5 England World Cup Decisions That Should Haunt Roy Hodgson

4. The Rooney Conundrum

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 €œhole€ position instead, to counter the threat of Andrea Pirlo. Playing Sterling there made sense, but Rooney€™s 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 €œhole€ 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.