Skip to main content

England Versus Uruguay Team Formation



England versus Uruguay Formation 

Its been nearly a week now since England fell to Italy in their first group match of the 2014 World Cup. We explained in our last edition Should England Drop Wayne Rooney?   the real reasons England failed and today we show what the England Versus Uruguay Formation should look like.

It's a must win game for both teams so expect either a cagey affair with so much at stake or both teams slugging it out toe to toe. We've taken both situations into account and built a team to get the performance from the personnel available. Oh and yes, Rooney does start!


England v Uruguay - 19th June 2014 - Football tactics and formations
England Versus Uruguay Formation

As we showed last time, England's downfall was a ridiculous selection of four forwards who all gravitated to the centre of the pitch. This was a classic case of picking players and then worrying about a system. None of them had the discipline to do the job they were picked for and they ended up stifling each other.

So, what's the thinking behind the changes?


Well, firstly, we see no reason for two holding midfielders. Unless we are so worried about Gerrard that he needs extra protection himself. If that's the case, then don't play him. However, we feel he is more than able to protect the back four and intelligently dictate the play ahead of him. 


The midfield and attack need a link though. We've replaced Henderson with Wilshire to introduce this player. Wilshire is far more creative and can coax the best out of the attacking options.


At right back, we've replaced Johnson with Jones. A bit harsh this one but we feel Jones gives more solidity and dynamism on the overlap. In front of Jones we bring in Milner for Welbeck. England do not need more attacking options if Wilshire is creating better openings, but discipline is required in ensuring we have the option of width. Neither Welbeck, Rooney, Sterling or Sturridge offered this against Italy. 


Milner also provides defensive cover when required and can be switched with Sterling on either flank.


The final, much debated change is just swapping Rooney and Sterling. Wayne is by far a better number ten than Raheem and Raheem is a better winger than Wayne. It's a no brainier. Rooney scores goals for club and country when played down the middle. Let him go for it. Sterling will trouble any fullback with his pace and trickery and can drift inside whenever he wants.


So, we've added discipline, creativity, defensive stability and potency without taking anything away from the positives we all saw on Saturday.


The only other thing we need is Suarez's knee to fall to pieces!


What, would you change?


Live4footy.

See more of the game.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Coaching For The Brave

Over the years football has become more and more commercial. At its highest levels the game is now so professional and scientific it bears little resemblance to that played just a generation ago. This has brought great benefits for players, supporters and TV audiences around the world. A whole industry has erupted to support the game, spawning Directors of Football, Sports Psychologists, Performance Analysts and even Sleep Advisers. Clubs have poured millions into Elite Academies for those identified as having a chance of reaching the top and reaping the rewards. Young Starlets that graduate from these Centres of Excellence are paid thousands of pounds per week despite never having done anything of merit in the game. Coaches are trained and can't wait to get into the talent factories as a "first step on the rung" to a dream full time job with a club. Kids as young as nine and ten have a Golden ticket dangled in front of them and doting, eager parents hapi...

Futsal and Youth Development

Futsal and Youth Football I've hesitated in writing this for a few months now but after spending sometime mulling the subject over, I thought I'd bite the bullet and suffer the flak that will inevitably find itself my way. Twitter is my University of choice. It's where I find ideas and swap opinions with like minded fellow Football Coaches. It's amazing, I am constantly surprised at the level of resources out there and more importantly the generosity of many of the people I come across. It's also chock full of people determined to see every exchange as a battle that must be won. This is why I've hesitated. For months now I've been engaged in exchanges about Futsal and in particular why it's a great development tool. Throughout these discussions, I've asked one simple question: Why? Now some have taken this innocuous enquiry at face value and tried to explain the reasons why they feel it works so well, some have just trotted well us...

Now THAT's a Rondo!

I've seen a quote that says "The whole of the game is present in Rondos" I'm not sure about this but since discovering them I have come to see them as an important tool for youth development. However, when I talk to other coaches I sometimes get the idea that they are misunderstood.  Opinions tend to vary from " Ah, the secret weapon of Barcelona " to " Piggy in the middle? " I certainly found that lot's of coaches I know use what they call a Rondo as some kind of warm up before sessions or games start and my own 9 year olds saw it as just a bit of fun when I introduced them to it. The problem is, the Rondo is so much more and can be used in many different ways. After asking my players what they thought about Rondos I decided I needed to reintroduce them and highlight their effectiveness in a new way. Below is a description of how I did this in a recent session. We've probably all seen this set up and this 4v2 exercise is how...