England manager Roy Hodgson's hard work starts now and most importantly, he must get his squad right For all his 38 years as a coach, his 972 matches with 20 teams across eight countries, Hodgson got it wrong the previous time he went to a World Cup. We know this because he told us. Hodgson, writing in a column for the Telegraph, admitted he blundered in his squad selection when he chose the Swiss players he would take to the 1994 finals in the United States. Instead of listening to the advice of his long-time assistant Mike Kelly, who urged him to take some "good lads" to make up the squad, he was more "professional" and tried to double up in each position. This decision rankles with me even today. The five I should have left at home I took and the five I should have taken, I left at home," Hodgson wrote with admirable honesty in the column. That article was published just before England manager Fabio Capello selected his 23 for South Africa. The Italian should have read it, for he also got it wrong - badly wrong. Rather than a smooth selection process, Capello stabbed around on the eve of the announcement trying to coax back Paul Scholes, seeing if Owen Hargreaves and Ledley King could be risked, bringing Jamie Carragher out of retirement and ditching Theo Walcott. As Capello's successor as England manager begins the task of preparing for next summer's finals in Brazil, he reflected on his previous World Cup experience, the dangers of boredom, being away for weeks on end, and the sacrifice players need to make to succeed. "Sometimes you won't know if they are "good tourists" until you have selected them," Hodgson said. You might know that if there's previous. And probably with England you've got more chance of having previous knowledge that you would when I picked that team to go to the US with Switzerland. But he added: "Twenty-three players are unlikely to play, however long the tournament goes on. So there's definitely that argument that has to be considered: "Well, if we don't need 23 actual starts is there a place for youngsters or good tourists?" I don't know as to how we will approach that. For Switzerland there were "12 or 13" Hodgson had relied on; for England, who boast a far bigger pool and more experience, that number is probably 16 or more. But there is still scope for up to half-a-dozen players who Hodgson needs to assess not just on their ability but their temperament, their value to the squad and, also, their potential for future tournaments: the Ravel Morrisons and Ross Barkleys, as well as the James Milner and Phil Jones-types. "What I should have done, I think especially with Switzerland, was choose 17 or 18 players who would have played and that would have given me four spots [squads were 22 men in 1994] for youngsters or one or two very good guys who had been a great help to me in getting us qualified," he said. England, as Hodgson again stressed, are very different from Switzerland - even if the latter are seeded in Brazil, while England are not. But there are universal truths for any squad and boredom and "how to occupy the players" figure significantly. "You can speak to any football manager that is going to a major tournament and every one will tell you the same story," Hodgson said, adding that it was something coaches "agonise" over. In South Africa, the players were locked away in Rustenburg, in one of those "golden cages"; at Euro 2012 they were in Krakow's party district. In Brazil they will find a balance - they hope -in the soon-to-be-refurbished Royal Tulip Hotel on Sao Conrado beach, which is more secluded than Copacabana but still within Rio de Janeiro. Understandably the public and media become exasperated when players such as Wayne Rooney admit to being bored. Read a book - as Hodgson himself will undoubtedly do - they say and savour the occasion. The manager has sympathy for both sides and also insisted that Rooney should not be castigated for his honesty. "The difference between Wayne and others is that he's honest enough to say "I find it hard, it's difficult for me." There are many who don't open their mouths but who have exactly the same feeling," Hodgson said. "We'll never solve the conundrum, we'll never get to the situation where players like Wayne say: "There's no problem me being away for five weeks, I love every minute of it." Frankly, you don't. It's the sacrifice. "You want to go to a World Cup; you want, at the age of 50, to be telling your grandkids: "I played at a World Cup." It's the sacrifice you make. And you will probably glorify it, you will probably tell your grandkids: "Oh, it was fantastic." But probably during the time you moaned a bit. Does Hodgson sense, therefore, that Rooney, who turns 28 next week, can finally make a positive impact at a World Cup having been lambasted for his previous failures? Do I believe Wayne Rooney has got the ability and can do it and can be the star in this tournament? The answer is: "Yeah, of course I believe it. Of course he can do it."" It is to Hodgson's credit that he has evolved the England squad. He has given youth its head - although the average age of the 14 players used against Poland was 27 - and transforming it so that there is only a rump left of the 23 who went to the last World Cup. That process must continue and should do so because Hodgson feels emboldened and there are young players being given their opportunities for their clubs. Might, then, the impact of Andros Townsend, in particular, influence the 23 that England take to Brazil? "You're looking at a guy like Andros, who we know has the qualities," Hodgson said. Or do you go down a safer route with someone who has got more experience? Having been supported through the surreal space monkey episode, this, ultimately, is the conundrum that Hodgson must solve.