England Manager Roy Hodgson is Out of Touch With New Talent
Roy Hodgson hasn’t done much to inspire England fans during his tenure as the manager of the national team. His most recent world cup saw The Three Lions eliminated in the group stage for the first time since 1958. However his comments on Jamie Vardy today showed not only is he borderline inept, he’s also woefully out of touch.
Vardy, who is currently the leading goalscorer in the Premier League was deservedly named to the England squad today for upcoming friendlies against Spain and France. That much, Hodgson got right. Unfortunately, he felt the need to expound on the selection of the Leicester City front man.
Hodgson went off on something between a rant and a tangent making the point that people should be careful not to hype Vardy up too much. He then went on to comment on how “happy” Vardy should feel to be included in the squad for the two upcoming friendlies and how if he ultimately makes the Euro squad he should be “even happier.” It’s almost as if Hodgson hasn’t watched the Premier League season unfold.
It’s entirely reasonable for Hodgson to want players to appreciate the prestige associated with being included in the England squad. I can even understand why he wants Vardy to be open-minded in terms of what position he plays. This doesn’t mean he should lord over his players as if he’s the King of England.
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The prevailing rumor is that Vardy strongly wishes to play as a centre forward and not a wide man. Hodgson attempted to cut off any conflict about this with his public comments today. He arrogantly asserted that Vardy should appreciate whatever role and playing time he might receive.
It’s this type of attitude that holds Hodgson and England back from reaching their full potential. Does he really sound like a manager who is able to connect with today’s football star? Not to me. He sounds more like a grandfather who wants to drone on about the way things were back in WW2.
This isn’t the first arrogant remark Hodgson has thrown out as of late either. It was just a few weeks ago that he called 19-year-old Dele Alli up to the National Team and told him not to consider himself a senior player. To his credit, Alli took this in stride and earned continued participation in upcoming friendlies, but Hodgson’s comments were ridiculous.
You can’t expect players to give their all for you when you publicly disparage them to the press. You already struggle to earn their trust and loyalty because you have them for such a short time. For Hodgson to make his job even more difficult by making such bizarre public comments is just madness.
It’s time for England to make a change to a manager who has the ability to inspire its players. They should be searching for a man who can connect with England’s new wave of players; not alienate them. Roy Hodgson isn’t a bad manager, he just happens to be the wrong one. England won’t reach its full potential over he and his dinosaur philosophies.