World Cup: England manager Roy Hodgson considering making changes
By Mike Dyce
England came into the World Cup knowing they were in a tough group, and they had a tough opening game against Italy. It was a tight game, but Italy got the win and three points putting England in third place in the table.
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In their next game they play Uruguay, a team that was shocked in an upset to Costa Rica in their opening game, but a tough opponent nonetheless. England manager Roy Hodgson is considering making some changes to the starting XI to give England a boost.
“We have to assess what the match has taken out of the players,” Hodgson said, via Sky Sports.
“I will be quite surprised when we do our measurements if it doesn’t show some of them have lost quite a few kilos, and there might be one or two of them that have taken a slight knock.
“But luckily there is no injury, apart from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and he’s going to be close for Thursday.
“So I have a chance to make changes, if I want.
“I would like to look at the game closely because you always get caught up in the emotions, and there are always things you see on the second run through.
“For long periods against Italy I liked the shape of the team going forward, but we have some work to do on defending. But it will be very close to the same team against Uruguay.”
Former Scotland manager Alex McLeish told Sky Sports World Cup Verdict that he would change Wayne Rooney’s position needs to be changed or even be dropped altogether. Rooney lined up at left wing against Italy.
“I don’t think he is England’s best player, certainly on current form, but I do believe he should be playing up front rather than in a wide area,” McLeish said.
“England don’t have to capacity to play him there, like Real Madrid do with Cristiano Ronaldo for example, he does a lot of work in terms of helping his full-back out.
“There definitely should be a change of position for him if Roy decides to keep him in the team.
“He’s a superb player but I don’t think he’s immune to being dropped and Wayne himself admitted that.
“I don’t know if that will inspire him; he is working very hard for the team and in that wide area you have to sacrifice some of the defensive aspects because he has to reserve his energy for the attacking work he does.”