Alan Shearer: The performance against Iceland was our worst ever, our biggest humiliation. Roy Hodgson caved in under pressure
It confirmed what I have thought for some time now: We can no longer be bracketed as a big footballing nation
I CAN guarantee you the BBC TV studio during England’s lamentable performance against Iceland will have been like every home in the country on Monday night.
It was filled with anger and bewilderment as myself Gary Lineker, Rio Ferdinand and Jermaine Jenas watched the Nice nightmare unfold.
It confirmed what I have thought for some time now: We can no longer be bracketed as a big footballing nation.
Yes, we have a fantastic league. But your national team represents English football and right now we don’t play it as well as Iceland.
Roy Hodgson says this was a ‘young, hungry and extremely talented group of players’. No it wasn’t, it was one that caved in under pressure.
Hodgson was a manager who caved in too.
He had two years to plan after the awful display at the last World Cup but changed nothing.
He didn’t know his best team, best tactics. He came to France and just made it up as he went along. This campaign has been an unmitigated disaster from start to finish.
The performance against Iceland was our worst ever, our biggest humiliation. I have never seen an England team play that badly.
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In the second half there was no urgency. You looked in the players’ eyes and they looked doomed.
You wonder if Hodgson himself knew what was coming given how swiftly that resignation speech appeared.
He froze on the night.
Why didn’t he bring on Marcus Rashford at the break when a laboured England side was in desperate need of a spark?
He had him ready to come on with 20 minutes to go and then told him to sit down again.
Then, with only five minutes to go, on he came on and was still our man of the match.
Not that there was a lot of competition.
Tiredness was put down as a reason Harry Kane failed. There are plenty of Prem stars out here with other nations who don’t look tired.
He was a shadow of the player who did so well with Spurs.
But is that down to one manager who can get the best out of him and another who can’t?
What was he doing hitting corners in one game and free-kicks in the next?
We were given a great group and couldn’t top it.
We were gifted a way through to the quarter- finals but couldn’t accept it, because we could not match Iceland’s thinking, work-rate and ability.
Yes we beat Germany in a friendly but when we it gets to tournaments they are very good and we aren’t.
We could not find a way past Slovakia. Germany hit three past them and missed a penalty.
Joachim Low’s men are world champions and we are also-rans.
I’d love to help England going forward but don’t have my Uefa Pro License or the experience, as they told me four or five years ago.
The FA have thrown millions at managers and they have all failed to make any progress.
I expect them to go for Gareth Southgate with perhaps Glenn Hoddle working beside him.
I would back that, but will anything change?
Probably not because our players are simply not as good as they think they are, or we make them out to be.
They also play with better players at their clubs, and unfortunately they are not English.
It can’t get much lower than this, it really can’t.
Having said that Malta are coming to Wembley in October.
