Roy Hodgson’s choice of Sturridge and Vardy will be remembered by England over time

Roy Hodgson changed England's formation at half time, pairing Vardy and Sturridge and adopting a midfield diamond. It is the formation that suits their personnel, which prompts the question of why it had not been implemented earlier.

Roy Hodgson saw his England side beat Wales 2-1 in Lens. Paul Ellis / AFP

Roy Hodgson’s managerial career began in 1976. It has spanned four decades, involving 19 jobs in eight countries. It felt it was entering its final throes as Wales led.

It was perhaps 135 minutes of football from an unseemly, unwanted ending.

He hopes to carry on managing England for another two years. An early exit from Euro 2016 would make his position almost untenable. Hodgson had to act.

The impression is of a man whose decision-making had rarely been acute in high-pressure situations during his reign for England. He was criticised for his uninspiring, unambitious substitutions against Russia. But five days later, there was a change.

Negative Roy was replaced by positive Roy.

The brickbats should be followed by bouquets. He brought on two strikers at half-time. Both scored, one the equaliser and the other the winner. Each was involved in the other’s goal.

Hodgson, that least likely of great gamblers, even threw on a third forward, making Marcus Rashford England’s youngest ever player on this stage. Hodgson, the manager who imprisoned England in 4-4-2 straitjacket in Euro 2012, overloaded with attackers and embraced anarchy.

He enjoyed the mayhem, too, leaving his seat and punching the air in mildly comical jubilation when Daniel Sturridge scored the injury-time winner. Five days after Russia’s late leveller, Hodgson had an injury-time goal he could savour.

With his longwinded monologues, featuring complex sentence construction, Hodgson scarcely seems the man to apply a short, sharp shock. Yet he did. England’s turnaround was attributable to his half-time changes.

On came Jamie Vardy and Sturridge, on to the pitch and the scoresheet alike. “Good substitutions,” noted the beaten Wales manager Chris Coleman graciously.

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When the initial euphoria fades, pertinent questions remain. It felt victory was secured more by urgency than strategy. Or, some would say, more by luck than judgment. England piled forward but fashioned comparatively few clear-cut chances.

Hodgson changed shape at half-time, pairing Vardy and Sturridge and adopting a midfield diamond.

It is the formation that suits their personnel, which prompts the question of why it had not been implemented earlier.

There is confused thinking in selecting only one out-and-out winger, the out-of-form Raheem Sterling, in the squad and then opting to play 4-3-3. It was a system Hodgson had to abandon at half-time, just as he jettisoned Sterling.

He also sacrificed the man who has displaced Wayne Rooney as England’s premier striker. Harry Kane seemed the most deserving of candidates but now he is running on empty. A willing runner has lost his sharpness. England needed a speedier spearhead.

It is scarcely revisionist thinking, either, to argue that Vardy had earned a starting spot, both with his startling season for Leicester and his exploits in earlier England games.

Hodgson’s plans require a rethink before Monday’s match with Slovakia.

Yet if managers are judged by their abilities to respond to events, he proved more reactive than expected.

Events, in this instance, took the form of the best current British player. Wales’ opener was a tale of two talismen. Wayne Rooney conceded a free kick, Gareth Bale struck it ferociously, firing himself into the record books.

Only Michel Platini and Thomas Hassler had previously scored from two direct free kicks in a European Championship. Bale accomplished it after 132 minutes of Wales’ campaign.

Yet Joe Hart should have saved it. After all the concern about England’s back four, the goalkeeper proved the problem. This was not as glaring an error as Rob Green’s against the United States in 2010 or David Seaman’s when lobbed by Ronaldinho in 2002, but it was a mistake nonetheless.

It left England in a perilous position. They had trailed 11 times at half-time in previous major tournament matches and gone on to win none.

More popular England managers, such as Bobby Robson, had not achieved that. Nor had a great of the global game like Fabio Capello.

Hodgson did. Whenever he does retire, he can treasure memories of Lens.

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