Jack Wilshere, Wayne Rooney Give Roy Hodgson Reasons to Be Cheerful for England
A year removed from England's 2014 World Cup defeat to Italy, Roy Hodgson's side could not have done much more to bounce back from the disappointment that was to follow in Brazil.
Sunday's 3-2 European Championship qualifying win in Slovenia ensures they finish the international season unbeaten and comfortably top of Group E.
The performance behind it was far from flawless, but Jack Wilshere's stunning double and Wayne Rooney's match-winning strike were enough that Hodgson can head into the summer break in a far more positive frame of mind than he did on the plane home from South America.
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The period in and around the World Cup was a natural ending point for several of the ageing stalwart players to last into the first two years of Hodgson's reign. Regardless of opinions over the success, or lack thereof, of Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard during their England careers, change was inevitable.
Rooney was the last significant holdover from the era of Sven-Goran Eriksson, Steve McClaren and Fabio Capello. As mixed an international performer in the preceding decade as anyone (certainly in major tournaments), the pressure has been on Rooney to justify his continued starting presence. Especially with the added burdens of captaincy-enhanced seniority.
Against Slovenia, the 29-year-old's display exemplified enduring doubts about aspects of his leading the line for England—but also the tantalising flashes of brilliance his manager understandably finds impossible to ignore.
The sole striker in Hodgson's 4-3-3 formation, he linked up encouragingly with wide-men Andros Townsend and, particularly, Raheem Sterling in the first-half. Four minutes in, receiving the ball in tight confines, which would become familiar under close Slovenian attention, Rooney had the awareness to play Sterling in behind the opposition defence with a ball over the top, which was sublime.
That pass deserved a better finish (Sterling could not quite measure his attempted lob), and while one effort across goal was well saved by Samir Handanovic, the captain blew a couple of opportunities himself later on. Having freed himself, he twice fired over on smart set-ups from the aforementioned wingers.
Just how indispensable Rooney is may yet come under further scrutiny in the more intense environment of Euro 2016—or perhaps the preceding glamour friendlies against nations like hosts France if rising stars such as Charlie Austin, Danny Ings and Harry Kane continue to progress. For now, however, he is ultimately finding ways to lead by example and see his team home.
He kept his cool with the game on the line late on, restoring England's lead after Nejc Pecnik's equaliser to finally put one past Handanovic. In the process, he edged closer to becoming his country's all-time top scorer.
With qualification almost inevitable and the record nearly his, the next achievement on his mind will be finding the consistent performance level needed if he is to add to his growing tally at next summer's tournament.
If Rooney embodies England's attempts to regain the trust of the nation's football fans, Wilshere is one of those leading the case for why they can be excited about the future.
His two goals were excellent, joining his final-day strike for Arsenal against West Bromwich Albion as goal-of-the-year contenders.
For the first, Wilshere was well positioned to venomously strike the ball first-time into the top corner when it came loose from Adam Lallana's penalty-box battle for possession. For the second, his control and similarly impressive finish concluded a delightful break in which the Liverpool man contributed a more purposeful assist.
When fit, Wilshere has become a key component of the open but structurally sound style Hodgson is trying to instill as second nature among his players. Along with Fabian Delph, Jordan Henderson and—in the second-half—Lallana, he mixed positive passing and forward runs with snapping tackles stifling Slovenia's advances.
The midfield was undeservedly punished after their efforts by the shocking lead the home side took when scorer Milivoje Novakovic and Josip Ilicic easily exposed a lack of communication between central defenders Gary Cahill and Chris Smalling. But after taking a little while to get going again, they got England back on the front foot after the interval with Wilshere leading the way.
As boorish as the 23-year-old can come across off the pitch, he can be an exceedingly charming performer on it. Spirited and skillful, the way he went about dragging his team back into this one had shades of Paul Gascoigne about it, the Gunner having expressed his admiration for the inspirational England and Tottenham Hotspur legend on the trip to Slovenia (see above).
Wilshere's work going forward continues to cause debate over whether his talents would be better served by a more advanced role.
Following last week's warm-up friendly draw with the Republic of Ireland, Bleacher Report's Alex Dimond raised concerns that his adventurousness would be exposed against better opposition. Times journalists Oliver Kay and Jonathan Northcroft suggested during the Slovenia game that deploying a fit Michael Carrick anchoring the midfield may be the best way to help Wilshere.
Valid though both arguments are, the pleasant evolution of Hodgson using Wilshere from a deeper starting position may be that it leads to a more fluid, natural way of playing. One where he and the likes of Delph and Henderson can interchange while also covering and accounting for each other.
In the process, getting away from the staid work which mired the midfield in the last decade, and the countless debates of Gerrard and/or Lampard as successive managers, consistently put selecting big names ahead of figuring out a suitable balance for the team.
The encouraging, energetic and entertaining midfield play and Rooney's status as a leader of a talented, young front line—these aspects of England post-Brazil 2014 will be more severely tested over the next year, in the climax of qualifying and the buildup to and playing of next summer's European Championships.
Doubts persist over a defence where frequent changes—admittedly partly forced by injury—have led to uncertainty regarding just who will make up England's strongest back four. Hodgson's decision to keep Nathaniel Clyne on the bench when initial right-back Phil Jones got injured was a little puzzling and was arguably punished when Pecnik's goal originated from that flank.
If the defence's less satisfying part in contributing to Sunday's exciting qualifying match feels underplayed in this article, the intent was not to ignore it. But a year after a most dispiriting World Cup group-stage exit, England's small but evident progress since then has been admirable.
It may all prove unfounded. But Hodgson and his players have earned a moment to celebrate, to enjoy a summer without recriminations and be cautiously optimistic that, together, they may be able to lead their nation's football team to some happier days ahead.
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