England: World Cup 2002

World Cup 2002 in Japan/South Korea was the first of three occasions that manager Sven Goran-Eriksson took the team to a major Finals. 4-4-2 was the default formation for England at the start of the decade and this approach was apparent throughout the 2002 campaign.

It was the second group match which was the zenith of England’s tournament, as they took on one of the favourites, Argentina. The left-side of England’s midfield had been a problem for some time, with the lack of an international quality left-footed midfielder considered a detriment to the side. In the first game against Sweden, Owen Hargreaves had partnered Paul Scholes in the centre of midfield with forward Emile Heskey on the left, and a half-fit David Beckham on the right. With more solidity required against Argentina, Nicky Butt joined Hargreaves in central midfield with Scholes moving to unfamiliar terrain on the left. However, Hargreaves picked up an injury early in the game and was replaced by Trevor Sinclair. Sinclair took the left-midfield slot which allowed Scholes to return to central midfield.

Argentina played a fluid, almost 3-4-3 formation in this game and this should have allowed them significant attacking options. This approach was a mutation of 3-5-2 but meant that the team had more presence on the flanks: Ortega and Gonzalez played wide in addition to the advanced wing-backs Zanetti and Sorin. But for all their attractive movement Argentina created little of note in the first-half, a Batistuta header which went over the bar being the best of their chances. England also managed to expose Argentina’s stretched formation with some neat attacking play. This was exemplified by a fine though ball from Butt that sent Owen into the box; Owen worked room to get a shot away which struck the post.

England broke the deadlock just before half-time from a Beckham penalty, after Owen had been tripped in the box. They could have extended this lead in the second-half: Owen and Beckham should both have done better after being played through on goal. England sat back for the last 20 minutes and invited pressure but, whilst nerves were frayed, Argentina were generally limited to speculative efforts – although David Seaman did have to block a Pochettino header on the line.

England continued with 4-4-2 and the same personnel in the later fixtures: a goalless draw against Nigeria which took them to the knock-out stages, a 3-0 win over Denmark in the second round, and then a 2-1 quarter-final defeat to Brazil. England eventually wilted in this quarter-final even though Brazil went down to ten men following Ronaldinho’s harsh sending off. This was, therefore, something of a mixed tournament for England: victories over Denmark and Argentina were deserved, but they were uninspiring in the other games.

The side had a reasonable balance at World Cup 2002 and defensively the team was secure with Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell having excellent tournaments. The absence of Steven Gerrard (who did not make the squad due to injury) meant that Eriksson deployed a genuine defensive midfielder in Butt. The central midfield resources were further depleted by Hargreaves’ injury, but this did to some extent ensure that an appropriate player was stationed at left-midfield: despite Sinclair being right-footed he was comfortable on the left-flank and performed well after breaking into the side. Eriksson’s first-choice team therefore serendipitously attained some midfield equilibrium; otherwise it could have lacked a defensive midfielder or included a player uncomfortably out of position on the left. In later years Erikkson would struggle to reconcile his best players with a balanced formation. Injuries arguably solved this problem for him in 2002.