After what just happened at Chelsea, following an extraordinary climax to an extraordinary season, Frank Lampard is inclined to believe that a late change in manager might not be such a bad thing for England.
There is upheaval. There is a sense that the man in charge has so much to do and so little time to do it.
As Lampard said, Roberto Di Matteo had precious little time to revive a team that had lost 3-1 in Naples and somehow mastermind a stunning victory in the second leg of that Champions League tie at Stamford Bridge.
All smiles: Lampard has likened the situation at England to Chelsea
In Lampard, however, indeed in every Chelsea player now with the England squad at their
Hertfordshire base, you will not find a player who sees Roy Hodgson's sudden arrival as something that will necessarily hinder their chances of success at this summer's European Championship.
Lampard recognises the fact that Hodgson has been parachuted into the job. Just as he accepts that he was unveiled at Wembley '40 days and 40 nights' before England's opening group encounter with France on June 11 and it was only on Tuesday that he finally got his full squad together. But Lampard is optimistic.
'It's certainly possible to create something very quickly,' he said. 'There's no magic formula in football. You can have the right preparation and the surroundings for a tournament.
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Rank | Team | W/D/L | Pts |
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Cities & Stadiums
The Top 3 Teams of Previous Tournaments
Year | Winners | Runner-up | Third place |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Spain | Germany | Russia / Turkey |
2004 | Greece | Portugal | Netherlands / Czech Republic |
2000 | France | Italy | Netherlands / Portugal |
1996 | Germany | Czech Republic | France / England |
1992 | Denmark | Germany | Netherlands / Sweden |
1988 | Netherlands | Soviet Union | Italy / West Germany |
1984 | France | Spain | Denmark / Portugal |
1980 | West Germany | Belgium | Czechoslovakia |
1976 | Czechoslovakia | West Germany | Netherlands |
1972 | West Germany | Soviet Union | Belgium |
1968 | Italy | Yugoslavia | England |
1964 | Spain | Soviet Union | Hungary |
1960 | Soviet Union | Yugoslavia | Czechoslovakia |