Football: England squad happy to adopt fresh approach

England coach Roy Hodgson wants his players to attack Italy. Photo / AP

For all of the pessimistic predictions that have followed them out to Brazil, there is also something refreshingly different about England's Class of 2014.

Whisper it quietly, but this appears to be the first national squad in years to have become genuinely popular in the eyes of the public — a world away from the common perception of previous generations as pampered prima donnas, over-inflated egos and publicity-seekers.

It is a young and hungry group who are famous for playing football and little else — not a Golden Generation, but a Grounded Generation.

It is probably no coincidence that, of the 23-man squad, only seven of them have spent their entire football career in the Premier League cocoon, grooming themselves for stardom. Pertinently, eight players spent their formative years at a lower league club and played their first senior matches in the Football League. Another eight spent time on loan to Football League clubs as part of their development.

There is a pathway from Premier League academy to first team, but the majority of this squad got there via the clubs who form the unglamorous middle section of the English football pyramid.

"They have no fear, this group. They are young and hungry," said Neil Warnock, who has managed Phil Jagielka and Ross Barkley during a long career spent largely in the Football League. "They have had to work to get where they are, even those who have only played in the Premier League. They've had to go out on loan, they've had to fight to get a chance with all the foreign signings coming in.

"When I was a Championship manager, I would try to sign young players at Premier League clubs who weren't getting a game, and they wouldn't come because they thought they were too good. They were happy to pick up a big wage and not play.

"The values have changed. It's our fault. We've given young men too much money. It takes a hell of a person not to change if you're earning 20,000 a week."

With the exception of Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and captain Steven Gerrard, there are no mainstream celebrities in Roy Hodgson's party.

While this well-established trio could slot into any line-up for a chat show, the rest of the squad have either shunned the celebrity spotlight, or we have got bored with making stars out of young footballers whose achievements on the international stage pale into insignificance when compared to, say, our Olympic athletes.

Coach Roy Hodgson wants his youthful England team to be adventurous against Italy.

"We've seen attacking football, we haven't seen one team defending, we've seen both teams going at each other," Hodgson said yesterday.

"That might show why it's possible to win games 3-1 [Brazil-Croatia] or 5-1 [Netherlands-Spain] because it's not a game of football with only one team interested in winning where the other team is interested in either trying to keep the score down or not lose. "England teams don't go out to keep a clean sheet and not attack."

Hodgson sees no reason why 24-year-old striker Daniel Sturridge, after scoring 21 league goals for Liverpool last season, can't make a similar impact at his first World Cup to Pele back in 1958.

"When he came to Sweden in '58 he wasn't even well-known in Brazil," Hodgson said. "A month later, he's a superstar."

No one is more experienced in one of England's youngest-ever World Cup squads than 34-year-old captain Gerrard, who has made 111 appearances.

"We have also got that newness and freshness in the squad," Gerrard said. "People talk about is Roy brave or negative? I think the 23 players he has picked he has shown his intent."

- UK Telegraph / AP