Happy campers under new boss

Cast your mind back to June 2010 when England had just completed the opening game of the World Cup with a 1-1 draw against the USA. All is doom and gloom back in Blighty, and while the peasants may not be totally revolting, the players are close to mutiny. Fabio Capello’s previously unblemished reputation is about to be torn to tatters, while the split in the England camp between John Terry and Steven Gerrard’s factions threatens to destabilise the whole campaign.

Within two weeks England’s players are back home and in disgrace, and even their staunchest supporters are giving up on them.

Fast forward two years, almost to the day, and the mood both inside and outside the England camp following their 1-1 draw with France in their opening game of Euro 2012 could not be more different. Capello has gone, of course, to be replaced by Roy Hodgson, who was distinctly second choice behind Harry Redknapp in the eyes of most fans and many players.

Yet Hodgson has fashioned the sort of organisation, discipline and most importantly the team spirit that has enabled England to look like a proper side again. Yes, a draw in the opening game is not the ideal result for a nation that still has high expectations. But what matters more is the manner in which it was gained, the implications for future games, and the feelgood factor Hodgson has created in a camp that has proved notoriously difficult to handle – in the same way Roberto Di Matteo turned Chelsea from chumps to European champs in the space of a few months.

Hodgson has transformed an unharmonious and under-performing group of players into a team that looks at ease with itself. As Gerrard said on Monday night: “After getting a point against France there is a lot of belief, a lot of confidence and togetherness, and that is what you need.

“Two years ago we came off that game (in Bloemfontain) deflated, with no belief and no confidence, because we had taken the lead and then it was taken away from us.

“Tonight is totally different. We’re satisfied with a point, having defended really well and at times looking really dangerous.”

It has been a rapid transformation, but having worked briefly under Hodgson during his short tenure at Anfield, Gerrard says it is no shock. “Considering we haven’t been together for too long, I think the lads have taken the tactics on board really quickly. I’m not surprised how quickly we’ve adapted, because I know the manager well and he puts his point across really well.”

Hodgson is happy to set up with two banks of four and make his side hard to beat, and even after Samir Nasri equalised Joleon Lescott’s 30th minute opener, England rarely looked like cracking.

“I thought we were unbreakable at times,” added the captain. “That is a very good sign, and to do well in these tournaments you have to be good defensively. Sometimes you look at the back four and goalkeeper, but give credit to the forwards too, because it starts with them. You need to have three lines that are unbreakable and that’s what we were.”

Hodgson appears to have come up with a system that suits English players and Gerrard agrees: “Yes. Against top sides like France you need to be good without the ball, because there will be times when it is difficult, when they have world-class players like Benzema and Nasri, and if you asked them tonight, they will say England were very good without the ball.”

I duly asked Patrice Evra and he concurred: “England were really strong. That’s the way Roy Hodgson plays, when he was at Fulham and West Brom, and it is what we expected. At times it was like they had 15 men on the pitch and it was difficult to find space. It was like the way Chelsea played against Barcelona. People may laugh, they may want England to play more football, but in the end, if they win the tournament like that they will be happy.”

Evra’s manager Laurent Blanc was not so happy however, and warned that England will need to show more attacking intent if they are to progress far.

“We knew they would play the way they did, a kind of false pressing game with their two front men. They stayed very deep, around 60 to 80 metres from our goal, and gave us space to create. We did not do enough but England will have to show more ambition to progress.

“They will miss Rooney again for the next game, so I don’t think they will change tactics. You can win matches that way, but if you are to go all the way in a tournament like this, you need to have attacking ambitions.”

England now face Sweden in Kiev on Friday, while France will need to beat a Ukraine side lifted by the goals of Andrey Shevchenko that saw off the Swedes. Gerrard is hoping the expectation levels of England’s fans remain low. “Good, good – keep it going.

“We’re certainly not getting carried away, we just need to build on each game. France has gone. We got part of what we wanted, we can analyse it and see what we did right and what we did wrong. We’ll prepare for the Swedes now.