England team v Slovenia

England v Slovenia: Plan A

After one poor performance, England are in crisis. The only option following one sub-standard showing is root and branch change. That’s why Fabio Capello should be radical and stick with Plan A against Slovenia!

The approach which is perplexing fans and pundits is the very same approach which enabled England to qualify emphatically. In the first tournament game against USA the format differed slightly from Capello’s first choice arrangement, as Gareth Barry was unavailable. Barry returned for the Algeria fixture and England did, admittedly, put in a distinctly laboured showing. Such is the nature of the international tournament crapshoot; one dismal performance can equal total failure. But to date, Capello’s record for England in competitive games is Won 9, Drawn 2, Lost 1, yielding a points-per-game average of 2.42.

Although England would have expected to beat most of their lower ranked competitors, a club side like Chelsea (backed by Roman Abramovich’s millions) would also expect to beat most of their rivals. However, in the English Premier League last season, Chelsea were champions with a points-per-game average of 2.26. Of course, a short run of indifferent results for a top club side often initiates knee-jerk suggestions that their season is in terminal decline. However, the team have the opportunity over 38 league games to respond to dips in form. In international football the tendency to impute deep underlying problems to isolated examples of poor performance is more acute, due to the knock-out basis of competitions and accompanying national sentiments of entitlement. England have made the final of a major tournament once, and that was with home advantage 44 years ago. England would certainly be expected to advance beyond the group stage of this tournament, but their failure to do so would not be solely attributable to a coaching/formational system that, until Friday evening, had been highly successful.

Against Slovenia, Capello should therefore utilise Emile Heskey in attack with Wayne Rooney again. Steven Gerrard should start on the left, but with Valter Birsa on the right of Slovenia’s midfield, Gerrard may need to retain more of a left-sided focus than he did against Algeria. The team was topologically unbalanced against Algeria: the formation resembled a lopsided 4-1-3-2 with Gerrard and Frank Lampard in front of Barry in central-midfield, with Ashley Cole the sole left-sided player. A similar approach worked against Egypt in the friendly in March, with Gerrard relinquishing his post on the left to bolster central areas. But ingrained asymmetry ceases to be flexibility and will undermine the functioning of the team. With regard to personnel, Capello must choose whether Matthew Upson or Michael Dawson partner John Terry in central defence. Aaron Lennon should also make way for Shaun Wright-Phillips on the right of midfield, as Lennon has failed to convince in the two games so far. Joe Cole is another option for right-midfield, and it is a surprise that Cole hasn’t seen any action yet at World Cup 2010, particularly after his bright performance in the pre-tournament friendly against Japan.

England v Slovenia: Plan X

Of course, if Plan A yields the same level of performance as that witnessed against Algeria, Capello will have to take recourse to a back-up plan for the second-half against Slovenia. If Rooney’s performance level remains painfully low then he will have to be replaced. And without Rooney, Heskey’s lack of goal-threat would become an intolerable hindrance. England should then, therefore, switch to 4-2-3-1 with Peter Crouch leading the line and Joe Cole joining the midfield.