Euro 2012 video: Roy Hodgson puts his England troops on Red alert
UP FOR TI: Manchester United and England striker Danny Welbeck in training Manchester Unitedstrike duo DannyWelbeck and Ashley Young are under orders to fire England to Euro 2012 glory when they tackle Sweden.
A win in Kiev for Roy Hodgsons unlikely heroes would help England plant one foot in the quarter-finals ahead of their final Group D match against co-hosts Ukraine next Tuesday.
And the England head coach is looking for a more clinical approach against the Swedes at the Ukrainian capitals Olympic Stadium tonight (7.45pm), by urging the Three Lions to take advantage of any set-plays.
Hodgson was delighted with City ace Joleon Lescotts first goal for his country from skipper Steven Gerrards free-kick against France in Mondays 1-1 draw and with Wayne Rooney completing his two-match ban, is likely to stick with the same side tonight.
England earned plenty of praise for the defensive qualities shown against the French but they failed to make the most of the few opportunities that came their way on the counter-attack.
For the most part, Reds colleagues Welbeck and Young were starved of possession with England under orders to be more creative and ambitious tonight.
And Hodgson has called for his players to be more clinical with their attacking play against Erik Hamrens side who lost their opening match 2-1 to the Ukrainians.
I was happy with the start against France. We played quite well, certain aspects of our game were good, said Hodgson.
We must maintain that and, if we are going to win matches, weve got to continue to work hard on the attacking side of the game.
We have to try to make certain when we do get these good counter-attacking opportunities that we maximise them and take advantage to the full. < br>When we win the ball back and break out, weve got to make certain the last pass, cross or actual finish is very clinical.
It is hard to get good goal chances at this level of football. You are not going to get many during the course of a game and you have to be very effective when the chances come your way.
I am not talking about the clear-cut one versus ones with the keeper but the situations where youve got behind the defence and its a question of making sure the last pass gives someone the chance to score a goal.
Video: Danny Welbeck hopes to give Wayne Rooney winning return
That is something weve been working on consistently.
Hodgson is aware of the threat Sweden can pose from set-pieces and the need to nullify that aspect of their game.
He said: We all agree set-pieces are very important and it is rare not to have respect or concern over the quality of the opponents set-plays.
Im also fortunate we have some good set-play specialists of our own and we scored against France not least thanks to Steven Gerrards wonderful delivery from a free-kick.
All you can do is prepare in the best possible way and make it clear to your team what threat the opponents pose.
France posed a lot of threats from their set-plays and Sweden will be the same.
For his part, skipper Gerrard is confident England can finally gain their first win over Sweden in a competitive match if they emulate the performance they gave against France.
England have failed to overcome the Swedes in seven previous World Cup or European Championship encounters but Gerrard is adamant that sequence should end, even allowing for the threat posed by Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
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Gerrard said: I would think the same level of performance against France will be good enough to beat Sweden.
I would say so with all due respect to Sweden who are a good, strong team, but they are not France.
I think we can be a little bit more bold and a little bit more ambitious and get at the Swedes a little bit more.
We are confident if we reach the same level of performance, it will be enough for a victory.
However, Gerrard warned: Although we are confident, thats not to say we wont be trying to learn from the mistakes we made in the first game.
But Im really happy with the start weve made to the tournament. Weve left ourselves a good platform to build on.
The boys are confident we will be on four points after this next game.
What is your prediction for the game? Have your say.
Tweet
A win in Kiev for Roy Hodgsons unlikely heroes would help England plant one foot in the quarter-finals ahead of their final Group D match against co-hosts Ukraine next Tuesday.
And the England head coach is looking for a more clinical approach against the Swedes at the Ukrainian capitals Olympic Stadium tonight (7.45pm), by urging the Three Lions to take advantage of any set-plays.
Hodgson was delighted with City ace Joleon Lescotts first goal for his country from skipper Steven Gerrards free-kick against France in Mondays 1-1 draw and with Wayne Rooney completing his two-match ban, is likely to stick with the same side tonight.
England earned plenty of praise for the defensive qualities shown against the French but they failed to make the most of the few opportunities that came their way on the counter-attack.
For the most part, Reds colleagues Welbeck and Young were starved of possession with England under orders to be more creative and ambitious tonight.
And Hodgson has called for his players to be more clinical with their attacking play against Erik Hamrens side who lost their opening match 2-1 to the Ukrainians.
I was happy with the start against France. We played quite well, certain aspects of our game were good, said Hodgson.
We must maintain that and, if we are going to win matches, weve got to continue to work hard on the attacking side of the game.
We have to try to make certain when we do get these good counter-attacking opportunities that we maximise them and take advantage to the full. < br>When we win the ball back and break out, weve got to make certain the last pass, cross or actual finish is very clinical.
It is hard to get good goal chances at this level of football. You are not going to get many during the course of a game and you have to be very effective when the chances come your way.
I am not talking about the clear-cut one versus ones with the keeper but the situations where youve got behind the defence and its a question of making sure the last pass gives someone the chance to score a goal.
Video: Danny Welbeck hopes to give Wayne Rooney winning return
That is something weve been working on consistently.
Hodgson is aware of the threat Sweden can pose from set-pieces and the need to nullify that aspect of their game.
He said: We all agree set-pieces are very important and it is rare not to have respect or concern over the quality of the opponents set-plays.
Im also fortunate we have some good set-play specialists of our own and we scored against France not least thanks to Steven Gerrards wonderful delivery from a free-kick.
All you can do is prepare in the best possible way and make it clear to your team what threat the opponents pose.
France posed a lot of threats from their set-plays and Sweden will be the same.
For his part, skipper Gerrard is confident England can finally gain their first win over Sweden in a competitive match if they emulate the performance they gave against France.
England have failed to overcome the Swedes in seven previous World Cup or European Championship encounters but Gerrard is adamant that sequence should end, even allowing for the threat posed by Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
!
Gerrard said: I would think the same level of performance against France will be good enough to beat Sweden.
I would say so with all due respect to Sweden who are a good, strong team, but they are not France.
I think we can be a little bit more bold and a little bit more ambitious and get at the Swedes a little bit more.
We are confident if we reach the same level of performance, it will be enough for a victory.
However, Gerrard warned: Although we are confident, thats not to say we wont be trying to learn from the mistakes we made in the first game.
But Im really happy with the start weve made to the tournament. Weve left ourselves a good platform to build on.
The boys are confident we will be on four points after this next game.
What is your prediction for the game? Have your say.
Tweet
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