Shoot Says: Where do England go from here?

Embarrassing. Abysmal. Abject. Those are just some of the words that were used to describe England’s performance as they exited Euro 2016 with a whimper following a 2-1 defeat to Iceland on Monday night.

The manager, Roy Hodgson, resigned immediately after the match in Nice against a nation with a population of 330,000, but where do the Three Lions go from here?

Despite winning all of their 10 qualifiers in the build-up to the tournament, England never really showed that they had their own identity or style of play, and despite playing with a 4-4-2 formation for the majority of the past two years, Hodgson suddenly began to play with a 4-3-3 system in France.

It was a system that the players clearly weren’t accustomed to or comfortable playing in, and was even more baffling considering that Hodgson decided to pick five strikers in his final 23-man squad, and just one winger – Raheem Sterling – with the likes of Andros Townsend and Theo Walcott remaining at home.

It was quickly apparent that the side had little balance, and there was further strange decisions from the manager, who made six changes for England’s final group game against Slovakia, after they had just picked up a last-gasp morale-boosting victory against Wales just days earlier.

Additionally, Sterling and Harry Kane, who were clearly bereft of confidence, were brought back into the starting XI against Iceland, with players who had impressed in the group stages, such as Adam Lallana, relegated to the substitutes’ bench.

Kane continued to take free-kicks, and despite everybody being able to see that it was something that wasn’t working, and never would, this carried on in Nice, much to the bemusement of England supporters.

Was Hodgson too intimidated by his high-profile Premier League stars to change things up? Or did he really believe it could work? To be quite frank, it looked as though he was making it up as he went along.

Roy Hodgson oversaw England’s disastrous defeat to Iceland on Monday night. Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

So, what do the FA need to do now? Well, firstly they need to appoint a manager who is a tactician, and has a set style of play that he isn’t afraid to implement consistently.

For too long now, England have believed that they are a possession team that can out-pass their opponents, but they have proven time and time again that they can’t. They only have three or four players – Wayne Rooney, Jack Wilshere, Lallana and possibly John Stones – who look comfortable on the ball, so it is never going to work with the current squad.

The best thing England can do now is to try and play to their strengths, and they must look to teams in the Premier League to help them achieve this.

The English top-flight is seen as one of the best in the world because of its intensity and its direct style, especially over the course of the past year with Leicester City, and it is something that must be transferred across to the national side now.

England can also look at Italy as an example. They are said to have their worst team in recent years at the current time, yet they have just seen off the European Championship holders to reach the quarter-finals.

Graziano Pelle of Southampton is their main striker, and despite not being the biggest name, the Azzurri have a system that works efficiently with the tall attacker holding the ball up, with his team-mates providing plenty of support around him. This is something that England can implement with Kane in the future.

A dejected Joe Hart, Dele Alli and Gary Cahill following the defeat to Iceland. Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

Before and during the tournament, it was argued that while England looked good going forward, they were weak at the back. But it is hard to accept this as an excuse when other teams, such as Iceland, looked far more organised and resolute than the Three Lions.

There was distinct lack of a leader in France, with Gary Cahill and Chris Smalling failing to direct the defence and holding midfield players like their predecessors such as John Terry and Rio Ferdinand did so well previously.

The new manager’s first job must be to get the defensive set-up right, and then build from there. If England can keep clean sheets, they have the players and the pace to make the difference in attack. But it will take a brave boss and a lot of hard work on the training ground.

The new man in charge ideally also needs to have had experience coaching top players and egos too, as at times it looked as though Hodgson was overawed by his players.

So, who do I believe is the right man for the job now? Personally, Eddie Howe or Guus Hiddink would be my top choices.