Roy Hodgson has had his two tests before Euro 2012 and, excluding injuries, he has come out of them unscathed. The only problem is, the two matches were possibly the most boring two matches in the history of international friendlies.
First of all, England travelled to Norway where the only incident saw Ashley Young score a well worked goal. Tonight, England hosted Belgium and again the only real incident saw Danny Welbeck coolly finish with a chip over Simon Mignolet. Other than that, both Guillaume Gillet and Jermaine Defoe hit the post in the second half.
So, the question is, has Roy done enough with the England to warrant any optimism? Probably not. It's all very well going ahead and shutting up shop against teams with no real out and out strikers. But what happens if England go behind or if you play a team with a world class striker.
The big inquisition will come in the first group game against France. They will surely perform better than in South Africa due to the rejuvenation by Laurent Blanc. Karim Benzema will definitely provide a potent threat and would make better attempts on goal than Norway or Belgium did.
With the supply line of Franck Ribery and, possibly, Yohann Cabaye or Hatem Ben Arfa, the defence and midfield will have their strength tested to the limit. There can be no room for passengers amongst the attacking minds of Ashley Young or Theo Walcott when defending, otherwise Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole will get overwhelmed which will give Benzema that needed supply.
Hopefully, Roy's men will look more positive on the main stage against Sweden and Ukraine because a 1-0 scoreline is never usually enough. Plus, if England get pegged back with 20 minutes remaining, can they suddenly turn their attacking heads back on or will they panic and eventually crumble under the pressure?
Well, on June 11th, we'll begin to find out as three weeks of gruelling competition begin for England as the strongest in Europe get separated from the weak.
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