Wilshere and co excel as Hodgson finds winning Wembley formula

Jack Wilshere excelled against Brazil, who included Dani Alves

I was in attendance as Wembley Stadium played host to something of a rarity this week - a genuinely impressive display from England against strong opposition. Granted, this is no vintage Brazil side. Luiz Felipe Scolari has only just taken charge of a team in transition, and was missing key players such as Thiago Silva and Marcelo for the friendly. Furthermore, as World Cup hosts, the Seleção haven't played a competitive game since the 2011 Copa America. But Brazil will always be a huge scalp on the international stage and with players like Neymar, Oscar, Dani Alves and Ramires in the starting line-up, England's achievement of recording a victory should not be belittled.

Indeed, only three times in their previous 23 encounters with Brazil had the Three Lions ever emerged victorious so this represents a crucial boost to morale and confidence ahead of next month's resumption of the World Cup qualifiers. But there was more to the 2-1 win than just the result, with Roy Hodgson coming across a formula that showed the kind of entertaining football that England have rarely been able to master. Playing a 4-3-3 formation, Hodgson surprised many with his starting line-up. By choosing the young Manchester United trio of Danny Welbeck, Tom Cleverley and Chris Smalling instead of older alternatives such as James Milner, Frank Lampard and Joleon Lescott the team had a youthful exuberance and more energy than in previous eras.

The front six in particular pointed towards a new direction for the national side. The midfield three of Jack Wilshere, Cleverley and captain Steven Gerrard combine the fast passing-ability and movement of the younger duo with the leadership and know-how of the Liverpool man. Star performer Wilshere probed from deep in the first half, and along with Cleverley showed the sort of passing movement that Spain's all-conquering midfielders would have been proud of. There is still a long way to go before England can match that level, but in the absence of a destroying figure like Gareth Barry or Scott Parker, the midfield had a more creative look than ever before -without losing any of its bite. 

Ahead of the midfielders, Wayne Rooney played centrally, flanked by Danny Welbeck on the left and Theo Walcott on the right. This combination allows the pace of Walcott, the creativity of Rooney and the energy of Welbeck to provide many options for the midfielders to pass to. All together, the line up allowed for flexibility, with all six midfielders and strikers comfortable in multiple positions. Welbeck's form in front of goal for his club this season is questionable, with only one goal in 27 apperances, but his all round play complements that of his team-mates. Plus, in 2012 he netted five times from five shots for the Three Lions - proof that he revels on the international stage. With Walcott finding the back of the net with regularity for Arsenal, and Rooney hitting the target five times in his last five England caps, the trio could prove potent for their country for years to come.

In the second half the addition of Frank Lampard, who replaced Cleverley, allowed Wilshere to move further forward and it proved another winning combination with the Arsenal youngster continuing to impress and the Chelsea veteran hitting an instinctive winner from the edge of the box. With Michael Carrick pulling out of the squad injured, and Parker certainly still in contention, there appears to be a strength in depth in a position which, before the emergence of Wilshere and Cleverley, appeared to be stagnating. Milner and Aaron Lennon were also introduced and fitted into the fluid 4-3-3 system with ease - further encouragement for Hodgson to persist with the formation.

A worry remains at the back where Gary Cahill, who did well to contain Neymar in the first half, was badly at fault for Fred's goal. The full-back positions look safe with a much-improved Glen Johnson and the newly-heralded centurion Ashley Cole in competition with Kyle Walker and Leighton Baines respectively, but it was the inclusion of Smalling that would have raised the most eyebrows. The 23-year-old is fourth choice at his club and though clearly a very talented defender, it is a risk for England to have somebody who doesn't play regularly as a first choice for his country. Aside from a worrying spell after Cahill's mistake, he looked largely assured, and perhaps Hodgson has extra trust in him from their time together at Fulham. 

It appears the manager, who has toyed with his central defensive pairings throughout his rein, has decided that Phil Jagielka and Lescott, who is also not first choice for his club, are not as good as the younger duo. But the spectre of Rio Ferdinand looms large over Hodgson, and with the former Leeds and West Ham man in imperious form in the Premier League this season, will continue to do so. Comfortably ahead of Smalling, and Phil Jones, in the Manchester United pecking order, it seems cruel that Ferdinand be excluded from the national set-up on the back of the fall-out between his brother Anton and former England skipper John Terry. Hodgson's "footballing reasons" appear weaker as he fails to settle on a solid pairing and Ferdinand's form continues. However, it would be a surprise if he did turn back to the Peckham-born defender as he has been so insistent on the issue. If Smalling can stay fit and overtake Jonny Evans and the increasingly injury-prone Nemanja Vidic at United - then perhaps he and Cahill could be a reliable partnership in the coming years. If he doesn't, Hodgson will have a real dilemma to contend with, should England qualify for Brazil 2014. But for now, the 65-year-old can be satisfied with his work so far, and focus on taking a crucial three points from Montenegro in March.

