England manager Steve McClaren made three bold moves ahead of today's decisive clash against Croatia, dropping Paul Robinson, David Beckham and choosing Gareth Barry over the now-healthy Owen Hargreaves.
In place of Robinson and Beckham, Scott Carson and Shaun Wright-Phillips have been included in the line-up.
I have read some suggestions that a 4-5-1 formation will be employed this afternoon, resulting in the following line-up possibility:
In place of Robinson and Beckham, Scott Carson and Shaun Wright-Phillips have been included in the line-up.
I have read some suggestions that a 4-5-1 formation will be employed this afternoon, resulting in the following line-up possibility:
CarsonRichards-----Campbell-----Lescott-----BridgeWright-Phillips-----Gerrard-----Barry-----ColeLampardCrouch
Not quite the formation one would expect from a side playing at home for maximum points, but McClaren obviously feels this will secure the point necessary to progress.
Wright-Phillips was mentioned on the Football Weekly podcast as an effective tonic down the right, pointing out how effectively Macedonia exploited Croatia's left back Josip Simunic. Since Beckham seems unlikely to exploit anyone from open play, this may prove to be an astute bit of managing.
Speaking of astute management, it is both comforting and alarming that McClaren has taken the eleventh hour opportunity to partake in his craft. By choosing a side to do the job, he has effectively done what the best managers do: pick the best team for the match, not the best team on form.
Granted injuries to Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney have enforced his choices up front, but McClaren could have easily stuck with the side which defeated Austria on Saturday.
We can only hope that should England go on to Euro 2008, the manager will take these new found tendencies along with him.
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