Roy Hodgson: ‘I don’t think we played well enough to win’

Roy Hodgson

This match was postponed on Wednesday night because the stadium officials could not get the roof to work.

There were times during this game when it threatened to fall in on England.

On the 39th anniversary of the night at Wembley when the 1-1 draw between England and Poland meant that Sir Alf Ramsey’s team did not qualify for the finals in Munich the follow year, the current side took another step to qualifying for Rio 2014.

But it was far from sure-footed and that could not be blamed entirely upon the state of a pitch which had been deemed unplayable less than 24 hours before.

This Poland may have side lacked players of the quality of Kazimierz Deyna and Grzegorz Lato, the only Polish player ever to win the Golden boot at a World Cup, but then again the England side that had huffed and puffed against San Marino for the first 35 minutes on Friday could have benefitted from the ingenuity of a Martin Peters themselves.

The sodden surface at the National Stadium in Warsaw was hardly conducive to flowing football but neither was much of England’s passing and the opening goal by Wayne Rooney was less well-placed header and more a shoulder deflection.

Those whose memories stretch back to the June afternoon in 1973 when England’s place in world football was first put in doubt, when they were beaten 2-0 by Poland in Kattowice, would have had a brief shudder of déjà vu just before half-time.

Thirty-nine years before Bobby Moore had lost the ball on the half way line allowing Włodzimierz Lubański to score Poland's second goal. This time it was Joleon Lescott who lost the ball just inside England’s half to Robert Lewandowski but, unlike Moore, Lescott had Glen Johnson on hand to provide the all-important covering tackle.

England might have been castigated for not scoring six or seven goals against San Mario but Poland had the England defence at sixes and sevens for a long period in the second half. After the 1973 games, Brian Clough famously described as “a clown”. But Przemysław Tytoń, the current Poland goalkeeper, was at times a spectator – even, occasionally, when the ball fizzed across his box – and for once it was Joe Hart was left in the same situation when he was stranded as Kamil Glik equalised with a good header in the 70th minute and there were times when England struggled to keep the scoreline at 1-1.

All of which left Roy Hodgson, the England head coach, with the task of putting a positive spin on England leading Group H by a single point after four games. “I don’t think it was one of our better performances, if I’m to be honest,” Hodgson said. “But I think there’s lots of factors that need to be taken into consideration.

“The pitch was quite difficult, the ball wasn’t moving that well – it was a pitch that was more suited to a long-ball game than a passing game. But I’m pleased with a point because I don’t think we played well enough to get the three points. And I think a point here, when the group is decided next October, we might find that was an important point.”

The point was that England were simply not good enough in possession, something which Hodgson conceded. “Not today, we gave the ball away quite a lot of time, but so did the Polish team and I think you excuse the players to a certain extent on the surface.

“But it wasn’t one of our better performances but the good thing is we did get a result from the game, we did show the necessary character and it gives me great heart for the future that we’re still unbeaten after 11 games and we’re still capable of getting something out of the game.”

Perhaps, but hardly something to be shouting about from the rooftops.

Poland v England full-time report

Paul Wheeler

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