Hodgson defends below-par England
- adamhigginsuk
- Sep 3, 2014
- 2 min read
AN irate England manager Roy Hodgson has defended his side’s display in their laboured 1-0 friendly win over Norway.
A second-half penalty from newly appointed captain Wayne Rooney gave the Three Lions a first victory in six matches, in front of a record low crowd at the new Wembley.
Just over 40,000 fans made the trip, the lowest number for an international match since the stadium re-opened in 2007, after the nation’s disappointing World Cup campaign in Brazil.
A dominant England failed to excite against the stubborn Norwegians, registering just two shots on target in the 90 minutes – a statistic pointed out in the post-match press conference which left Hodgson exasperated.
“Two shots on target? What about all the ones they threw themselves in front of, or the near misses? Don’t hit me with statistics,” he said.
“When we had that much possession, and you talk about two shots on target? We’re not scoring a lot of goals at the moment but we’re not playing against teams who come out against us a lot.”
After a vibrant first-half showing, the Three Lions toiled for long periods in the second half and gave the half-empty crowd little to shout about.
But former Liverpool and Fulham boss Hodgson refuted claims his players had under-performed, describing the performance as “quite good”.
The 67-year-old told ITV Sport: “I was pleased with the first half, we probed well, put in some good movements.
“I was disappointed with the start of the second half when we didn't do anything like as well for the first 15 minutes, but then we changed things, changed the formation slightly, and finished the game strongly.”
Hodgson admitted there is plenty of work to do in order to improve attendance figures and believes fans are unlikely to return during the Euro 2016 qualification campaign, with home games against San Marino [next on 8 October], Switzerland Slovenia, Estonia and Lithuania on the horizon.
“We’ll find it hard to bring attendances back to a very high level because of the opponents we’re playing in qualifying – they won’t be exciting the public,” he declared.
“They’re not the kind of teams who normally attract full houses. But if my team works as hard as they did tonight, show the appetite and desire, the aggression in the defending, the exciting moves that were there for all to see, then the crowd aren’t foolish.”
Boasting the likes of Manchester United forward Rooney and Liverpool frontman Daniel Sturridge, Hodgson is confident his new-look and youthful side has enough firepower heading into Monday’s opening Euro 2016 qualifier against the Swiss.
“This team will score goals. They’ll score goals. Rooney will score goals. Welbeck will score goals. [Daniel] Sturridge will score goals. [Raheem] Sterling will score goals,” he added.
“Switzerland will need to beat us. If anything, we might be Norway on Monday. We might be pushed back and won’t be able to attack and dominate for long periods, as we did tonight.
“I don’t know. But it might be the case. I don’t think the mindset of the Swiss team, playing us in Basel, will be the same as the mindset of the Norwegians today.”
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