Jose Mourinho explains what England should’ve done

England had a rough go at the 2014 World Cup, losing their first two games to Italy and Uruguay. Before their final group play game of the tournament, they were eliminated.

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There has been a lot of rumblings about what England should do, but it looks like they’re keen to keep Roy Hodgson as coach. Hodgson has received the support of his players, notably goalkeeper Joe Hart, and the Football Association chairman in the days following their dismissal. Hodgson for his part has said that he won’t resign.

Some of the issues with England’s performance has been blamed on tactical decisions and placement of players. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, who has been remarkably successful on the club level, weighed in on what England should’ve done differently.

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“I don’t think it’s fair to go in that direction because first of all, England was not lucky in the draw, for some reason it’s possible that you have three World Champions and three strong teams like Uruguay, Italy and England in the same group,” said Mourinho, serving as Yahoo’s Global Football Ambassador.

“From the best three or four matches in this competition, England was present in two. It means that England did well, played well, competed well, started both matches very well, was not afraid of Uruguay, was not afraid of Italy. [They] concede a goal, had a reaction, equalise. When they equalise with 10-15 minutes to go, lots of people, for sure, they think England can win this match, but lost.

“So, I think the gods of football, if you can use that expression, were never with England since the draw until now, even the Italy match against Costa Rica, where I don’t think many people would think Italy could lose and they lost. So I think England was not a happy team, they did not have the football gods on their side. They had two good matches, they had some good individual performances. I don’t feel comfortable to criticise England or England’s options because I think they shouldn’t be ashamed of this situation.”

Jose Mourinho is an exclusive analyst for Yahoo’s worldwide football coverage and www.yahoo.co.uk/worldcup is the only place to read all his expert opinions during the FIFA World Cup 2014.