Roy Hodgson needs to face the truth

England boss Roy Hodgson has continued to defend his players following their tepid performance against Norway on Wednesday

England boss Roy Hodgson really needs to start being realistic.

His outburst in the press conference following his team’s tepid 1-0 win over Norway at Wembley on Wednesday showed that he is a man under pressure.

The former-West Brom boss has continued to defend his players and has refused to back down over his rant.

Two shots

Hodgson apparently got irritated by somebody suggesting that England only had two shots on target against the Scandinavians, which was fact it was not a made up statistic.

Surely Hodgson knows that two shots on target in any game is not good enough?

How can he come out and defend such a timid display against a team that is 30 places below England in the FIFA world rankings, a team that any other decent European team would most likely have hammered.

Protective

Hodgson may be trying to protect his players, but these players are not rookie players. Some of them may be inexperienced at international level, but they all play for big clubs with big expectations. They are accustomed to pressure, so at international level do not need to be protected most of the time.

The truth is some of the England players are just not playing well enough to be in team. Arsenal midfield Jack Wilshere is a good example of that. The 22-year-old has long been thought of as the saviour of the Three Lions midfield.

However, he struggles to stay fit and when he does get a decent run of games he is woefully inconsistent. He has also been criticised for smoking and not having a healthy lifestyle. Wilshere partnered Jordan Henderson in the centre of England’s midfield on Wednesday and was not exactly dynamic.

Injuries could be the reason why he does not seemed to have improved since breaking through into the Arsenal team at 16. However the fact that he has not applied himself enough could be another reason.

He has not even become a mainstay with his club side, which tells you the state of England’s midfield options at the moment.

Lacklustre

Wednesday’s performance against Norway was lacklustre and it was hard for Hodgson to justify it really. The veteran boss has basically said that the England team are in transition. The retirement of veteran midfielders Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard has limited his midfield options, but that does not justify such a limp display.

The England performance seemed to lack any verve and pace, until the introduction of much-maligned forward Danny Welbeck with 20 minutes remaining. The new Arsenal man injected some pace into the team and direct running into the England game.

Liverpool star Raheem Sterling can provide that, but he did not see enough of the ball until he was switched to the number ten role, a role in which he has thrived in for club side Liverpool. Maybe it is time for Hodgson to consider switching the youngster to that role.

Captain Wayne Rooney has not enjoyed many sparkling performances of late for his country and Wednesday’s game was no exception. He scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot, but apart from that enjoyed a very quiet night.

Injured

Unfortunately for Roy Hodgson his midfield options are restricted because of injuries to players that could provide the team with flair and creativity in Adam Lallana and Ross Barkley. Lallana is apparently close to a return to fitness, but that will not help England in the short-term.

It could also be suggested that England miss the pace of Arsenal winger Theo Walcott, who though inconsistent can cause any team problems on his day.

Toughest

Despite his defence of his team after the Norway game, surely even Hodgson knows that they have to produce a better display against Switzerland in Monday’s Euro 2016 qualifier. The Three Lions go into the game as slight underdogs at odds of 7/4.

The opening game is arguably the toughest that England will face in their qualifying campaign. Everybody connected with the Three Lions knows that they are unlikely to defeat the Swiss with such a tepid display.

Is Roy Hodgson right to defend his team after the Norway game?