England

As football doctrines go, the 4-4-2 formation is ingrained into the psyche.

It is a system that fans sentimentally cling on to and remains the default formation in the lower leagues but at the top level the Herbert Chapman inspired system hasn’t been successful for a number of years. All of the ‘top four’ clubs in England and almost every other top club side in Europe have now settled for a style based on two deep-lying midfield players and either a lone striker or a front three.

Indeed, in the case of many teams the fluency of the system means we could interpret them as occupying both categories. At international level, England have clung rigidly to the 4-4-2 and allowed rival nations to evolve beyond them. Fabio Capello signalled his intentions immediately to radically alter the system.

The constant debate over whether to fit the players into a winning system or find the winning system for your star players will never find a resolution but the evolution of a new fluent 4-3-3 and the effective renaissance of the ‘Inside Forward’ at such clubs as Manchester United and Barcelona should offer inspiration and direction for Fabio Capello.

The Italian has seized the opportunity to experiment in his opening two matches with a 4-4-1-1 but has been unable thus far to effectively imbed his cultured philosophy. The players seemed uncomfortable and the Wembley fans unimpressed. In the France game in particular, Wayne Rooney as a lone front man seemed isolated with Steven Gerrard too deep to support him. England looked solid but created little.

Capello was perhaps influenced by the success of his native country, and the current world champions, Italy as they won the last World Cup with strong, skillful and in-form Luca Toni acting as a perfect foil for the more artistic players behind him such as Pirlo or Totti. It is also a style he used with great success at Real Madrid when Ruud Van Nistlerooy was integral to the team that garnered placed another League title in the Santiago Bernabéu.

But as talented as Wayne Rooney is, he is not a lone striker who can hold up play in the mould of a Toni, Van Nistlerooy, Drogba, Adebayor or Torres. Indeed, for Manchester United he often plays as the ‘Inside Forward’ on the left hand side. The major problem of this 4-4-1-1 is that England lack any world class lone striker.

With the obsoleteness of the 4-4-2 then, Capello is faced with two options. Introduce ‘an old-fashioned number 9’ such as Dean Ashton as a regular starter to the team at the expense of a more talented player, or encourage more fluency and freedom into his embryonic system so accommodate a front three.

In many ways, the front three would make perfect sense. It is not only Wayne Rooney who is used to playing in such a structure, but Joe Cole for Chelsea and Theo Walcott for Arsenal both play in a front three at club level but are able to drop back into more orthodox midfield should the situation demand it. Ashley Young has flourished and has demonstrated himself to be a more well-rounded footballer in the final weeks of the season in a free role and his Aston Villa team-mate Gabriel Agbonlahor has been touted for England as well. Indeed, even the ‘typical poacher’ Michael Owen has thrived in a front three for Newcastle during the latter weeks of the season, finding a niche slightly withdrawn from Martins and Viduka as he seeks to adapt his game to compensate for the effects of age and injuries.

Hargreaves, Carrick and Barry would compete to occupy the two holding midfield roles that Capello has used throughout his managerial career, with Gerrard or Lampard in a slightly more advanced midfield role. In Ashley Cole and Micah Richards we are also blessed with quick, athletic full backs that could provide extra width when necessary.

These are players who, given time, could become familiar with playing with one another in such a system and develop the understanding and movement we have seen from messrs Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez this season. It may take some time but Capello has two years ahead of him before the next World Cup in South Africa. A variation of this system incorporating three talented and skilful players would surely be able to take a World Cup by storm in the way that Rooney as a makeshift lone striker would be unable to.

Capello must continue to be bold enough to experiment with his squad and heed the lessons of the insipid and uninspiring displays so far. Unlike any other team in world football, England’s record of penalty kicks means that opposition teams will not be afraid of a stalemate and the attacking initiative should be with Capello’s men. A creative void is simply not an option.

Tags: Ashley Young, Didier Drogba, Emmanuel Adebayor, England, Fabio Capello, Fernando Torres, Gareth Barry, Italy, Joe Cole, Luca Toni, Theo Walcott, Wayne Rooney, World Cup 2010

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