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Sven Goran Eriksson has been widely criticised by the English press for his tactics and his side’s performance in Saturday’s 1-0 qualifying win over Wales.  Speculation is rife amidst the media that Sven will revert back to his favoured 4-4-2 formation on Wednesday night to accommodate Michael Owen who returns from a one game suspension.

Prior to the start of England training on Monday morning 11 yellow bibs were laid out neatly in a 4-4-2 formation.  A smokescreen to keep the press and opposition guessing?  Or a tongue-in-cheek gesture from England’s coaching staff after last week’s scrutiny of Eriksson’s formation and the suggestions of  ‘player power’?

England’s performance on Saturday may have been uninspiring but the criticism it received was wildly overdramatic and unfair.  The experiment was not a failure and I believe Sven should stick with the formation on Wednesday.  Since when has a successful system been implemented after just one game?

It was a refreshing change to see England dominating possession, in control of a game, building up patiently and not trying to force the play.  The side played with positional discipline and before the flurry of substitutions everybody on the pitch seemed to know their role.  With a designated holding player in the midfield England had a much better shape showed much greater cohesion and defensive solidity. 

When England play 4-4-2 the fundamental problem with side is the midfield, where we have Captain Beckham and a pair of central midfielders widely heralded as two of the best in Europe, and by many, the world.  Surely this should be the strongest area?  It is precisely the opposite.  Sven has persisted with his favourite system since he took charge even with the lack of a natural left-sided midfielder.  These days more problems have manifested themselves.  There is a sheer lack of organisation.  Beckham does not stick to the right and the combination of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard as a central pairing in flat four in midfield simply does not work.

So often in the 4-4-2, Lampard and Gerrard are caught forward, reluctant to hold, seemingly head-to-head in a battle to prove who is the ‘better’ player.  If one of them is not told to hold at all times then England will be caught time and again by ANY decent international side.  Sven says he has his starting eleven in mind.  This would obviously suggest that he will not a select a holding midfielder like Scott Parker or Michael Carrick and will fight to accommodate his favourites and his superstars into one starting eleven.  There will be no dropping of Beckham, Lampard or Gerrard as he simply does not have the guts to make such a decision.  With that in mind, 4-5-1 with Beckham dropping anchor is the way to go under his management, giving Lampard and Gerrard the freedom to showcase their attacking talents without sacrificing solidity.  It’s nice to keep everyone happy!

Sven has actually done well to fit those three players into a system that works.  Beckham was arguably England’s best player along with Rooney on Saturday and revels in having so much possession and the opportunity to orchestrate attacks.  I would rather see him picking up the ball in the anchor role rather than wrecking the sides shape in the 4-4-2 by constantly drifting inside or coming deep to pick up the ball from the centre halves.  Nothing infuriates me more than the sight of Beckham trying in vain to influence the play from everywhere that he should not be-something he has seemed intent on doing ever since his match winning performance against Greece in qualifying for the last World Cup.  He can’t do that every game.  Why can’t Sven give him a rocket and tell him to stick to his position?  That is another debate entirely.  Beckham can do a job there as he can launch attacks by pinging attacking exocets to the wide players, as well as switching the play as he did so effectively on Saturday.  It remains to be seen whether he has the ability to read opposition attacks and break up the play against more skilful and creative opposition.  It is fine coping with West Ham reserve players but Zidane, Kaka or Ballack may prove a trifle more difficult.

And all that before addressing the perennial problem of the left side!  For so long now the England team has not had any real balance.  The best incumbent of the role has been Joe Cole but he is always keen to come inside and play can become awfully narrow at times.  Also Joe, like the majority of the likely starters in midfield and attack, is playing the 4-5-1 system regularly for his club these days and probably feels more at ease with that anyway.  On top of all this, very few international sides play 4-4-2 nowadays and favour the more adaptable 4-5-1/4-3-3.  In the past England have been outnumbered and outmanoeuvred in midfield areas.  If Sven perseveres with his trusted 4-4-2 it will happen again.

The only possible problem Sven may have is up front.  Michael Owen is another of Eriksson’s band of guaranteed starters and the only position he could play would be as the lone striker, supported by the two wide men.  It is not clear whether Owen would be comfortable up on his own as he is most effective playing with or ahead of a strike partner so that he can sit on the shoulder of defenders.  We have seen at Chelsea (arguably the model users of the 4-5-1) how Hernan Crespo has struggled to adapt to their style of play.  The physical presence of Didier Drogba has given them a much better point of attack and they have looked much more of a threat with him in there holding up the ball.

Joe Cole and Wright-Phillips performed well as the wide men and one of them would have to make way for Rooney who has filled that role superbly for Manchester United during the past year.  When deployed as a lone striker his inventive talents are wasted and he is undoubtedly better suited to a deeper role where he can run at defenders and have greater creative influence.
Barring a shock of epic proportions, England will get a result playing 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 on Wednesday.  It is widely expected that Sven will revert to 4-4-2 and, yes, Sven has never lost a qualifier using this formation.  But 4-4-2 has never worked in major tournaments so why should it start working now?  Think back to Brazil in the last World Cup and France and Portugal in the European Championships.  Big games and opposition with real technical ability.  We were never in control of any of those games.  Oh, and we never won any of them either.