TN5 gives its view as to who should be in the starting line up for England’s opening game
With Euro 2012 now underway, the countdown begins to
England’s first game Vs France on Monday 11th June. With much
controversy and debate surrounding the initial squad selection, and the
subsequent numerous withdrawals, Roy Hodgson is left with a squad of players
who he somehow has to mould into a winning team. With no Wayne Rooney
available, this is TN5’s view of how he should line up for the opening game:
The formation
With what looks on paper a limited squad, Roy will be
looking to make the most of the players he has available by getting the tactics
right. We believe that he must go with a 4-2-3-1 line up.
The key to England’s success in the tournament will be
utilising one of the few assets we have in the two good attacking full-backs.
They need to have the confidence to push forward and support the midfield and
forwards whenever possible, especially if Carroll is the front man. To do this,
we MUST eliminate our Achilles heel and have the insurance policy of two
holding midfielders. Time and again we get hit on the break. Germany did it to
us in the last world cup, Robben did it for Holland earlier this year. Even in
the last two friendlies, Parker has too often been caught ahead of the ball
when a move has broken down. Ideally you would have a ball winner and a passer
in those two holding roles, like Spain will line up with Busquets and
Alonso.
In front of the holding two, three forward-thinking players
need to create problems for the opposition to put them on the back foot, but
fall in to help defensively. And up front either someone to hold the ball up or
to run in behind the back line to keep the defenders pushed back.
Keeper
Hart. No brainer.
Probably the best keeper in the world and will be kept busy this tournament.
Defence
Full backs will be Johnson
and Cole. However, both need to be
encouraged to get forward, as this is what they are best at. They need to be
putting the opposition on the back foot and pushing Ribery and Nasri backwards,
rather than waiting for them to come on to us. They also need to be as much, if
not more so, of a supply line of crosses to Carroll as the wide midfielders, as
they will inevitably get more time and space on the ball coming from deeper.
At centre half we have real problems. Even before the
injuries, we would have gone with Jagielka
and Lescott but Roy will undoubtedly
pick Terry at the expense of Jagielka. Jagielka and Lescott proved they can
work well together against Norway and to us, would present the most stable of
partnerships of those that are available.
Defensive Midfield
This is where England’s tournament will be decided, and we fear
to our cost. Time after time England come undone being hit through the middle
of the park: Romania 2000; Brazil 2002; Germany 2010; and Robben this year in
the friendly. We need two HOLDING midfielders to protect the centre halves.
Ideally this would be a tackler and passer. Unfortunately, we don’t have a
quality passer of the ball to anchor the midfield alongside Parker, who also needs to severely curb
his tendency to drift forward towards the end of games. We would have given Gerrard the role with strict instructions to hold his position. But,
we all know Gerrard is an all-action player and Roy won’t be able to resist the
temptation of having him push on. Unfortunately the hole he leaves behind him
is a greater threat to us than the risk he presents to the opposition going
forward.
If we were being bold we MIGHT consider Jones in there
alongside Parker. Jones is a great passer of the short ball and a future
England captain, and it would release Gerrard into an attacking midfielder
role. This might be the best option in the absence of Rooney, but will Roy risk
Jones in the middle against France? Highly unlikely.
Attacking Midfield
Young is an
automatic choice and our greatest creative hope. If Gerrard takes a holding
midfield role we’d play Young centrally. If Gerrard was pushed forward behind
the front man, Young goes out to the left which is where he will play when
Rooney is available to slot into that role behind the main striker.
As for the wide positions, Walcott’s pace is a must for us down the right. The amount of
chances he creates for Van Persie is vastly under-rated and the fear he puts
into the opposition back line is a real asset. Roy will probably go with Milner
though to counter the French attacking threat, and you could deploy Milner on
the left if Walcott does start. However, in keeping with our attack-minded line
up, with a strong defensive midfield unit to protect the back line, we would go
for the surprise element of Oxlade-Chamberlain
down the left to really get at the French back line.
Forward
With just one role upfront, it’s a straight choice between
Carroll and Welbeck. We would go for Carroll.
He came in for a lot of undeserved stick this season, but is a real handful
for any defender and the French centre halves are probably their weakest area.
However, the big danger is to lump the ball forward to Carroll. We need to work
the ball up to him as we would if it was Welbeck, as the big man has an
excellent touch. Carroll’s real threat comes from his aerial ability, and this
needs to be utilised from crosses, where the attacking fullbacks will come into
their own providing the ammunition for Carroll to fire home.
So that’s our line up as to how England need to play to beat
France:
Hart; Johnson; Jagielka; Lescott; Cole; Gerrard; Parker;
Walcott; Young; Oxlade-Chamberlain; and Carroll.
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