Roy Hodgson Must Deliver on England World Cup and Qualification Promise at Euros

Even by the standards of the 2014 World Cup, England’s Brazilian send-off was particularly bizarre.

The competition witnessed cases of on-field biting, off-field protests and an annihilation of the host nation in the semi-final, but nothing was as surreal as the reception Roy Hodgson’s side received in Belo Horizonte.

Having failed to make it out of the group stage, drawing their final fixture against Costa Rica to finish the campaign without so much as a solitary victory, Hodgson’s men probably expected a difficult farewell from the travelling fans in Brazil. Instead they were afforded a lap of honour.

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England might have suffered their worst World Cup in 20 years, but there was a peculiar appreciation of what Hodgson’s side had offered up. Progress was deemed to have been made despite their failure to make the knockout rounds of the tournament. The presumed rhetoric was flipped on its head.

In essence, Hodgson kept his job on the basis of the stylistic tweaking he was viewed to have accomplished in his time as England manager.

It has been widely agreed for quite some time that the country’s footballing identity is in need of drastic transformation, and Hodgson was seen to at least have started the process of achieving that.

Indeed, the England that played in Brazil in 2014 was a very different England side. They were a counter-attacking outfit, playing to the strengths provided by the likes of Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck. Hodgson was presented with a certain skill set and to his credit, he decided to work with what he had.

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Performances against Italy and Uruguay were deemed to be positive, despite England suffering defeat in both matches. There were signs of what Hodgson was aiming to achieve, with Sterling in particular a highlight of the World Cup campaign in general. The entire tournament was played with at least one eye on the future.

And now the future is here. England head into this summer’s European Championships in France with an entirely different brief. This time Hodgson must prove that his transformation of the national team has taken effect. This time there must be results.

Hodgson needs results. His four years in charge of the national team up until this point have been defined by his preparations for the future.

The former Fulham and Liverpool boss was appointed in an effort to recalibrate England, giving the country a sturdier footing for future endeavours at both the World Cup and the European Championships. 

But what do the means matter if the end results are the same? If England suffer another disappointing tournament in France this summer, Hodgson must surely be let go after the expiration of his contract. It’s finally time for the Three Lions to start delivering on the promise they have shown.

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Make no mistake, there is promise. The past season has given Hodgson plenty to ponder, with the emergence of Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Dele Alli, Ross Barkley and John Stones as top-tier talents significantly bolstering the national-team ranks. The England boss has more to work with in France this summer than he did in Brazil 18 months ago.

Hodgson has been keen to play down expectations held against such players, though.

“A lot of our players, when you take Wayne Rooney out of the equation, are still very inexperienced at international level,” he said, per James Riach of the Guardian.

“Lots don’t have double figures in caps. We need to be a bit careful before we say that Jamie Vardy, Harry Kane or Dele Alli are going to win us the Euros. You’re putting pressure on their shoulders that their CVs don’t bear.​“

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Of course, it’s understandable that Hodgson should wish to temper any hype of his young players. Talking them up himself would only put a target on his own back, but the England boss must recognise what he has at his disposal.

He must not waste this opportunity, capitalising on his side’s newly forged reputation as European football’s burgeoning quantity. For the first time in over a generation, England might be considered the continent’s up-and-coming outfit. 

What could prove an issue for Hodgson is snapping his players back into a major tournament mindset.

In Brazil, England sat deep, soaked up pressure and hit out on the counter-attack. But in an exceptionally weak qualification group for the European Championships, Hodgson’s side were required to impose themselves on the opposition rather than counter their strengths.

In qualification England were a very different team to the one that played at the World Cup. They were the dominant side in all of their fixtures, but Hodgson’s side will be faced with an entirely different task at the European Championships. They might find it difficult to make that change in dynamic so quickly. 

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Nonetheless, England’s group-stage draw looks to have put them in a rather strong position.

Russia, Wales and Slovakia will prove stiff opposition, but Hodgson is still expected to deliver progression into the knockout stage of the competition. Anything less and the tolerance he was so graciously granted in Belo Horizonte will surely subside. He will be fair game.

This spell in English football history will forever be regarded as something of a transition, with the golden generation of David Beckham, Michael Owen, John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard all gone and the next generation of stars yet to truly take root. Therein likes the fundamental essence of why Hodgson has been given more time and afforded more patience than any England manager in history.

However, the national game must be wary of flipping too far in the opposite direction of recent rhetoric.

Expectations of England have never been lower heading into a major tournament, but perhaps more should be demanded of Hodgson and his men. His team is better than is largely acknowledged, and it’s now time the results matched the progress that is deemed to have been made.