England: Plan A (and B)

England: Plan A

England’s plan A has been palpably apparent from early in the qualification campaign. Fabio Capello fields an approximate 4-4-2 formation with a conservative central midfield and a target-man centre-forward.

Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard take the central-midfield slots with Barry the more defensive of the two, but Lampard is more constrained than he was under previous England regimes. Steven Gerrard takes up the left-midfield berth but has licence to drift infield to influence the play. However, the fitness of Barry is crucial, as England lack another central-midfielder who can provide similar stability next to Lampard. If Barry is not ready for the start of the tournament then Gerrard could move centrally (with Joe Cole taking up the left-midfield berth) but Capello should perhaps put his faith in Michael Carrick, so that midfield restraint is maintained.

With the left-midfielder tucking in from the flank, it is important to have an attacking left-back in place so that width is not compromised – Ashley Cole performs this role. To prevent the team from collapsing into central congestion, a touchline hugging right-midfielder (such as Aaron Lennon) is fielded.

With Wayne Rooney dropping deep and wide in search of space, and Lampard and Barry taking up constrained roles, 4-2-3-1 is implicit in Capello’s 4-4-2 – but Rooney is more of a forward than an advanced central midfielder, so I would argue that it is principally 4-4-2. At the apex of the team structure, Peter Crouch is likely to take up the target-man role, which he has taken over from Emile Heskey – although ‘target-man’ is something of a misnomer with Capello reducing the team’s dependence on a wasteful long-ball game. Other leading nations do not seem to require a space-creating, toiling centre-forward: if Capello was Spain’s coach then I don’t think that he’d be trawling La Liga to find the Spanish Heskey! But Capello has to work with the available resources, and Villa and Torres aren’t available! England have one outstanding forward (Rooney) and his best performances at international level have occurred when a target-man has played just in front of him. This prevents Rooney from being preoccupied with the buffeting of reinforced international central-defences, and he thus has more scope to exploit the narrow margins of space which are available. Jermain Defoe is available if Capello is seeking a different type of partner for Rooney.

Capello’s preferred topological arrangement is a flexible framework more than a fixed formation. This approach can become a more recognizable 4-2-3-1 with Gerrard taking up a more defined central role with Rooney stationed on the left. This Plan B has been put into place when England have been overrun in central areas, for example during the qualifier against Belarus in Minsk. This can also become a more assertive 4-3-3 when required with Rooney and the right-winger pushing forwards. The shortcoming of these adjustments is that it removes Rooney from areas of central influence – but sometimes the structure has to be tweaked to meet the requirements of a game. A more populist approach would be to field Rooney at centre-forward under a 4-2-3-1 with Gerrard in an advanced central-midfield position. (WCC has explored this as England’s Plan C.) Whilst it holds obvious appeal this would be a less flexible policy: an in-game switch to 4-4-2 would require a substitution, as only one designated forward features in the starting XI. Capello also had a look at this approach against Japan, but with Joe Cole behind Rooney.

Fans and pundits will continue to scrutinize the England set-up. But Capello seems to have several bases covered with a flexible Plan A at his disposal! And ultimately it is this flexible approach which took England to South Africa with some ease.