When England face the Republic of Ireland in Dublin this Sunday, they’ll do so at the end of a season which has seen them begin the process of re-building after a dismal 2014 World Cup.
As with all such things nowadays, the scale of their disappointment in Brazil has been somewhat overstated, but for a nation with such a strong record of negotiating the group stage, there was always going to be a certain amount of soul-searching after narrow defeats to Italy and Uruguay left them eliminated even before the scoreless draw with Costa Rica.
It was quite a statement about the almost universal regard for Roy Hodgson that there was never much question about him staying on as manager. An extremely favourable draw for the European Championship qualifiers was just what Hodgson needed to settle things and restore some confidence, and that’s exactly what’s happened.
England have won all five of their qualifiers so far, starting with an impressive 2-0 win over Switzerland in Basle last September. They’ve also won friendlies at home to Norway and away to Scotland, and they arrive on these shores having won seven of their eight matches since the World Cup, the exception being a commendable draw with Italy in Turin at the end of March.
After the Ireland match, they’ll go on to face Slovenia in Ljubljana seven days later, the latest chapter in a qualifying campaign which already looks just about certain to take them to the finals, probably as winners of their group, and very possibly with a 100% record.
It will only be in France next summer that the true test will come of England’s progress under Hodgson. The straightforward nature of their qualifying task has allowed him to gently move the squad on from an era of big names and big disappointments, and it will be interesting to see whether rising stars like Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph can establish themselves as major international figures at the 2016 finals.
It’s widely assumed that Hodgson will step down after the tournament. If they disappoint in France that will probably be the case, but any sort of decent campaign could yet see him staying on for another two years, not least because of the serious lack of viable English alternatives.
In the meantime, a strong performance and result in the testing environment of Dublin would be another boost to Hodgson’s efforts to re-establish his country as a real force in the international game.
