England manager Roy Hodgson has defiantly told reporters that his World Cup jigsaw is almost in place and that there will be few, if any, surprise inclusions to his final 23-man squad.
The former Fulham and Inter Milan coach, who led Switzerland to international football’s biggest stage in 1994 in the USA, told fifa.com: “Certainly over the past couple of weeks I’m pretty much sure of what I want to do when it comes to the team.”
“Nothing that happens in the last four games (England have warm up matches arranged against an array of teams), in terms of form, is going to affect me.”
“I don’t judge players on their last minute form over two or three games. I’m judging them over two years. Or, in particular, if anyone new on the scene has emerged I’m judging him over several months.”
Hodgson’s troops will play Peru, Ecuador and Honduras in the build up to the tournament before embarking on a mouthwatering Group D campaign against Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica.
