Euro 2012: England manager Roy Hodgson controls chaos with his capacity for calm Maybe he is the man with the Midas touch; maybe England fans should sketch out a banner of "Roy knows" just as Arsenal supporters know that "Arsène knows." Maybe he just holds his nerve; keeps calm while others panic. Maybe his team are showing the greatest quality he has demonstrated throughout his long, varied career: resilience. That must be it, and it shouldn't be mocked. Hodgson, now 64, has had a nomadic career. He's coached around the world over decades. When he loses one job, he quickly acquires another. Sacked by Liverpool? He soon emerges at West Bromwich Albion to restore his reputation. There's a phrase for it: he quickly gets back in the saddle. He shows bouncebackability, as Iain Dowie, the former manager of Crystal Palace would have it. After all, Hodgson is from Croydon. Maybe that will be the identity he is giving to England: an ability to get knocked down, or be pinned on the ropes - and brush that aside to carry on. Just like Scott Parker who, at times, was overrun last night but still put his body on the line to furnish the broadcasters with some wince-inducing moments as he ignored the potential for pain. Or Steven Gerrard. Here is a captain liberated, given responsibility, treated like an adult. At 32, the midfielder has been made to feel he belongs in the role. He has quickly become assured and he has grown into this competition. It was no surprise that it was from his brilliant cross that Rooney stooped to score. Gerrard has now fashioned three of England's goals from his wonderful delivery and it came at the vital time, just after half-time, as Ukraine threatened to maintain the momentum of the first period that had threatened to overwhelm. Sometimes Hodgson's capacity for calm can look like complacency - but this isn't a Sven-Goran Eriksson like placidity. He can lose his temper. But whereas Fabio Capello would have been out on the touchline, jabbing his arms in angry frustration as James Milner and Co struggled and England treated the ball as if it was something to escape from, the new manager took a different tack. He held his nerve. Hodgson's reputation is not to alter his starting line-up or tactics too significantly and he eschewed the temptation of including Theo Walcott after his gripping cameo against Sweden, holding off until deep into the second period. Sure, Ukraine were pumped. Hodgson called in an "away game with a capital A" and he was right. They were unable to start with the talisman Andrei Shevchenko but were spurred on by the almost maniacal urgings of their coach Oleg Blokhin. They began at a fierce pace and maintained it and Hodgson must have sat and wondered whether his tenets: team shape, funnelling back, maintaining discipline would be enough. On Tuesday night that was threatened with exposure. But that sense in which Hodgson has changed the atmosphere, a palpable easing of some of the more unnecessary elements of what Capello did, has helped. Players don't feel inhibited. "If someone said we'd win the group I don't think they'd have many takers," Hodgson said. Most people didn't think we'd get out of the group. We've won it on points instead of goal difference as well. They also won it on resilience. Hodgson's choices: did Roy get the big calls right? Yes or No... Safety-first tactics: Yes England's tactical approach was again largely one of containment, with a tight line of four defenders supplemented by an equally disciplined bank of midfielders. Again England struggled to keep possession, a glaring weakness which may be more costly in the knockout phase. But despite not managing a shot on target in the first half, they earned their first clean sheet of Euro 2012, so it's difficult to see Hodgson changing his approach against Italy. Recalling Rooney: Yes For the second game in a row, a striker called into the team by Hodgson responded by scoring the first goal. Recalling Wayne Rooney was hardly a radical decision, and the Manchester United forward looked distinctly rusty at times. But after mistiming his jump to pass up one clear chance, he was in the right place to convert another, and will surely improve in the quarter-final. Picking Milner, not Walcott: Yes On Monday, Hodgson was giving serious consideration to including Theo Walcott from the start, following the winger's game-changing cameo against Sweden. But ultimately he adopted a more conservative approach, sticking by James Milner. The Manchester City midfielder won't have won any new admirers with a typically fantasy-free display. But he showed his usual industry and defensive reliability. Mr Motivator: No Whatever Hodgson said in the dressing room before the game must have been, in Gareth Southgate's famous phrase, more Iain Duncan Smith than Winston Churchill. England looked jittery and lethargic in the opening stages. But they grew into the game, and Hodgson's half-time oratory had a far healthier impact.