Roy Hodgson and Ray Lewington are keen to play a part at The FA's new National Football Centre.

Watch the video from Roy Hodgson Club Wembley Breakfast in the player below.

Roy Hodgson says he hopes to play a part at St. George’s Park and help The FA develop more technically gifted players.

After 36 years as a coaching, which has included stints in charge of the national teams of Switzerland, Finland and United Arab Emirates, Hodgson know more that most about the differences between managing club and country.

Now in charge of England, he accepts that time on the training pitch is limited, but is looking to get involved at the new National Football Centre in Burton upon Trent.

While St. George’s Park becomes the training base for all 24 England teams, it is also the home to The FA’s educational arm, FA Learning, where a new breed of coaches will be developed with the Future Game philosophy at its heart.

The ultimate aim is to produce more players with greater technical ability and decision-making skills, something that will benefit the England team in years to come.



“A national team job brings with it a number of responsibilities. The thing we enjoy most is the contact with the players, being on the training field and coaching players,” Hodgson told an audience of Club Wembley members at an exclusive Q&A session on Thursday.

“When you become a national team manager you accept you are not going to do so much of that now.

“When you look back on your 1000-odd games, and tens of thousands of training sessions, you might like the idea sometimes, when games aren’t coming thick and fast, that there is a little bit of time to breathe.

“Because Ray [Lewington] and myself are both coaching-orientated it will be difficult for us not to want to play a bigger part in St. George’s Park and what’s going on there.

“How are we going to improve the quality of the young players coming through? How are we going to ensure that when a player gets to the U18/U19 age group and he’s good enough to play for England that he’s technically more efficient than the current player in his position?

“That’s all it is, there’s only three elements. It’s the player’s level of athleticism and physicality, his level of technical ability and his understanding of the game. “

Hodgson added: “We’ve got to be aware that there is work to be done. A lot of it will have to start with coaching at lower levels. We need to look at what we are asking our coaches to do.“

Hodgson’s assistant with the Three Lions, Ray Lewington, has spent most of his 25-year coaching career with various teams at Fulham FC, from youths to the first team.

He believes players should be given the opportunity by coaches to learn to be comfortable on the ball and not be worried about making mistakes as they improve.

“What’s got to happen is it has to evolve. We have to chip away and get the style for us to compete at international level.

“Roy and I, when we’re coaching, always say to the players ‘if in doubt, stay on the ball’. We’ll accept sometimes if you make the wrong decision and get caught in possession.

“We want them to play and relax. We have to get that all the way through our football.

“From junior level we have to teach our players to control and pass the ball, not static, but on the move all the time. To be comfortable on the ball and be prepared to run with the ball.”

England face San Marino at Wembley Stadium on Friday 12 October. Tickets are still available, prices start from £25, and you can buy online here...