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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卫报：霍奇森将在对阵斯洛伐克时轮休主力
《卫报》报导，英格兰主帅霍奇森可能会对欧洲杯小组赛末轮对阵斯洛伐克的比赛阵容做
出较大调整，鲁尼等六位主力将得到休息。
英格兰只需一场平局就能确保出线名额，而他们要想获得小组第一则需要一场胜利。一旦
输球，他们可能落至小组第三，这样三狮军团将在1/8决赛中遇到西班牙或德国，这无疑
是霍奇森不想看到的。
据悉，明天凌晨的比赛中，鲁尼的位置将被亨德森取代，威尔希尔也将首发，但主力后腰
戴尔会继续出战。热刺的两位边卫沃克和罗斯会得到休息，霍奇森认为克莱因和伯特兰德
能起到与他们类似的效果。在对阵威尔士的比赛中替补登场的斯图里奇和瓦尔迪将得到首
发机会，凯恩和斯特林将坐上替补席。
外界认为霍奇森将伤愈不久的威尔希尔和亨德森同时派上场有些冒险，但让鲁尼休息可能
是最值得商榷的选择，更多的比赛有助于刚刚开始担任中场角色的鲁尼适应新位置。
霍奇森表示：“保持三场比赛阵容相同不是什么难事，但很多球员想上场，他们敲我的房
门向我要求上场时间。每个人都想展示自己能为球队做什么，所以轮换是因为我想轮换，
不是因为必须要轮换。”
鲁尼也对霍奇森的决定表示支持：“每个人都在正赛开始前见识了球员的实力，我们有23
个人，无论谁上场他都能改变比赛，就像对阵威尔士那场。我们所有前锋都能入球，所以
重要的是为他们创造出机会。”
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