Euro 2016: Lothar Matthaus wants Wayne Rooney and Dele Alli to swap roles for England
SunSport's expert wants Three Lions duo operating differently against Wales and calls for better substitutions in Lille
I thought England played quite well against Russia and I don’t like to criticise a coach.
But Roy Hodgson has to do things differently and must not make the same mistake with subs.
For me, Wayne Rooney and Dele Alli need to switch roles.
Alli should play in his usual position. He prefers to play deeper.
To get the best out of someone they need to feel comfortable in their job.
I didn’t think Alli really got in the game and it was the same in the second half for Rooney. He wasn’t comfortable either.
They were having to think too much about doing the right thing or not.
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Rooney has spent his career as a striker, Alli is a midfielder. You need to be able to do things automatically and that just wasn’t happening. Hodgson has to be the coach for the team, not just his skipper Rooney.
And if he cannot get a formation that suits them both, Rooney has to be on the bench.
The other thing Hodgson got wrong was his changes. Jack Wilshere for Rooney I understand as he wanted to keep it going.
But James Milner for Raheem Sterling was a mistake and showed England were desperate to hold on.
They lost all their speed on the counter and the Russians threw more people forward.
Harry Kane was not in the game — they needed to put someone with speed on, maybe Sturridge or Vardy.
Now this match against Wales is like a final for England. The manager has to get the decisions right.
LOTHAR MATTHAUS is a SunSport columnist and ITV Sport pundit.
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