Two games, seven goals and six points see England sat atop of Group G in the qualifiers for Euro 2012. So what was so different about these two games compared to the debacle of the World Cup? Seven of the players who started the 4-1 defeat to Germany were also present in the line-ups at both Wembley and St Jakob Park but the whole demeanour of the team was different. To get the obvious out of the way, yes Germany are far superior opposition to either Bulgaria or Switzerland, but Algeria certainly weren't superior opposition at the World Cup and the USA are probably on a par with Switzerland. So how did England perform so much better in these games? People say the pressure was much less but if anything it was almost equal as the negative media attention given to the squad since the World Cup failure has been off the scale. The key factor for me was the improved performances from the wings, where two players who missed out on South Africa - Theo Walcott and Adam Johnson - did exceptionally well sharing their time on the right hand side and James Milner was impressive both going forward and back on the left. This allowed Steven Gerrard licence to do what he does best and boss the midfield, his perfectly weighted pass for Johnson's goal last night summing up what his game is all about.
Much has been made of England's formation since the World Cup, where 4-2-3-1 was in vogue and England stuck with a 4-4-2. The difference between the two formations is less than many seem to think as by dropping Wayne Rooney deep in these two qualifiers, it has essentially become a 4-2-3-1 when the wingers push forward (although many newspapers have reported it as a 4-4-1-1). Essentially, 4-3-3, 4-5-1 and 4-2-3-1 all work with 1 striker, 2 wingers and 3 central midfielders and at various times in the game can all look exactly the same. By dropping Rooney off Defoe into the position occupied by Wesley Sneijder, Xavi Hernandez and Mesut Oezil at the World Cup, England have effectively caught up with the rest. Rooney has the vision and passing ability to do the job. But it's not the first time. In Fabio Capello's landmark victory, the 4-1 away to Croatia two years ago, Rooney played in the hole behind Emile Heskey with Joe Cole and Walcott either side of him. The team was in a 4-2-3-1 formation then as it was in several of the other qualifiers with Rooney the only constant while Gerrard, Aaron Lennon, Walcott, Cole, Heskey and Peter Crouch intermittently occupied the other forward positions. Why Capello decided to play Rooney alongside Heskey or Jermain Defoe at the World Cup finals themselves baffles me. Perhaps it is because in the 2009/10 Premier League season Sir Alex Ferguson made a point of insisting Rooney played as Manchester United's furthest man forward. This resulted in Rooney's most prolific season to date with 34 goals in 44 appearances but for England it appears he works better deployed deeper, and by reverting to this role for him, Capello appears to have accepted this fact. With Defoe getting a hat-trick and Darren Bent getting off the mark for his country there are certainly good options for who to play ahead of Rooney. Where all of this leaves Frank Lampard remains to be seen. The midfielder, a real superstar for Chelsea in both the Champions League and Premier League over the past decade, doesn't seem to be able to co-exist with both Rooney and Gerrard in such a formation. With Gerrard excelling as captain in a deep central role, and Gareth Barry required to cover for the skipper's forward-thinking moves, the Premier League's all-time highest scoring midfielder may have to settle for a place on the bench.
Elsewhere in the qualification group, England's main rivals could well turn out to be Montenegro. Overlooked by many largely because they only recently separated from Serbia (who together had previously been a part of Yugoslavia) and therefore are competing in qualifiers for the Euro's for the first time ever. Consecutive 1-0 wins at home to Wales and more impressively away to Bulgaria sees them level on points with England and they are due to visit Wembley on the 12th October. They have achieved this without the injured Stevan Jovetic,the young forward who Liverpool fans may remember for scoring twice against them for Fiorentina in last season's Champions League. Captain Mirko Vucinic, the speedy Roma forward,was present though and the Eastern European side will be more of a match than many would expect from the group's 5th seed. However, this could be balanced out by the fact 3rd and 4th seeds Bulgaria and Wales are well below par. Without Dimitar Berbatov, who despite his form at Manchester United remained prolific(48 goals in 77 games) up until his international retirement, Bulgaria looked toothless at Wembley on Friday night and the resignation of their manager after the Montenegro defeat is unlikely to see an instant improvement. This generation of Bulgarians do not have anyone of Hristo Stoichkov's ilk who galvanized the Bulgaria team that reached the 1994 World Cup semi-finals. They may even finish bottom of the group, although Wales also have to avoid that ignominy. Gareth Bale, James Collins and Craig Bellamy aside, the current crop are distinctly lacking in quality or top level experience. John Toshack's successor will certainly have a job on his hands. As for Switzerland, despite being so solid at the World Cup where they incredibly beat Spain, they have a real problem scoring goals with just 5 scored in their last 11 games in all competitions. With the two Johnsons, Ashley Cole, Rooney and Gerrard all easily opening up their defence last night, it seems Ottmar Hitzfeld's team now have problems at both ends of the pitch. When put like that, it seems like England should have the group for the taking. Now as they say, it's time to "keep calm and carry on."
