Roy Hodgson: Italy will be a bigger test for the players

Roy Hodgson returns to Italy with his England squad this week hoping for a rare victory in Turin.  

Hodgson had a two-year spell as boss of Inter Milan in the mid-90s while Juventus were ruling Serie A and Europe.

And, following their 4-0 victory against Lithuania at Wembley on Friday night, England face the Azzurri in a city Hodgson remembers winning just once with Inter.

“I didn’t have many happy moments in Turin,” recalls the Three Lions manager. “Juventus were clearly the best team in the country during my time with many star players.

“Apart from one cup victory which we had there, invariably we didn’t get the results we wanted.”

He continued: “I’m happy to be going back to Italy as a country and I’m happy to be playing Italy again because they are a good team with some very good players.

“If we are going to test our players out, you’ll see them given a bigger test against Italy than a team like Lithuania can give us.”

Since Friday’s European qualifying win under the arch, Hodgson has seen four players head home, while he was already without the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Jack Wilshere and Adam Lallana.

A friendly with Italy – a side they have faced three times already during Hodgson’s time in charge – is an opportunity to test themselves with Euro 2016 in mind.

“We will be playing with players we wouldn’t normally rely upon,” he said. “There are an awful lot of people in the squad I count on that we’ve lost.

“But what it means is for those who are still with us, many who are relatively untried, there will be a chance for them to show that my faith in selecting them for this squad was justified.

“There are a number of players who quite seriously believe they should be in the team who will not be in Italy, and quite probably some of them won’t be in Ireland [in June].

Hodgson in training this week

“So we really have to accept that the real test for the team and the opportunity to show that we can do it against major opposition will come when qualifying is over.

“The remaining friendlies this season – Italy and Ireland – will be to a chance to break in to what we think is our best eleven.

“Hopefully we’ll get quality opposition to play us in those matches which will really put us seriously to the test.”

England are now at the midpoint on their path to the European Championship in France and are sitting pretty at the top of Group E, six points clear.

Their five consecutive qualifying wins, along with two friendly victories, since September represents the best ever start to a season for England at senior level.

And in his half-term report, Hodgson says his team are showing “good signs” with the Finals still over a year away.

“We had to start off in the autumn having lost a very important group of players who had been there since I took over in 2012,” he added.

Roy Hodgson in the Inter dugout

“It meant that we were building from a slightly differently platform, a much more youthful platform, with a view to in two years’ time that some of these players would have had the necessary experience in their club teams, playing champions league football, hopefully and playing international matches.

“When we eventually get to France, which I’m sure we shall, these players will be two years further down a road that we started in September.

“That’s what we’re working toward and so far I’m satisfied with the response form the players, the messages we tried to get across, the principles we work on are showing good signs and being adopted in games.”

He added: “I’ve got to be more than satisfied, but we’ve got to keep our eye on the ball and the ball for me is in France where I’m really hoping that we’ll not just have a competitive team, we’ll have a team that can make an impact in the tournament.

“There is no doubt we’ll have some quality players which other nations will envy, but of course the only way we can get that recognition for them is when they step on that stage and perform.”