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Harry Redknapp: "Don't blame Roy Hodgson"

Redknapp:
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Harry Redknapp says that changes need to be made from grass roots level if England are to succeed on the international stage.

Harry Redknapp has called for wholesale changes to the way football is coached in England from grass roots to international level.

The former Tottenham Hotspur manager believes that Roy Hodgson's men were well beaten by Italy in Kiev on Sunday, despite losing out on penalties.

Redknapp, who was believed to be a contender for the job just a couple of months ago, said that it is unfair to blame Hodgson for the defeat.

Instead, the 65-year-old blamed the way the game is coached in England and how some teams play in the Premier League.

"Something has to change in this country if we are going to build teams who can win at international level," Redknapp wrote in The Mirror. "In Italy, they don't have teams who just lump it up the pitch from back to front, they play their way up there. It's the same in Spain. At the moment we give the ball away too often, and just don't play.

"However close the result looks on paper, we know the reality was that we were well beaten in most departments. It's a depressing way to go out. England may have another penalty shootout defeat to add to the collection, but I think everyone will accept we were second best in Kiev.

"Don't blame Roy Hodgson. He did the best he could with limited time. We have got to have teams who can play the game properly from schoolboy level right through to the full England side. We need to start producing coaches who want to play football. It is going to be a long-term thing, I'm afraid."

Redknapp was sacked as manager of Spurs earlier this month.

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