World Cup

Gary Lineker: 'Roy Hodgson got his tactics wrong'

By Simon Sinclair, Reporter | 23 June 2014

Former England striker Gary Lineker believes that Roy Hodgson's tactical failures were one of the reasons for the Three Lions' group-stage exit at the World Cup.

Former England striker Gary Lineker has expressed his belief that Roy Hodgson got his tactics wrong in his side's two World Cup defeats to Italy and Uruguay.

The Three Lions crashed out of the tournament at the group stage for the first time since 1958, and Lineker feels that Hodgson would have been better off playing three players in midfield rather than just the pairing of Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson.

Lineker told Blahzil.com: "Personally, I think Roy got it wrong. The system that suits this kind of England better, with the lack of experience in it, is probably a 4-3-3. He tried to just play with two players in the centre of midfield.

"In the first game I thought it was better because he had [Raheem] Sterling behind [Daniel] Sturridge, and that gave us three because Sterling is more of a natural midfield player, certainly than [Wayne] Rooney.

"But I just think it is too big an ask for just two central midfield players and once again we were outnumbered."

England face Costa Rica in their final World Cup game on Tuesday.