Tim Nash: Bold move by Roy Hodgson in picking the young ones

In truth the only surprise in his 23-man World Cup squad was the omission of Ashley Cole, with 18-year-old Luke Shaw selected in his place as back-up to Leighton Baines.

The inclusion of Shaw, Raheem Sterling at 19 and the 20-year-olds Ross Barkley and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have contributed to England's second-youngest World Cup squad ever.

Only Walter Winterbottom's baby-faced gang of 1958, which featured just five players over the age of 25 – Wolves pair Billy Wright and Bill Slater, Tom Finney, Tommy Banks and Colin McDonald – had a lower average age (24.8) than the 2014 crop (26).

With the accent on youth, Hodgson stands accused of taking a gamble on those in the fledgling years of their career. But with the nation's expectations for once firmly in check, maybe this is the time to give youth a fling.

Huge expectations did nothing but create hype and flawed hopes for the so-called "golden generation".

Some of the most celebrated individual displays for England in recent history have come from players perhaps too young to realise what's going on: Paul Gascoigne in 1990, Michael Owen in 1998 and Wayne Rooney in 2004. Maybe with a different approach we can be pleasantly surprised, because an England team that's an underdog is a dangerous animal.

So often we have looked stodgy when the hopes of the nation weigh heavily on our shoulders, our game looking light years behind slicker foreign opposition. Wouldn't it be lovely to see us having the courage to throw the shackles off a bit?

Youth could also play its part in the energy of our team. Various managers from former Villa, Wolves and England boss Graham Taylor to Manchester City's Manuel Pellegrini say the physical demands of our league programme are far more exhausting than those of our counterparts in La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga or in South America.

Here we fight every game to the death at 100mph; elsewhere, matches are effectively over at two or three-nil and players conserve their energy. All that lung-bursting running takes its toll; tournaments come around with our players fatigued.

Stifling temperatures mean England's first game against Italy on June 14 will be conducted at little more than walking pace. But maybe with more youth on our side, we should be able to match our rivals' energy levels.

Hodgson hasn't only been clever in giving so many youngsters a chance. By picking just seven defenders – as opposed to Fabio Capello's eight at the last World Cup – he appears to have used his options well.

Hodgson knows that what he lacks in quality in his defence, he can make up for in versatility. Aside from his "first pick" centre-backs Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling can both play right-back, thus allowing Hodgson more licence in midfield, where Sterling and Barkley have found their way in.

In thinking it is far better to take a good player going forward than a moderate one at the back, the England coach has shown boldness.

Few expect England to progress beyond the group phase and if Hodgson has thrown a little caution to the wind, what have we to lose? And surely blooding young players can only augur well for the next World Cup?

If so, Hodgson may leave a legacy after all.