Losing to Nordic minnows Iceland is one of England’s most embarrassing defeats at a major tournament prompting a strong reaction from former Liverpool defender Carragher in his column for the Daily Mail .
Advertisement
Hodgson led England to a ideal qualifying record of 10 wins from 10 on the road to EURO 2016, but tactical indecision and woeful form from key players resulted in a solitary win from four games in France – culminating in the humiliating 2-1 loss to minnows Iceland, a game they led through a second-minute penalty from captain Wayne Rooney.
They were particularly scathing of England’s defending, notably Kyle Walker, for Iceland’s first goal, scored by Ragnar Sigurdsson from a long throw-in.
Collicutt said he was “bitterly disappointed” by the result and criticised the players.
“On the night Iceland were the better side”, he said. They were struggling to pass the ball five yards to one another. However, Hodgson performed a late U-turn, and instead of travelling back to England with the players, he appeared alongside Glenn at England’s Chantilly base.
Having been impressed with the way they played that day, Jones said he “shocked” by their early exit.
“I don’t really know what I’m doing here”, Hodgson said at a news conference called by England’s Football Association. “I don’t think we are ruling out anything”. A general psychological malaise seems to overcome them.
It has been suggested there is a psychological problem within the minds of the England players, and Dyke believes this theory does carry some weight.
Gareth Southgate led the U21s to victory at the Toulon Tournament last month and remains favourite for the post ahead of ex-England manager Glenn Hoddle, United States boss Jurgen Klinsmann and Sunderland’s Sam Allardyce.
Southgate is in charge of the England Under-21 team and Glenn responded knowingly when asked if there was somebody who could step into the void if a decision is not made by September.
“And what’s more, so much is going to be written about our failure to get to the quarterfinals that nothing I can say would do anything other than fuel the flames possibly”. Absolutely. So would you rule him out?
“Yes, we have got a lot of foreign players who play here, but we have also got good English players”.
Advertisement
Hodgson paid tribute to his squad on Monday although their poor performance in the defeat by Iceland did not reflect well on players who mostly feature in the Premier League.
