Litmus test awaits for Roy Hodgson

On the face of it, Roy Hodgson seems to be a very successful appointment as the manager of England. His numbers are remarkable. Hodgson has been in charge of England for 21 games, losing only 1 (a loss away to Sweden which was largely thanks to some sublime play by Zlatan Ibrahimovic). Hodgson didn’t lose a game in open play in Euro 2012. In fact, Hodgson’s charges were handed an initial boost by Ricardo Montolivo’s penalty miss in the shootout against Italy. And thus, on the face of it Hodgson seems to have done little wrong as England manager.

The question though, is why are England in this perilous position of having a must-win last game to qualify for Brazil 2014? The answer is simple. While Hodgson has not lost multiple times, he has not won multiple times against quality opposition in competitive matches since Euro 2012. His only win of note (in competitive matches) in this period came on Friday against Montenegro . And that was quite the tour de force (Tottenham youngster Andros Townsend inspired England to no less than four second half goals) to chill the jangled nerves at Wembley.

Hodgson , throughout his career , has favoured a safety first approach. Many a time, he has baffled his players (including former Liverpool Captain, Jamie Carragher) by informing them "I’ll take a point here tonight". This mentality has since transformed on to England who played not to lose rather than to win.  Cue the selection of James Milner (the player with the most appearances for England under Roy Hodgson) and the public admission that "Milner may not be everyone’s idea of a winger" to indicate that England were too afraid of disaster that they never were adventurous enough to inflict disaster on others.

But as it turns out, wins against Moldova and San Marino alone cannot take you to the World Cup. This put forward the must-win double headers against Montenegro and Poland which would define the career of Hodgson as an England manager. The first part was passed on Friday and the second one lays ahead of him tonight.

There are plenty of things for Hodgson to ponder. Though he is unlikely to alter the tried and tested combinations, the midfield of Gerrard-Lampard looks one paced and doesn’t have enough "legs". Joe Hart’s form has been of worry lately while Ashley Cole is out injured (albeit they have Leighton Baines, a more than capable replacement). Kyle Walker is ruled out through suspension and hence one of the Manchester United duo of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones look likely to play. The key issue is the late knock to Friday’s hero Andros Townsend which leaves England a bit short of creativity in the flanks. Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain (both injured) are not a part of the squad and leaves Hodgson with just Milner and Welbeck as his wingers.

Headaches aplenty and a litmus test awaits Hodgson tonight. If ever there was a time for a hero, this is it. Time for the poster boys like Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney to stand up and be the difference. Just like the last time they did that for England….oh wait…

Prediction Corner

Line Up - Hart, Jones, Cahill, Jagielka, Baines, Milner, Lampard, Gerrard, Welbeck, Rooney, Sturridge

Score - 1-0 (narrow England win, Daniel Sturridge nicking it)