Before the Italy game, a story emerged that Hodgson wanted to play Wayne Rooney on the left on his 4-2-3-1 system because he wanted to play Raheem Sterling in hole position instead, to counter the threat of Andrea Pirlo. Playing Sterling there made sense, but Rooneys lack of proper defensive nous left Leighton Baines exposed at left-back and Italy cleverly attacked this space throughout the game and scored their winning goal via a cross from that position. In the preferred 4-4-2 diamond set-up, Hodgson could still have played both Sterling in the hole and Rooney in his preferred striker role, while another midfielder in Ross Barkley, Adam Lallana or Jack Wilshire could have been employed to offer a stronger base. The Rooney experiment was not needed and Hodgson really has to take blame for creating that unnecessary tactical approach.