England team v Egypt

Fabio Capello should pick as close to his first XI as possible for the friendly against Egypt tomorrow. The murkiest area with regard to first-choice personnel is defence. A SWOT analysis shows that the goalkeeping role is England’s key weakness as South Africa ‘10 approaches. David James is notoriously calamity-prone, Robert Green has not had much luck for England, whilst Joe Hart is inexperienced at international level. Capello should perhaps put his faith in Hart who has played well for Birmingham this season, but it’s asking a lot for him to embed himself in the side before June.

John Terry is the only first choice defender available for this fixture. Joleon Lescott may be chosen as Rio Ferdinand’s replacement to line up next to Terry in central defence. Over the qualifiers Matthew Upson was usually first-replacement, but Lescott’s club form may have pushed him up the rankings. In the absence of Glen Johnson, Wes Brown can be expected to cover at right-back, particularly as there aren’t any other designated right-backs in the squad, although midfielder James Milner is an outsider for this berth. With Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge both unavailable, left-back is between Leighton Baines and Stephen Warnock – both should get a game tomorrow.

The midfield/attack should be very close to that favoured by Capello over the qualifiers. Injuries have impeded Theo Walcott this year and he would have been run close for a starting place by Aaron Lennon, but the Tottenham player has experienced injuries of his own recently. Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard are now established as England’s central midfield pairing, and Steven Gerrard’s best run of international form has coincided with his use on the left. Wayne Rooney should be played with Emile Heskey in attack, but I’d like to see Carlton Cole start the second-half up front with Rooney.

An alternative approach might be to play Gerrard at right-midfield with Downing on the left. As a left-footer Downing will be able to retain a wide position comfortably; this will allow Gerrard to tuck inside from right-midfield without the team structure collapsing into congestion. However, to enable Gerrard to stray infield from the right, it would be preferable to have an attack-minded full-back behind him so that attacking width is not compromised. This approach could be more viable when Johnson is available again.

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One Response to “England team v Egypt”

1. Bushizaru says:

   March 2, 2010 at 10:03 am

   I think this is an ideal opportunity to give Rooney the lone front man role. Perhaps only for one half, but I think it’s time that Fabio tried out plan B in an actual match.
   The defence is beginning to look pretty weak for England. I hope Rio regains his fitness and form in time to add some much needed composure to the backline.