England manager Roy Hodgson admits he argued before selecting Andros Townsend in his starting line-up against Montenegro.
Roy Hodgson has admitted that he agonised and frequently changed his mind
before reaping the rewards last night of the bold decision to award Andros
Townsend his England
debut.
Townsend fully repaid that faith with a man-of-the-match performance that
allowed him to create England’s first for Wayne Rooney and then score the
best goal of the evening with a curling 25-yard shot.
“We agonised over selecting Andros Townsend, we argued back and forth,” said
Hodgson. “To leave people like Jack Wilshere and James Milner out, with
their talent, was not easy. It was not easy to leave out one experienced
player, or one skilful player or Michael Carrick. We had a lot of good
players to choose from.
“Andros must be delighted. We envisaged something and it came off. We thought
Andros Townsend’s pace against a packed defence would open doors. He really
performed on the night.”
Hodgson admitted that Townsend’s goal, with England briefly wobbling after
Montenegro had reduced their lead to 2-1, had been the decisive moment of
the night.
“Andros’s third was the most important, restoring a two-goal margin,” said
Hodgson. “After they scored that goal out of the blue, a deflection from a
shot Joe Hart would have covered quite comfortably, it was a game again.
Andros took that wind out of their sails. He made a big impact.
“It can’t be easy for a young player making his debut in a game of that nature, but he deserves the credit. He played with a calmness and composure I’ve seen when he’s played for QPR and Tottenham.”
Hodgson selected the most offensive starting XI last night of the entire qualifying campaign, with Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck and Rooney all joining Townsend in the four attacking positions. He pointed to how injuries had previously restricted his selections.
“We’ve been picking young players all along,” said Hodgson. “Danny Welbeck, a young player who’s not always playing for United, has played almost every game. Daniel Sturridge would have been playing regularly if he’d not been injured.
“People need to see beyond these things. You can only pick players who are available. I’ve been a bit unlucky that some of the very good young players haven’t been available, Wilshere for one, Sturridge another.”
Townsend described his approach to football after Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea and he duly carried that fearlessness into last night’s match.
“I play my game with no fear whether it’s against Ashley Cole or Kieran Gibbs,” said Townsend. “He [Roy] said that he’d been watching me for the last six months, when I was on loan at QPR. He told me to continue doing what I’m doing and I will get in the squad. I just go out there, enjoy myself and try to make things happen.”
Having established himself ahead of record signing Erik Lamela as a regular in the Tottenham team, Townsend is now clearly putting the England place of the injured Theo Walcott under severe pressure.
Townsend’s England team-mates were delighted by his fairy-tale debut performance and highlighted his ability to handle the pressure of coming straight into such an important match.
“It was a brilliant performance, for his debut, in such a high pressure game,” said Wayne Rooney. “It is great to see a young lad coming into the team and taking his chance like that. To score a fantastic goal was great as well. It really killed the game off.”
Gary Cahill, the England centre-back, said that Townsend had given the team some “spark” and was especially impressed with how he constantly took risks by running directly at the Montenegro defenders.
“He was fantastic,” said Cahill. “Every time he got the ball he was positive. Every time he got the ball he looked to create or get at the full-back.
“We needed that spark to give us something world-class, to create something out of the blue and he gave us that for the goal.”
“It can’t be easy for a young player making his debut in a game of that nature, but he deserves the credit. He played with a calmness and composure I’ve seen when he’s played for QPR and Tottenham.”
Hodgson selected the most offensive starting XI last night of the entire qualifying campaign, with Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck and Rooney all joining Townsend in the four attacking positions. He pointed to how injuries had previously restricted his selections.
“We’ve been picking young players all along,” said Hodgson. “Danny Welbeck, a young player who’s not always playing for United, has played almost every game. Daniel Sturridge would have been playing regularly if he’d not been injured.
“People need to see beyond these things. You can only pick players who are available. I’ve been a bit unlucky that some of the very good young players haven’t been available, Wilshere for one, Sturridge another.”
Townsend described his approach to football after Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea and he duly carried that fearlessness into last night’s match.
“I play my game with no fear whether it’s against Ashley Cole or Kieran Gibbs,” said Townsend. “He [Roy] said that he’d been watching me for the last six months, when I was on loan at QPR. He told me to continue doing what I’m doing and I will get in the squad. I just go out there, enjoy myself and try to make things happen.”
Having established himself ahead of record signing Erik Lamela as a regular in the Tottenham team, Townsend is now clearly putting the England place of the injured Theo Walcott under severe pressure.
Townsend’s England team-mates were delighted by his fairy-tale debut performance and highlighted his ability to handle the pressure of coming straight into such an important match.
“It was a brilliant performance, for his debut, in such a high pressure game,” said Wayne Rooney. “It is great to see a young lad coming into the team and taking his chance like that. To score a fantastic goal was great as well. It really killed the game off.”
Gary Cahill, the England centre-back, said that Townsend had given the team some “spark” and was especially impressed with how he constantly took risks by running directly at the Montenegro defenders.
“He was fantastic,” said Cahill. “Every time he got the ball he was positive. Every time he got the ball he looked to create or get at the full-back.
“We needed that spark to give us something world-class, to create something out of the blue and he gave us that for the goal.”