Gary Neville believes that England manager Roy Hodgson should stay beyond Euro 2016 because of the work he has done to evolve the current England set-up.
Roy Hodgson has presided over an England side which has changed over the past few years, with young prospects being blooded into the team such as John Stones, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford.
Assistant coach Neville believes Hodgson should be given the opportunity to continue England’s evoloution beyond this summer’s European Championship campaign.
Speaking about the World Cup he said: “I hope people recognise there was an 18-year-old on the pitch against Costa Rica in Luke Shaw, there was Ross Barkley, Phil Jones, all youngish lads apart from Frank.
“Jack Wilshere was 22, and the 19-year-old Raheem Sterling came on.
“Yes, people would argue that the 2014 tournament in Brazil was a major disappointment. I’d agree with that, but this summer is a big moment in terms of how the four years will be viewed in terms of the four-year contract we were all given.
“People will judge it based upon tournaments. I think Roy can be proud of an excellent piece of work.
“It needs a good finish in the summer. My view would be that he would go on beyond the summer because at this moment in time he’s doing the right things and making the right decisions, not just for himself, but for the team long-term.”
Dele Alli has made an immediate impact with England.
Neville also applauded the work Roy has done to bring nurture emerging talents such as Ross Barkley, Dele Alli and Eric Dier.
“I think of 2010 in South Africa and old players called back out of retirement and panic calls on the last day to players to come and play.
“Roy went the other way. He went with Barkley, Sterling, Welbeck, Jones and Smalling. Flanagan and Stones were brought in pre-tournament.
“Post-tournament, Alli and Dier were brought in among others. He’s made a series of really good decisions for the English team but also for future tournaments for the next two to four years and hopefully he, we, can see that through.
“Roy’s brought calmness. Players respect him. They say: “Yes, I like him.” There’s nobody looking at Roy and thinking: ‘He’s a bad man, he’s arrogant’. Actually they say: ‘I’ve got a lot of time for him’.”
