England manager Roy Hodgson sought to defend his tactics after seeing his side held to a 1-1 draw by neighbors the Republic of Ireland in an end-of-season friendly at Wembley Stadium in London on Wednesday.
Ireland were indebted to goalkeeper David Forde for a pair of crucial late saves to thwart Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott, as England’s attempts to find a winning goal were frustrated.
Although England largely dominated the second half, there was a lack of invention to their attacking play, with Wayne Rooney prompting in vain from a withdrawn attacking position.
Photo: Reuters
The performance drew criticism from former England striker Gary Lineker, the nation’s second-highest leading scorer, who wrote on Twitter that the team’s 4-4-2 formation was “a step back to the dark ages.”
However, Hodgson said discussions about tactical systems were unhelpful.
“You say it was a 4-4-2. Was Wayne Rooney a midfield player, one who plays behind the front player, or is he an out-and-out front player?” he asked. “I think there’s been far too much discussion about systems. We look to find systems. I was asked to do program notes for UEFA [for the Champions League final] about the systems of play that Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund had brought to European football, but as far as I can see, Borussia Dortmund play a 4-4-2 the same way we play 4-4-2.”
Photo: EPA
“The important thing is to have players who can attack and defend. I think tonight we did it. When we lost the ball, our front players worked hard to track back and do a job, and the Irish did too,” he said.
Long opened the scoring for the visitors with a superb 13th-minute header, only for Frank Lampard to equalize from a Daniel Sturridge cross 10 minutes later.
Sturridge was stretchered off before halftime with an ankle injury, though, and Hodgson revealed that he would miss the trip to Brazil for Sunday’s prestige friendly at the newly reopened Maracana.
Photo: Reuters
The Liverpool striker’s absence leaves Hodgson short of options in attacking areas, with Andy Carroll having already withdrawn from the squad through injury.
Hodgson said that Jermain Defoe, who replaced Sturridge, was “not 100 percent fit” and added that Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck would be “touch and go” for the Brazil game due to a knee complaint.
The England manager also paid tribute to the two sets of fans, whose conduct dispelled pre-match fears of a repeat of the violence that caused the abandonment of the teams’ last encounter in Dublin in 1995.
Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni said the visitors’ performance would stand them in good stead for future tests.
After a friendly with Georgia in Dublin on Sunday, Ireland face an important World Cup qualifier against the Faroe Islands, before finishing the season with another friendly against Spain in New York.
Meanwhile, after a month spent languishing in unwanted exile at Old Trafford, Rooney was back in action for England, but it was hardly the kind of dynamic display he needed to erase the bitter taste of recent weeks.
Since informing Manchester United last month that he wanted a transfer in a fit of pique at his reduced role in Sir Alex Ferguson’s team, Rooney had been banished to the naughty step by the club’s now retired manager.
Frustrated by what he perceived as Rooney’s failure to stay in shape and the resulting erratic displays, Ferguson was already losing patience with the forward and had delivered a significant snub when he dropped him for Manchester United’s crucial UEFA Champions League round-of-16 second leg against Real Madrid.
He left Rooney on the bench for the remaining games of his United reign, including his much-anticipated final home match against Swansea City when the team received the Premier League trophy.
Rooney’s desire to leave sparked reports Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Chelsea were all preparing bids, despite United’s insistence that the striker is not for sale, but if United’s new manager David Moyes was wondering whether Rooney still has the desired commitment required to dominate at the highest level, he will not have been especially reassured by his player’s efforts against Ireland.
In his defense, Rooney was making his first start for club or country in just over a month and it was his first appearance of any kind since the start of the month when he came on as a substitute against Chelsea.
Rooney had an early sight of goal when Frank Lampard picked him out with a long pass, but the striker’s lobbed volley drifted wide.
That summed up the 27-year-old’s patchy contribution in the first half.
He even managed to accidentally thwart one England attack when he got in the way of a powerful Glen Johnson shot.
After failing to score in his last six games for United, Rooney was sorely in need of a goal, but he was unable to test the Ireland goalkeeper even once.
A sublime chipped ball to Theo Walcott early in the second half and several other astute passes underlined his undoubted quality, but it was far from vintage Rooney and, with his Manchester United future still uncertain, it will not just be his new-born son giving Rooney sleepless nights during the close-season.
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