THREE LIONS:AN EXPECTED DISASTER

On the 1st of May 2012,the announcement was finally made,Roy Hodgson had become the new England manager.Hodgson, who has managed sixteen different teams in eight countries, guided the Switzerland national team to the last 16 of the 1994 World Cup and qualification for Euro 1996; Switzerland had not qualified for a major tournament since the 1960s. From 2006 to 2007, he managed the Finland national team, guiding them to their highest ever FIFA ranking of 33rd place and coming close to qualifying for a major tournament for the first time in their history. He has been the beaten finalist in the UEFA Cup and the Europa League. Hodgson has also coached many notable club sides, including Inter Milan, Blackburn Rovers, Grasshoppers, FC Copenhagen, Udinese, Fulham, Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion. Hodgson served several times as a member of UEFA's technical study group at the European Championships and was also a member of the FIFA technical study group at the 2006 World Cup.Hodgson speaks five languages and has worked as a television pundit in several of the countries in which he has coached. Hodgson was the man who was supposed to stabilise the 'mourning' national team who had just lost its manager abruptly and its team captain(much more expected).
Some weeks and a few games later,the handwriting was on the wall(or in this case,the TV) that this team was not a team that could score goals,it grounded a 1-0 win over Norway(albeit its first win over Norway in 32 years),another uninspiring win over Belgium followed and for the first time in recent years,the optimism(most times,simply patriotic) that follows the English national team gave way to caution(although the team showed they were much more compact and difficult to beat).THIS TEAM WAS NOT JUST IT...There were some good signs though:Young's adaptability,Welbeck and Chamberlain's promise,the watertight defence etc. but the bad signs were more: a lot of injuries notably to Lampard,Cahill and Barry,Rio's ommission(for 'footballing' reasons),Rooney's suspension,Defoe's bereavement etc.
At long last,the tournament began,England's 1-1 result against France was widely lauded,the win against Sweden brought some more optimism while the win against Ukraine(albeit,aided by a 'distracted' official) with Rooney scoring a goal on his comeback brought some high hopes in some areas.What happened next?
PIRLO HAPPENED NEXT!!!the midfield maestro unlocked the defence time and again but the clean sheet was preserved and for sustained periods(especially after Montolivo's PK miss),it seemed as if England were going to do a 'chelsea' until Pirlo stepped in again and the 'Ashleys' did justice to the game.
Enough said...my submission is this:the disaster(not to me) was waiting to happen,England was too conservative under Roy Hodgson even against 'lesser' teams(with all due respect),they needed to take more risks and they failed to do so.The time to rebuild is now and younger players should be brought on board as soon as possible.Failure to do so will just result in great qualifying outings and a woeful tournament finish...again.