Olympics show women's football is ready to shine

Wembley has played host to many Olympic football games this tournament

In the past few days I have had the privilege of visiting Wembley Stadium twice to watch Olympic football matches. On Saturday I was present to witness Mexico's entertaining 4-2 extra time victory over Senegal in the quarter-finals of the men's tournament, while yesterday I returned to observe Japan's 2-1 win over France in the semi-finals of the women's tournament. Despite there being more goals in the former game, I must say that the latter was vastly more entertaining particularly in a second half in which the French took the game to Japan, the reigning world champions, and could count themselves highly unlucky not to at least earn extra time. In fact the match was an incredible advertisement for the women's game and one which has led me to draw the conclusion that it is high time women's football was treated with more respect and given much more attention in the media.

Japan's women will look to add Olympic gold to their world title this week

In my experience with sports journalism, I have researched and written the odd feature for my old student newspaper on women in football, but had only reported on a couple of women's matches at university level. In these games I saw much skill and entertaining football but some of the excellent technique and quality of play shown at Wembley yesterday, in what was the first high level women's football game I had attended, provided a spectacle which is on a par with the many men's games I have been to in the past. Admittedly there are a couple of aspects of on-field play in which the women’s game is behind the men’s. Most noticeably the goalkeepers seem to struggle more even at such a high level and are less dominant in the penalty area. As well as this, they seem less capable of performing the long goal kicks which have become commonplace in the men’s game, instead preferring to play short passes almost all of the time. That though, can be seen as a good thing as it encourages attractive played-on-the-floor football. In fact with the tiki-taka style of football played by fantastic men’s teams like Barcelona and Spain, this is something which is often encouraged.

Elodie Thomis impressed playing out wide for France

Goalkeeping faults aside, the technical ability possessed by many women’s players is truly of the highest quality. I have previously observed a couple of 30-yard screamers at university level and on the pitch in the Olympic semi-final there were some fantastic skills on display. France’s speedy winger Elodie Thomis showed incisive play which would put several members of the the French men’s team to shame after their Euro 2012 shambles. The 25-year-old was not the only player on her team with skills and the forward Louisa Necib pulled off an incredible turn, worthy of Andres Iniesta, in the second half and unleashed a dipping shot which was not quite good enough to beat the Japanese ‘keeper. Yuki Ogimi and Mizuho Sakaguchi’s goals for the Asian nation both came from well executed set plays, showing that the female game has mastery of a skill which is often lacking in the men’s game – the delivery of accurate free kicks. Another accusation often levelled at women’s football is a lack of pace, but this was completely not evident from the Japan vs France game where a lot the Japanese players and notably Thomis, amongst others, on the French side had pace to burn. In fact there was little aesthetically different about the speed and precision of the game compared to the men’s game. Another observation was the apparent flexibility of formations with midfielders drifting forward to support the strikers and full-backs also pushing up regularly, a far cry from the rigid systems which often appear in the men’s game, notably with England’s national team.

The flags of all the nations competing in football are displayed beneath the Olympic rings

The Olympic football tournament on the whole is a different experience to regular matches with more of a family or carnival atmosphere. The increased presence of the somewhat irritiating Mexican waves is proof of this but whereas this can belittle the men’s tournament in the eyes of some, the Olympic crowds are actually an improvement compared to the usual levels of interest in women’s football. The Mexico-Senegal men’s quarter final was a sell-out in a 90,000 seater stadium yet only 61,482 turned up for the women’s semi final. But compared to a normal Women’s Super League game (only 4,500 capacity at the champions home stadiun), or even the 2011 Women’s Champions League final (14,000) or 2011 Women’s World Cup semi-final (25,000) attendance this is actually an improvement. On top of this, whereas the men's tournament is under-23 only, bar three overage players, there are no age restrictions for women, increasing the quality of the tournament. The women’s game is getting some of the attention it deserves thanks to it's role in the Olympics, which it has only been included in since 1996.

Mexico's Giovani dos Santos (green no.10) starred at Wembley on Saturday

Some farcical news which appeared this week was the fact that the Japanese men’s team were given business-class flights by their football association yet the women, despite being world champions, were only provided with economic class flights. This blatantly unfair display of favouritism is something that should surely be eradicated from sport and athletes of both genders should be treated equally. At the end of day, women’s football is just as good a spectacle as the men's game which can even rake in large crowds at very low levels. The time has come where women’s football should no longer be derided and people should watch it whenever possible. They won’t be disappointed. And in an era where Arsenal are charging over £100 for some non-executive tickets to their stadium, the fact it is a whole lot cheaper to get in is a fantastic additional bonus. The more people that support it, the quicker it will develop, and eventually it might just come close to enjoying the attention which the men's game will surely always receive.

This article originally appeared on James Phillips's Olympics blog tsfe2012.blogspot.com