England midfielder James Milner has expressed his confidence that the team will improve ahead of their first group game against France at the Euro 2012. England have recently appointed former Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson to lead the team not only at the Euro 2012, but also at the 2014 FIFA World Cup as well. He started his tenure in the best possible manner after recording two 1-0 wins over Norway and Belgium. Despite the victories, there has been a slight negativity around the England camp due to the nature of the win. Manchester City midfielder James Milner, though, is of the opinion that England will improve just-in-time to do well in the match against France.
The first group game is the most crucial for an international team due to the fact that would provide confidence for the rest of the tournament. In the case of England, it is even more crucial because they will be facing former world champions in the form of France, who come into the tournament on the back of a 21 match unbeaten run. The 26-year-old midfielder has acknowledged that England have not yet reached the heights that many have expected, but they will attain good form by the time the tournament kicks off.
“That’s the manager’s decision and hopefully I’m in the team. We haven’t been together for too long with the new manager, so we’re still working on things in training. We’re all learning the way that the manager wants us to play, and the more we play together and train together over these next days before that first game, the better we’ll get and the more compact we’ll be, and we’ll put the ideas of the manager into practice. We can improve with the ball but I think that’ll come with time together,” said James Milner.