England can go a long way at Euro 2016 if Roy Hodgson can find the right system for his talented players
German legend believes that England have the players to go a long way in tournament - but formation must be right
LOTHAR MATTHAUS is part of SunSport’s Euro team.
The 150-cap German legend gave us his lowdown on the curtain opener France v Romania yesterday, now he turns his attention to Roy’s boys.
England’s opener is against Russia tonight and Matthaus believes youth and speed could be key against an ageing defence but Hodgson needs to be brave with his selection.
ENGLAND have the players to go a long way in this tournament.
But they have to find the right formation and way of playing.
Russia will be thinking about how they can frustrate them, what they can do to surprise England.
That means England have to be able to adapt as well, to be able to change the way they play from game to game.
I have said how much I am looking forward to seeing Dele Alli in this tournament but it is important the Three Lions get him to play where he is most effective.
What I don’t want to see is Alli working back too much. I want him to be joining the strikers. Ideally, I’d play him as the No 10 because that’s his best role but I understand he has to do a different job in this set-up.
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If Roy Hodgson was bold he would play with Raheem Sterling on the left and Daniel Sturridge on the right as well.
Russia are a very old team who have been disrupted by injuries and have lost key players to injury.
England need to use Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane to create space for Alli so he can get to the edge of the box.
If Sterling plays wide, as well, that will cause Russia even more problems. Sturridge would give them even more pace and penetration.
This is a game for them to win.
FOR ME the key man against Russia, actually, will be Kyle Walker.
The reason is because I suspect he will have the whole of that right flank and will have to get up and down all game.
It is a very hard job for him with a lot of responsibility.
But having made himself, it seems, first choice ahead of Nathaniel Clyne, Walker now has to prove manager Roy Hodgson was right to have that faith in him.
When England have the ball, he will have to run a great deal, staying wide and stretching the Russians.
He can do that because of his pace but he will then have to make sure they do not get caught out at the back.
On the other side, his Tottenham team-mate Danny Rose will have a similar job — but if Raheem Sterling is playing he will not have to cover quite as much ground all game.
Rose will be needed to get round the outside occasionally but he can also stay slightly deeper to give England extra defensive cover.
I KNOW there are concerns in England but I’m not too worried about Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill, as long as Eric Dier stays in place as the shield.
There’s talk about dropping Rooney but I don’t see Hodgson doing that.
I watched him playing for United recently really deep, as a No 6, and he might have to be prepared to do that occasionally tonight.
He needs to be alive to situations.
But Dier must stay in his position in front of the two central defenders.
No matter what happens, Dier cannot afford to go forward. He HAS to stay and sit. I know the statistics aren’t great, because history says England have never won their opening game in a Euros, but history is there to be changed.
In the Russian goal, Igor Akinfeev makes too many mistakes, he doesn’t look safe to me, and while Artem Dzyuba the striker is a decent box player, I’m not sure how much support he is going to get.
The one big thing going for them is that Leonid Slutski understands what makes Russian players tick but I don’t think that’s going to be anywhere near enough for them.