Euro 2012: England show they are hard to beat under new manager Roy Hodgson Rather than fretting about such issues, Hodgson focuses on working with what he has, on drilling the team in simple patterns, organising them better. He is making England hard to beat and, to an extent, slightly hard to watch. Unless Young, Gerrard or Welbeck are on the ball, England will not be winning many marks for artistic merit. "You are suggesting I have gone in with some major principle and have got the players around and said, "Now lads, this is what we are going to do, we are going to be hard to beat,"" Hodgson countered after the 1-0 win over Belgium. That is not the case at all. When we work on our defending, we work on our defending. When we work on our attacking, we work on our attacking. When we talk to the players about what we are looking for, we talk about both aspects of the game. Of course, we do have good defenders. We do have plenty of experience in that area. That is what is shining through at the moment. Even with Cary Cahill injured, the Glen Johnson-John Terry-Joleon Lescott-Ashley Cole backline that faces France on June 11 has 220 caps. Yet much work needs to be done. Scott Parker, who is still searching for match fitness, got the wrong side of Belgians, forcing him to make awkward challenges. Gerrard played well, far more effectively than in Oslo, but was eclipsed in midfield by Marouane Fellaini, who was immense in every sense. England remain prone to conceding the ball under pressure or, unforgivably, unchallenged. Such a wearying disease, costing England dear against France at Euro 2004, will be punished in the incipient tournament by the likes of Karim Benzema and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. "I would say in the team's defence that happened more as the game went on, after a lot of changes had been made and a lot of positional changes were forced upon us," Hodgson said. I have great respect for France and Sweden, they are good teams but I don't think Belgium are a bad team. If you look at the money that team would cost you to buy, and you look the money the England team would cost, we might even come out second best. The Hazards of this world are nigh on £40 million. Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Fellaini, Lukaku - there are some talented boys out there. France can cause us some problems but maybe this was a good preparation for that. Once again Hodgson was introducing some perspective into the usually feverish England debating chamber. The argument that Belgium's players are worth more than England's is possibly true, although the inflated fees paid to native talent might alter the equation. Belgium certainly looked the more technical side here. The game was far from a classic. England players had been discreetly advised that it would be a good idea if they all sang God Save The Queen on Jubilee weekend. They started slowly (the game, not the anthem), barring some decent runs from Oxlade-Chamberlain whose footing and Sat Nav let him down at key moments. Nine minutes from the break, England struck in a moment that might have decided Hodgson's attack for the opener against France. Welbeck and Gerrard closed down Moussa Dembele, Young sent Welbeck flying through and his finish was exquisite, dinked confidently with his left foot over Simon Mignolet. "I was pleased with the goal because when your two front players work well together like that and nick the ball off defenders and score a goal you have a helluva chance at any level,"" Hodgson said. When the England manager chose his squad, many questions were raised about his centre-forward resources yet Andy Carroll (against Norway) and Welbeck have done well while Jermain Defoe delivered a lively late cameo here, hitting the post with 10 minutes remaining. Here was a reminder, if any were needed, of Defoe's usefulness from the bench against tiring opponents. A draw would not have flattered Belgium, though. Guillaume Gillet almost snapped a post while Joe Hart denied the exceptional Fellaini. But a second success has the additional bonus of helping the players buy more into Hodgson's way. They certainly sweated relentlessly for the cause. "I thought there would be lots of hard work, people would be making challenges and getting back and others trying to cover by running back into position,"" continued Hodgson. It doesn't matter whether you are England manager or managing a non-League team they (commitment and industry) are qualities in football players which go a long way. England will need to discover greater composure in possession if they are to go a long way in Poland and Ukraine.