Roy Hodgson defends England after learning experience against Chile • Manager calls for perspective after experimental side lose 2-0 • Frank Lampard demands better performance against Germany Englands Roy Hodgson said: I took a chance in the hope it would go our way. It didn’t. I have to accept that responsibility. Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images Roy Hodgson was left calling for a sense of perspective after Chile delivered a reality check at the national stadium by subjecting England to their first defeat in a year. The hosts departed the pitch to a smattering of boos from the home support and the manager insisted they must do better against Germany next week. A goal in either half from the outstanding Barcelona forward Alexis Sánchez deflated an experimental English line-up and checked momentum following last months heartening qualification for next summers World Cup finals. Hodgson had handed debuts to three players, and game-time to the likes of Phil Jones and Ross Barkley, only for Chile, ranked two places below England at 12th in the world, to prevail comfortably and curtail a 10-match unbeaten run. The defeat was Englands heaviest at home since Australia won 3-1 at Upton Park in February 2003. There was almost an entire team of our players who didnt play, but the experimenting does not totally explain the result because we played against a very good team tonight, said Hodgson. We learned a lot. It wasnt easy chasing that game. We are fully aware that the team needs work. We hope to learn from what went on tonight and we hope to learn again on Tuesday. We will try to do a better job and send our fans home happy. Its not all doom and gloom. Its how you deal with defeats and well retain a sense of perspective. There will be a lot of players on Tuesday who didnt play tonight, so should be fresh. Hopefully, having watched the game, theyll be aware of how important it will be to give a good performance. I took a chance, ran a risk with the debuts, in the hope it would go our way. It didnt. I have to accept that responsibility. As for the boos, thats part of the game today. Fans dont accept defeats or want them. Who does? We dont want them either. But there arent many games I see played today where, if the home team has lost, there isnt some sort of booing. Ill not criticise our fans. They were disappointed tonight that we couldnt keep our momentum and performances going, so theyre entitled to show their frustration. But theyll show a measure of perspective, Im sure. Southamptons Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez, together with Fraser Forster of Celtic, earned their first caps and, while the Saints captain Lallana did show flashes of his quality, all three found the experience an eye-opener. Its going to be harsh to make too many judgments on them, said Hodgson. They did come into a team where a lot of the players around them werent necessarily the most experienced, either. And we were playing a team where even our more experienced players, or those who had played more in the qualifiers, would have found it more difficult anyway. Chile were good and deserved to win. But we learned a lot about what its like to play against South American opposition, how good they are at sucking you towards their goalkeeper who manages then to ping 40-50 yard balls on to peoples toes. That was probably the best passing display from a goalkeeper Ive ever seen. They had a lot of players with 40 to 70 caps, and theyve been together a while and know how to play with each other. We need to keep a balance on the whole thing, even if taking positives from defeats is always difficult. I didnt expect to lose. I didnt think the team I selected would lose the game, but we did. All I can do is remedy areas of the team which we can improve with an eye on the Germany game on Tuesday. Joe Hart will start that match, the Manchester City goalkeeper having missed his last four club games after a recent dip in form. Jones will miss the match with a groin injury that requires a scan on Saturday, while Rickie Lambert will be assessed when the players reconvene at their Hertfordshire hotel on Sunday evening. We didnt need a reality check, said Frank Lampard, who captained the team and was presented with a golden cap before kick-off to mark his century of appearances. We know that we are not on the moon, and we are not terrible. We are somewhere in the middle. But weve got another game against top-class opposition on Tuesday and we have to do better. Germany will arrive having drawn 1-1 against Italy in Milan, despite hitting the woodwork three times en route, with England apparently seeking an immediate response to this setback. The lads were very unhappy, sad that a good run has come to an end and to lose that run on home soil, added Hodgson. But its important that, having been knocked down, they pick themselves up again. Its a big game on Tuesday. We need to play better if were going to beat top teams like Chile and Germany.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 20:07:08 +0000
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