England’s Roy Hodgson leaves out Wayne Rooney in gamble for Slovakia
Wayne Rooney heads a list of six high-profile changes to England’s starting
lineup for their final Group B fixture against Slovakia on Monday night as
Roy Hodgson takes a calculated gamble to rest key members of his squad in
anticipation of reaching the knockout stages.
England need a point to be certain of progress and a victory to top the
section and, in principle, secure a less daunting opponent in the next round.
Defeat would open up the prospect of finishing third with a game potentially
against Germany or Spain to follow. But Hodgson’s desire to freshen up his
selection means he is even prepared to rest his captain, outstanding in
midfield in the two games to date, with one eye on a last-16 tie this weekend.
Rooney is set to be replaced by Jordan Henderson, now fully recovered from
the knee injury which ruled him out for a month towards the end of Liverpool’
s domestic season, and Jack Wilshere will also be integrated into a new-look
midfield three in which Eric Dier is the only anticipated survivor.
The Tottenham Hotspur full-backs Kyle Walker and Danny Rose will also be
given a breather, having illuminated the tournament so far, with Hodgson
confident Nathaniel Clyne and Ryan Bertrand will have a similar positive
impact. Mauricio Pochettino employed a similar policy of rotating his
full-back partnerships at Spurs last season.
Daniel Sturridge and Jamie Vardy, who were introduced at half-time against
Wales and scored the goals which won that match, are to start. Harry Kane,
Dele Alli and Raheem Sterling are the other players who drop to the bench as
England play their third game in nine days.
Slovakia’s Martin Skrtel would kick England’s Daniel Sturridge to win
Read more
It may be considered risky to start both Wilshere and Henderson given their
respective fitness issues before the tournament. Yet most surprising of all
will be the omission of Rooney when it was felt he would benefit from more
matches in a relatively unfamiliar position before, England hope, they face
elite opponents in the knockout rounds.
England were leading Russia in their opening fixture when the captain was
substituted and, without his experience on the pitch, they shipped an
equaliser in stoppage time. The combined caps of the players in midfield and
attack on Monday night will be 120, only a handful more than the 113 boasted
by Rooney alone.
Hodgson had been asked about the prospect of making sweeping changes in his
pre-match media duties at Stade Geoffrey-Guichard on the eve of the Slovakia
fixture but had hinted only that was his intention. “It wouldn’t be a
problem if I wanted to keep the same side but there are players who would
like to play and have been knocking on the door to play,” said the manager.
“I have the option because everyone is anxious to show what they want to do.
It’s a question of what we’d like to do, rather than what is necessary.”
Rooney would have hoped to feature in Saint-Étienne but retains faith in the
depth offered by Hodgson’s squad. “Everyone has seen the quality of players
which we mentioned before the tournament,” said England’s record
goalscorer. “We have a squad of 23 and, whoever the manager decides to play,
we have players who can change games as they did against Wales. All of the
strikers are goalscorers and, as this season has shown, they will score. We
have good-quality players who can score goals, so it’s important we create
the chances for them to do that.”
Yet Hodgson’s selection is made to appear all the more risky given it comes
after Greg Dyke, the outgoing chairman of the Football Association, suggested
England must reach the semi-finals if the manager is to be sure of having his
contract renewed.
Dyke, speaking to BBC 5 Live, reaffirmed no decision would be made on Hodgson
’s future until after the tournament but spelled out the minimum
requirement. “What we have said is, if we have done well and played well,
then I think [the contract] will be renewed,” said Dyke, who will relinquish
his position next month. “Doing well? Semi-finals would be great;
quarter-finals if we play well and meet one of the best sides and,
unfortunately, lost or went out on penalties, something like that.
Hodgson, whose contract expires at the end of Euro 2016, offered a diplomatic
response when asked about Dyke’s comments – the timing of which might have
been deemed unhelpful – though Rooney was more forceful. “Of course we want
him to stay,” said Rooney, who was appointed the national captain by the
current regime. “Again, that’s down to his bosses but of course, as
players, we want him to stay.
“It shouldn’t go unnoticed the amount of young players he’s introduced
into the squad over the last four years either. There was a big issue in
terms of everyone saying we didn’t have enough young players coming through
in England, where other countries did.
“In fairness to the Premier League clubs they’ve brought young players
through and Roy has picked them. In my opinion he’s created a very good team
but also a fantastic atmosphere around the place: at the training ground and
whenever we meet up.
“He’s formed a great base for England’s future over the next six to eight
years.”
“If you can win it, that is great success. If you get knocked out in the
group stage, that is a disaster. That is the sort of discussion that will go
on.”
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衛報：霍奇森將在對陣斯洛伐克時輪休主力
《衛報》報導，英格蘭主帥霍奇森可能會對歐洲杯小組賽末輪對陣斯洛伐克的比賽陣容做
出較大調整，魯尼等六位主力將得到休息。
英格蘭只需一場平局就能確保出線名額，而他們要想獲得小組第一則需要一場勝利。一旦
輸球，他們可能落至小組第三，這樣三獅軍團將在1/8決賽中遇到西班牙或德國，這無疑
是霍奇森不想看到的。
據悉，明天淩晨的比賽中，魯尼的位置將被亨德森取代，威爾希爾也將首發，但主力後腰
戴爾會繼續出戰。熱刺的兩位邊衛沃克和羅斯會得到休息，霍奇森認為克萊因和伯特蘭德
能起到與他們類似的效果。在對陣威爾士的比賽中替補登場的斯圖裡奇和瓦爾迪將得到首
發機會，凱恩和斯特林將坐上替補席。
外界認為霍奇森將傷癒不久的威爾希爾和亨德森同時派上場有些冒險，但讓魯尼休息可能
是最值得商榷的選擇，更多的比賽有助於剛剛開始擔任中場角色的魯尼適應新位置。
霍奇森表示：“保持三場比賽陣容相同不是什麼難事，但很多球員想上場，他們敲我的房
門向我要求上場時間。每個人都想展示自己能為球隊做什麼，所以輪換是因為我想輪換，
不是因為必須要輪換。”
魯尼也對霍奇森的決定表示支持：“每個人都在正賽開始前見識了球員的實力，我們有23
個人，無論誰上場他都能改變比賽，就像對陣威爾士那場。我們所有前鋒都能進球，所以
重要的是為他們創造出機會。”
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