By Parkboy
May 23 2006

We have sensed the turning of the tide since Eriksson took over those many moons ago. THIERRY HENRY speaking after receiving the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year Award in London said.... "I really hope that you (England) can have another 1966 happen to you. I see the passion you have here for your national team and how much you want them to win," said the Arsenal striker. Henry perhaps alluding to the fact that England bring that little extra something to major tournaments in the sense of passion and support.

England have lost most of the impetuosity and impulsivity : that certain English bluster that used to cost us games. Although there have been times where our passing has lapsed even of late in one of two of the qualifying games, we now possess a core understanding of what we can do well and what we should try and avoid ....Oh and before I forget we probably have the best back four in the world. The recent hard fought victory over a very competitive Argentina, a strong signal that when the chips are down the boys know how to find another gear.

England have depth at centre-back than no nation on Earth can rival. SOL CAMPBELL (Arsenal) is fit again, his performances with RIO FERDINAND (Manchester United) at the last Finals were awesome. Ferdinand is the ballplayer the English public have yearned for since Bobby Moore, their World Cup winning captain. He's been out of form recently, so Chelsea's JOHN TERRY may get the nod; a real warrior, he makes up for his lack of pace with his will to win. Liverpool's JAMIE CARRAGHER is similar to Terry and can count himself unlucky to be only fourth choice.

There is no real argument, the core and base of the side is one of the best in living memory: a great back four and two world class midfielders in Lampard and Gerrard, backed up by the unpredictabe creativity of Joe Cole who has had the best season of his career so far. The question is will Eriksson see sense and play 5-3-2 instead of the flat and unbalanced 4-4-2. But before we get to that in detail let’s get the matter of Theo Walcott analysed.

Arsenal's teenage prodigy Theo Walcott moved to Highbury after some stunning performances for Southampton at the start of the 2005/6 season. The 17 year old, whose pace troubles defenders, scored four goals in 13 league starts for the Saints before signing for the Gunners. He has been prolific at England youth level, notching five goals in 11 appearances for the Under-17s. He featured for England Under-19s against Slovakia in February.

Asked how he came to the decision to omit the likes of Defoe and Bent in favour of Walcott, Eriksson confessed: "Probably not too logically.
"Sometimes you do it on feelings as well and I am excited about Theo Walcott."

There has been much speculation around the inclusion of Walcott over other names such as Bent and Defoe, but perhaps this is the first sign that Eriksson will be more creative and dynamic in how he shapes the side and his interverntions withing games (a source of lengthy criticism) is something he has a mind to answer his critics. It is clear from the number of forwards he has chosen for the party, he intends to start only one real forward per match and to begin with this will be the lethal Owen. Although he has had a quiet few months let no one doubt, that come the moment, the opposition will be more likely picking the ball out of the net and watching Owen in celebratory blur. So to come back to Walcott, he isn’t really under any real pressure and at his age, I’m sure he doesn’t know the meaning of the word. I can see him being used for the odd 15min or so, when a game needs sparking with a substitution.

Rooney has started cycling and light running so it increasingly looks likely that he will get a run out in the third group game or maybe even before. He makes up single handedly for the lack of real pace in the midfield (very unlikely that Lennon will start a game), where although there is craft and power with strong penetration coming from the likes of Lampard, a fit Rooney running from deep gives Engalnd a dozen other alternatives if the midfield have to sit a little during a match. One good thing that has come from the Eriksson reign is that the midfield is more cogent and less impatient than before. And it must be said that Beckham at international level is less wasteful with the ball and not trying the killer pass so often. To win this tournament, at some point we are going to have to keep the ball and that is where we have fallen down before, normally in the midfield. I am confident the back four as it is can take care of itself. How far England go will come down to two things, how fit Rooney can be and whether the midfield can be composed and hold a tempo.


TACTICS BIT


Unfortunately, England insist on an unbalanced four in midfield; Gerarrd and Lampard, two attacking central midfielders, get in each other's way, much like the Brazil midfield with its excess of playmakers. The four-man defence is put under pressure (no holding midfielder covering,) and Ashley Cole's attacking instincts are reined in on the left. Joe Cole (right footer), out of position on the left of midfield and Lennon will be sacrificed on the right for Beckham. If Eriksson goes for his 4-4-2, we cannot win this tournament. It is as simple as that. It has to be a 5-3-2 or a 5-4-1 which will give us balance, one variant uses three at the back, (my fav) and the other would see Carrick as the holding player.

There is a genuine case to be made for dropping the captain altogether. Beckham was suspended for the Poland game and the ball was passed around in a much crisper fashion, with great running off the ball. Beckham's long range deliveries were missed, but the passing in general was more effective. Gerrard was injured, thus Lampard was able to take command without stepping on his teammate's toes. If both Gerrard and Lampard are fit, their status as top players make them almost impossible to drop, even though their games don't complement each other. It's forgotten now, but England's 5-1 win over Germany in 2001 was done without Lampard in the team. Manager SVEN GORAN ERIKSSON seems afraid to drop a superstar player for the good of the team. What inner fear lies behing this, who can tell, but it points at an inner flaw in the manager, who often seems startstruck by the Galactico.

Without Rooney to begin with, we would be better served by a 5-3-2 with Ferdinand sitting behind Terry and Sol. This would give Ashley Cole a chance to get forward and give balance to the midfield, with the same going for Neville/Carragher as the other full back. In this formation Gerrard and Lampard go forward at will with Carrick holding, Joe Cole plays ten yards behind Owen.
This way the midfield footprint is balanced and clean, also players find themselves on the pitch where they want to be and not scampering around trying to fill gaps as can happen with the 4-4-2.

Once Rooney is playing, he replaces Joe Cole who rotates with Gerrard/ Lampard and Carrick, giving the manager the options on tempo he wishes for each particular set of challenges in games. Now doesn’t that sound easy? So you can bet it won’t be like that!

Let’s be in no doubt England have a great chance this time round. Perhaps the last one for some time. It may come down to whether Sven is prepared to be a real coach and deploy alternatives of formation and style at crucial moments.
These players can hold their own against anyone.

Key new player : Micheal Carrick
Match winners : Gerrard, Rooney, Owen.


THE SQUAD



Coach: Sven-Goran Eriksson
Provisional squad:_Robinson (Tottenham), James (Manchester City), Green (Norwich); G Neville (Manchester United), Ferdinand (Manchester United), Terry (Chelsea), Cole (Arsenal), Campbell (Arsenal), Carragher (Liverpool), Bridge (Chelsea)
Beckham (Real Madrid), Carrick (Tottenham), Lampard (Chelsea), Gerrard (Liverpool), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Jenas (Tottenham), Downing (Middlesbrough), J Cole (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham),
Rooney (Manchester United), Owen (Newcastle), Crouch (Liverpool), Walcott (Arsenal).
Standby:_Carson (Liverpool), Young (Charlton), Reo-Coker (West Ham), Defoe (Tottenham), Johnson (Crystal Palace).

Join us for the world cup, where we aim to provide something a little different from the rest; we have writers from all over Europe and even one in South America.

We will be concentrating on the news not readily available in England, all translated and waiting to debate.

So join us for the greatest tournament in the world, with a healthy dose of cynicism thrown in for free.