Gambling Roy Hodgson's willingness to shuffle pack could help England hit the jackpot

Peter Beardsley is among a number of outspoken England old boys - off the top of the head you can include Alan Shearer, Gary Lineker and Paul Parker as other notable Eurosceptics - who have been perplexed by Roy Hodgson’s approach to these finals.

“He is changing his mind every minute,” said Beardsley after the 0-0 shelling of Slovakia. “I train Newcastle reserves and I’m a bit like that myself thinking ‘I’ll play him, and then change it.

“You make different decisions and it’s amazing how at his level he also changes his mind a lot.”

Is it so "amazing" to admit you don’t really know what your best side is? Perhaps being open to change might well work for England from here on in at these finals.

Ahead of an eminently winnable contest with Iceland in the last 16 in Nice this evening, it cannot really be argued that Hodgson is staid, a traditionalist, a bloke hellbent on making the right popular call and afraid to take risks. Such a thought process has never really stacked up.

Of the 23 players Hodgson has carried to this tournament, only Fraser Forster, Tom Heaton, John Stones and Ross Barkley have yet to turn out. Two of them are goalkeepers, and the other two are Everton players. Like Will Grigg, the rest are on fire without the goals to accompany their searing play.

England went with settled golden generations to the 2002 World Cup, Euro 2004 and the World Cup in 2006 and never ventured beyond the quarter-finals. Contrast the experiece of a teenage Theo Walcott and Marcus Rashford representing England at a major finals 10 years apart. Unlike Walcott, Rashford will not return having only helped carry the team hamper.

Is there anybody out there who seriously believes Harry Kane should be guaranteed a spot ahead of Jamie Vardy or Daniel Sturridge? Or make an outstanding case against Wayne Rooney being reintroduced from the start in midfield this evening? Or make a valid case for choosing Nathaniel Clyne ahead of Danny Rose? England are blessed with a very consistent squad where there is a highly quality, motivated and engaged level of player all involved in this tournament. That can only be a positive thought at the outset of the knockout stage.

Despite being party to a demographic of the population suffering from a touch of Brexit, Hodgson, 68, has always been very proactive and pro-European in his outlook. As befits a figure who speaks fives languages and has managed in seven countries.

After England had qualified for the World Cup in Brazil in the death throes of 2013, Hodgson took a trip down memory lane to discuss the benefits of an enlightened approach.

Hodgson managed Switzerland at the 1994 World Cup finals in the USA, a tournament England of course never reached courtesy of a contentious loss to the Dutch in Amsterdam eight months earlier.

One vividly remembers him being in the vicinity when he discussed the merits of rotation. His thought process outed itself in the mention of Georges Bregy, a battle-hardened and haggard midfielder of Young Boys Berne, who Hodgson decided to bring in from the cold for the World Cup qualifiers in 1992 despite age and the player’s limitations being an obvious concern.

“There was a player who very much came through out of the blue and after an enormous amount of years in the wilderness called Georges Bregy,” said Hodgson. “He was 34 years of age when we started our qualifying campaign to reach the USA two years later.

“He played his last game for Switzerland at the age of about 23 so he had 11 years in the wilderness.”

England are on thin ice in sultry Nice. Or more to the point, Roy is.

If England can’t find a way to goal against an Iceland side who will defend like the honour of their 330,000 inhabitants depends on it, there are two options.

First, they could be emptied out of the Euros in shame by a country ranked 34th in world and better known in parts of Brexit Blighty as the name of a supermarket chain flogging cheap frozen grub. Or second, they will be forced to take their chances with penalties.

And we all know how that tends to end for the Three Lions.

It is almost four years to the day since Hodgson's England lost on penalties to Italy in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012. In the intervening period, he has been praised and pilloried in equal measure when you think of the World Cup campaign in Brazil that brought two defeats to Italy and Uruguay and a draw with Costa Rica.

These knockout stages represent Hodgson’s third crack at a major tournament. There will not be a fourth if they come up short here.

Hodgson’s match with Iceland is a re-application for the job he already holds ahead of the World Cup qualifying venture. He will probably have to reapply before the quarter-final with France barring a natural disaster that would rival any of England’s bleakest defeats in football.

Iceland hang back and hit on the break, they mastered a mediocre Dutch side twice on their way to qualifying, but unless England abdicate their level of natural ability they have shown so far this tournament, this swashbuckling young side will surely be sharp enough to find a formula to reach the last eight.

Members of the Football Association who have apparently been disgracefully briefing against him after finishing second in Group B behind Wales need to study the bigger picture rather than taking leave of their senses to wonder why the coach made six alterations for a 0-0 draw with Slovakia. Hodgson has earned the right to gamble if he is seeking greater returns.

England have been desperately unfortunate in the group stage. They have made 1,536 passes to 797’s Iceland so far in these finals. England have had 46 more shots than their direct opponents in comparison to Russia, Wales and Slovakia over their first three games. Scoring only three goals has been their real weakness, but they could yet throttle Iceland.

Rather than being chastised for a willingness to take a chance, Hodgson should be encouraged to be a risk taker. If England are going to flourish in this knockout stage beyond Iceland, they need a man and a manager who can seize the moment rather than being paralysed about the possible consequences of loss.

The elixir is readily available to Hodgson. England’s problems at these finals really only begin and end with sticking the ball in the net.