Nick Wright previews this weekend's clash between York City Knights and Hull FC
Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
James Tompkinson reviews an excellent pre-season victory for the York City Knights against Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos
Lesson 1: 4-4-2 is an outdated system which negates our best players.
4-4-2 may have been good enough to get through an easy qualifying group but it will not unlock a world class defence. The system stops our best players playing in their preferred positions: Rooney in the lone striker role, Gerrard behind the front man, Lampard further forward, Cole leaping up the touchline to frighten right backs . All these players play in a 4-5-1 in their club teams, a system that is the basis for the best club teams in the world. We have a Ferrari engine groaning in the bodywork of a Nissan Micra. We must embrace the evolution of the inverted pyramid; 4-4-2 is the formation of the 1990s and 2000s, not 2010.
Lesson 2: Emile Heskey is not an international striker.
Emile Heskey has scored 7 goals in 59 international games, which is less than ex Paraguayan goalkeeper Jose Chilavert in the same number of games (8). He is worse in front of goal than the Shermanator in front of a girl. Our expectations of Heskey have dropped so low we treat him like a fat kid finishing the cross country, patronisingly clapping his last lumbering strides to the finishing line, the same way Clive Tyldesley delights in another flick on to the opposition defenders. I hold nothing against Emile Heskey, it is not his fault he is picked, but his mere presence drags the team down to play long ball, his chunky head offering an overly enticing option for our defenders. There is a reason O’Neill drops him below Carew at Villa – he isn’t good enough.
Lesson 3: Play Joe Cole on the left.
Joe Cole is the definition of unpredictability and that is exactly why he isn’t picked. In England we love reliability – how often have you heard people laud Dirk Kuyt “well you know what you get from him”, yes a slow, anodyne, unskilful forward who will give everything for barely anything. It is time we embraced the mercurial. We may not know where Cole’s best position is, or if he will turn up on the day but that is exactly the point. Defences are bewildered by what they don’t know, defeated by unsuspected feints and deft turns. Such moments breakdown tough defences, such moments win international football matches.
If Capello persists with Heskey and the 4-4-2 we have no chance in the World Cup. The flat 4-4-2 has been tried by every manager since Venables and it has failed every time. We finally have the players to possibly win the World Cup – we shouldn’t throw away the opportunity to do so.
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