Roy Hodgson will not want to be remembered as the man who killed interest in England. He doesn’t deserve that label, either. Yet the 67-year-old appears to be the acceptable face of apathy. How else can the muted public reaction to a frankly disastrous World Cup campaign be explained?
Once, the nation cared about the national side. Too much at times. The pillorying of Bobby Robson in the 1980s was one of the uglier episodes in England’s (and newspaper) history. Graham Taylor was mocked as a turnip, Sven-Göran Eriksson a swede.
No one should advocate a return to the hysterical headlines of yesteryear, but the lack of critical reaction to the calamitous World Cup campaign is equally irrational.
If international football is to survive in an era when the Premier League appears omnipotent at home and the likes of Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid match that power on the Continent, it needs to generate interest and debate. The swathes of empty seats at Wembley on Wednesday will illustrate the extent to which England have failed to capture the imagination.
How can this be? Hodgson was in place yesterday at White Hart Lane to see a Liverpool side cut Tottenham Hotspur apart with pace, direct running and precision passing. Three of the best players on the pitch were English — Daniel Sturridge, Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling. All three were dynamic and impressive in the league last season and have started the new campaign with a similar sort of vigour.
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Did anyone ask Hodgson why he failed to harness such talent in a very poor group? These players — and the rest of the England squad — might have been on holiday in Brazil for all the impact they made on the competition.
Criticism seemed to take a vacation after England slumped out of the competition with a 0-0 draw against Costa Rica. After losing to one of the worst Italy sides in recent history and a Uruguay team with a good strikeforce and little else, Hodgson was pleased with a goalless stalemate against the nation expected to finish bottom of the group.
“I don’t think that we could have asked for a much better performance,” he said.
That was ludicrous. The three England performances in Brazil ranged from barely credible to witless. It was not acceptable from a squad that contained Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and a host of young, talented players whose pace and appetite should have illuminated the tournament.
It was the sort of comment a Northern Ireland manager might have made after a draw with Costa Rica. Instead, it came from an England manager and it went largely unchallenged by the media and public.
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That must change in the next month. Forget the mythology. There are enough good players available to Hodgson for England to make an impact on the international stage. Talking down the national side’s prospects as the FA and their manager have done over the past year is a dereliction of duty. It has set up a mindset where supporters are expecting second best. The Premier League sells its product as “the best, most exciting league in the world”. By contrast, the FA and Hodgson radiate a “don’t expect too much” ethos.
Hodgson has had an easy ride so far. It has to end. The players who thrill the crowds, week on week, in the Premier League are good enough to do it on the international stage. It just requires the right manager.
The bitter truth for Hodgson is that only a handful of squads in Brazil contained more talent than his 23. Few could equal the pace and directness that should have made the semi-finals an attainable target. No other World Cup coach underachieved so badly.
England need a fresh approach this week. They need to inspire fans, not make watching international football feel like a trial. Losing is forgiveable. Wasting talent less so. Downplaying expectations can disguise the FA’s incompetence only for so long. England hasn’t expected for some time but it damn well should.