What are the key issues Sam Allardyce must address as England manager?

Rebuild damaged morale in the wake of England’s Euro 2016 exit

As England’s players trudged off the field in Nice, still shell-shocked from their embarrassment at the hands of Iceland, they could have been forgiven for wanting to consign any thoughts of returning to the international stage to the rubbish bin.

The clock is ticking though, and in less than a month-and-a-half, most of those same players will be heading to Slovakia for the opening game of World Cup qualifying. They need to hit the ground running.

It is widely assumed England will waltz through the qualifying process, but with Slovakia (who they couldn’t beat in France), Slovenia and Scotland in their group – and only the group winners guaranteed a World Cup place - things might not be that simple.

England cannot afford to wallow in their own disappointment, and one of Allardyce’s first tasks will be to raise morale and begin fostering the kind of team spirit that went so badly awry under Roy Hodgson.

Select a captain – and decide what to do with Wayne Rooney

The ‘Rooney debate’ has plagued a succession of England managers, with Hodgson’s answer to the conundrum of what to do with the 30-year-old adding to his side’s problems rather than addressing them.

Not only did Hodgson hand Rooney the captain’s armband – effectively making him impossible to drop – he also changed the entire make-up of his side’s midfield in order to accommodate his skipper once it became clear he could no longer justify a starting spot up front.

If Allardyce opts to keep Rooney as captain, which is unlikely, he will effectively be advocating the status quo. A new skipper is surely essential, with Chris Smalling and Eric Dier viable candidates.

Without the armband, Rooney becomes much easier to leave out of the side, and Allardyce will have to quickly decide whether he regards the Manchester United man as a midfielder or a forward. Once he has done that, he will then have to decide whether he merits a place in either the team or squad.

Come up with some clearly-defined tactics – and stick to them

One of the main criticisms that could be levelled at Hodgson in France was the absence of a clear tactical plan. Having kept things fairly simple during qualifying, the former England boss appeared to lose the plot as the finals approached, trying a host of different formations in order to crowbar certain players into the team.

Allardyce will not do that. The new England boss has fielded a number of different systems during his career, but a version of the 4-1-4-1 he fielded at Sunderland last season appears to be his preferred choice.

England have the players to be able to fit that formation, and crucially once Allardyce settles on a system with a specific group of players, he tends to work diligently on the training ground so that everyone knows their role.

He will not be afraid to change things if the identity of the opposition lends itself to playing a certain way – particularly in a tournament where results are absolutely crucial – but it would be a surprise if there was a repeat of the scattergun approach that caused such damage in France.

Decide whether to hand Jermain Defoe or Andy Carroll an international lifeline

All England managers have their favourites, but one of the main concerns raised about Allardyce’s candidature during the recruitment process was the potential for him to prioritise a small group of players he has previously relied on.

With that in mind, the make-up of his first squad will be crucial in terms of setting the tone of his managerial tenure, and plenty of attention will be focused on the inclusion or omission of both Jermain Defoe and Andy Carroll.

Allardyce was a vocal champion of Defoe’s enduring qualities during the second half of last season, but how much of that was out of a sense of duty as the striker’s club boss? Does he believe Defoe will be capable of playing in the next World Cup in Russia, by which time the Sunderland centre-forward will be 35?

Similarly, what are his views on Carroll now he does not have day-to-day responsibility for the forward’s club career? Allardyce is regularly caricatured as a manager who ‘likes to play with a big man’, but as last season proved, it is not that simple if he does not believe the right player is there. That said, however, he might well conclude Carroll would have been a useful Plan B had he been selected for the Euros.

Connect the various strands of the England set-up in a more effective manner

Yesterday, as Allardyce was waiting to be formally confirmed as England’s next boss, the country’s Under-19 team were losing to Italy in the semi-finals of the European Under-19 Championships.

There is considerable potential in all of England’s youth ranks, but transferring that potential to the senior ranks has been a major problem for what feels like decades.

To an extent, the England boss is powerless to do anything about that. With even more money flowing into the Premier League as a result of the new television deal, the proportion of English players in the top-flight is only likely to go down rather than up.

That is not to say the England boss cannot do more to tie together the various strands of the England system though. There should certainly be much closer links to the Under-21 set-up – Allardyce could actually watch a few of their games at first hand for a start – and his deep links with other Premier League managers might also smooth the relationship between the international set-up and the domestic top-flight.