Hodgson disappointed by fans’ reaction

Two friendly defeats at Wembley have meant criticism for England under Roy.

Roy Hodgson is too long in the tooth for white-knuckle rides

The England boss categorically refuses to buckle himself onto the roller coaster with the Three Lions-supporting public.

The veteran manager stepped back from the tub-thumping when his team secured qualification for the World Cup last month, and he will not wallow in the trough of pessimism that has followed the defeats by Chile and Germany.

Hodgson is determined to keep England’s last four results in what he believes to be their proper context, whatever his critics say.

“There was probably too much euphoria after the October games against Montenegro and Poland,” he says.

“I’m disappointed, though, that people want to dismiss everything that this year has been for us because of two matches against top teams when we had a lot of experimentation going on.

“It’s everyone’s right to do that but it’s not going to affect me. I still consider 2013 to have been an excellent year.

“I’m saddened because after not being beaten for a long time, I’ve had to remember what it’s like to lose.

“But I’m not prepared to have that rollercoaster ride of being told we’re fantastic and magnificent when we qualified, and now suddenly those two qualifiers have become just ‘glimpses of good play’.

“In those matches we picked our best XI and all players were motivated. In the last two games I picked players to give them a chance to show what they could do.

“There was never any question from my side of doing anything other than that. I didn’t choose what I thought was the best XI to win the games. I’d have been more concerned if I had.

“We know what we’re doing and we know where we’re going.”

The two friendly defeats were the first time England had lost back-to-back games at Wembley for 36 years and the first time ever they’ve lost consecutive home games to overseas opposition.

Hodgson admits he played no part in the selection of opponents the fixtures formed part of the FA’s 150th anniversary programme but stresses that he wouldn’t have preferred less exacting tests just to keep the feelgood factor going.

“I’ve not chosen any friendly in 19 months I’ve been in charge but I’m not complaining,” he says.

“I wouldn’t have thanked you for two games against lesser opposition to get better results. I wouldn’t have learned anywhere near as much.

“I know what to do to get better and I know what sort of players I need on the field to help us get there.

“I chose Denmark over Norway for our next friendly in March and I expect to have some serious say in who we play in the games that precede the World Cup, because we’ll obviously know our group.

“The reason we have these friendlies is that we want to test ourselves against the best. Perhaps we’ve been found wanting because we lost them both.

“But the games served their purpose. We used a lot of players, found Adam Lallana which I consider a good step, and we’ve also learned that there’s still work to do, particularly in terms of our quality at both ends of the field.

“I haven’t thought about my provisional squad of 30 yet and won’t do until it matters.

“I haven’t got a crystal ball. I don’t know who’s going to be injured or who will lose form and his place in his club side.

“There aren’t too many English-qualified players no-one knows about so if the question is, do I know what candidates I potentially have, the answer is a resounding yes.”