. The real top performances can be seen through the man that many choose to hate. John Terry, stripped of captaincy just months before and facing an onslaught of critics before kick off played each game to the top, showing all that even if not liked, his performances’ were incredible and shouldn’t be overlooked. Though not wearing the arm band he certainly gave it everything and shouldn’t be faltered one bit for his attitude and efforts on the field for England. The problem was that there was only these above four mentioned players that really shone, the rest were no more than average and when in a competition against the likes of Germany and Spain who offer talent beyond recognition in all positions and world class players being left on the bench the task for Roy was always going to be a very difficult one. The team can go away, maybe not with their heads held high, but with a sense of achieving what was within their capabilities and not surpassing their boundaries.