Now I have not been as big a critic as some of the England manager but last night his selection of Calum Chambers ahead of Nathaniel Coyne baffled me.
I have nothing against Calum Chambers, indeed I remain an admirer of his ability and think he will be an England player for many years to come, however it was a stranger decision to play him ahead of Nathaniel Coyne against San Marino for several reasons.
Firstly he was not in the original squad and was a last minute call up from the u21's, that being the case then surely he should mot have leapfrogged Clune to the right back spot, the original selection was for a reason, why was there a change in pecking order so to speak.
Secondly there was the tactical side of things, Chambers is a great full back, defensively he is probably better than Clune, but when it comes to going forward then the Saints man if far superior, given that we were playing San Marino and that literally you could have stuck 10 of the England side out with any Sunday league player in the country at right back and still beaten San Marino, then why the hell was Chambers in ahead of Cline.
The stats back that up with 78 percent possession and with San Marino managing only 1 shot on target, given that we were playing most of the games in their half then Coyne was the man to offer far more going forward, no disrespect to Chambers who has bags of ability and pace, but he isn't in Coyne's class when it comes to attacking down the line and that showed last night.
But the real issue for me now with Hodgson is that he has showed that he is unsure of his own selections and tactically naïve, I had previously excused him from criticism due to the fact that he was unlucky in that he finds himself in charge of an England side that has seen too many player go over the hill at this level and not a lot come through in recent year's to race them, that is not Hodgson's fault, but decisions last night are down to him and that is worrying.
The best managers know what their teams are and don't as Hodgson did last night leapfrog players in at the last minute over those in the squad, that shows lack of confidence, if Chambers had been in the original squad then fine play him, but he wasn't so should not have been in the starting line up.
I do think in a few years time England will have a good team there are some fine players coming through, including Chambers, however they have to see leadership and know the team is picked on merit where they earn the right to play rather than just queue jumped, when that happens it becomes a free for all and that is why the England team is in the state that it is at the moment, not enough of the players in their mid 20's now have matured and that is because they are laws to themselves rather than team players and Roy Hodgson showed last night he is doing nothing to change that culture.