Hodgson Cautions Against Italy

England boss Roy Hodgson has stated that the team must be extremely cautious when they take on Italy in their opening match of the World Cup 2014. England have been given a tough group stage draw since they will be meeting teams like Italy and Uruguay at this stage. However, the team has been getting a lot of confidence in the warmup friendly matches, while manager Roy Hodgson has also called up a young team. Only a couple of experienced players have been included in the squad. As a result, Hodgson has been trying to give all his experience to the team in the last few weeks.

A couple of players like Ross Barkley and Raheem Sterling have caught the eye in the warmup and training prior to the tournament. However, Hodgson has stated once again that there needs to be a rethink about the expectations from this young squad. Only after a couple of matches will the world be able to judge their performances according to Hodgson. England will not have a lot of matches to impress at the World Cup. They have to win their opening group match against Italy in order to stand a good chance of reaching the knockout stages. Their final match in the group will be against Uruguay.

“Let’s see good performance in an England shirt before we say they’re world-beaters. I must advise caution. As yet they have not had the chance to show in an England shirt that that potential will be realised – we think it will be, but they have not had that chance yet. We have more pace, more mobility, a lot of technical players. I’m not trying to play down the fact that the future looks quite bright and there are interesting times ahead. This is the World Cup and we are also going to need our more experienced players,” said Hodgson.