Yahoo Sport 
Steve McManaman exclusive: Second half turnaround saves Hodgson's job
In his latest exclusive column, former England footballer Steve McManaman says the Three Lions got a huge slice of luck against Wales - but manager Roy Hodgson deserves to revel in the moment.
England needed a big slice of fortune as they got their Euro 2016 campaign up and running against Wales - and manager Roy Hodgson deserves to revel in the moment as he played a huge role in the summer.
Hodgson’s job was on the line as he addressed his players at half-time, reeling from the shock of conceding the opening goal of the game to Gareth Bale in Lens.
Joe Hart’s mistake to allow Bale’s long-range free-kick to sneak past him could have been fatal to England’s Euro 2016 hopes and the feeling inside the stadium was that they were pretty poor in the opening 45 minutes.
PICTURE THIS: ALL THE ACTION FROM ENGLAND 2 WALES 1
REPORT - LAST-GASP STURRIDGE SEALS ENGLAND COMEBACK WIN
PLAYER RATINGS FROM ENGLAND 2 WALES 1
EURO 2016 LIVE BLOG: NEWS AS IT HAPPENS IN FRANCE
Okay, they had a lot of possession and had a few decent chances before the break, but I felt they were slow, lacking in creativity and everything was a little too condensed in the middle of the park.
They lacked quality in wide positions and were relying on Tottenham’s Kyle Walker to give them that spark down the flank, but he is a full-back and should not be the chief creative force in the England team.
Dele Alli was struggling to have an impact and Harry Kane’s problems up front meant Hodgson had to change at half-time.
Would Hodgson have been so proactive if the score line was 0-0 at the interval?
It is a question we will never get the answer to, but maybe the predicament he was in and the reality that his job was on the line forced him to be decisive with his changes at half-time.
England were booed off at half-time by some of their fans and that may have given Hodgson the final push he needed to take Raheem Sterling and Kane off.
STURRIDGE HAILS 'BEAUTIFUL FEELING' AFTER BREAKING WELSH HEARTS
HODGSON - I ALWAYS PLANNED ENGLAND CHANGES
ROONEY - SQUAD DEPTH SHONE THROUGH IN TRIUMPH
BALE PROUD DESPITE LAST-GASP LOSS
The move to bring on Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge was bold, but it needed to happen. In the end, those two players got the two goals that were so badly needed and everyone left Lens believing in this England team once again.
England were not good enough in that opening period, but the end result is a win and the Three Lions can head into the final game against Slovakia looking to top the group and be handed a favourable path to the latter stages of the competition.
I still feel that England need to resolve their midfield issues if they are to get to the latter stages of Euro 2016, with Wales succeeding in slowing the game down and getting to within a few minutes of what would have been an excellent point for Chris Coleman’s side.
In the end, the right team won the game and the mood around England now will be transformed as they start to think about making progress to the latter stages of the competition and daring to believe they could create some history.
The England side I was a part of at Euro 96 came through a tight game in our second game against Scotland and that gave us a huge push to go all the way to the semi-finals, where we were unfortunate to lose against eventual winners Germany.
EURO 2016 - EVERY TEAM, EVERY SQUAD
We are a long way from talking about England being a part of a Euro 2016 semi-final, but results dictate everything for a manager and after his two substitutes delivered when it mattered most, Hodgson's fortunes have been transformed in an instant.
