Gerrard and Rooney – The New Gerrard And Torres?

May 18th, 2010 | by: Ethan Dean-Richards |

Guys, guys, come on, there’s enough of me to go around!

Attempting a detailed analysis of England’s tactical approach before their first World Cup game is unlikely to draw out accurate results, not least because Fabio Capello himself may still have several key decisions to make about his team; injuries and performances in friendlies against Mexico and Japan will feature prominently in his thoughts. Nevertheless, the widely held assumption that Wayne Rooney will start in a 4-2-3-1 formation playing behind A Big Striker, prevails amongst most England fans.

It prevails as an assumption, but not as an aspiration. According to a poll by The Telegraph England fans favour a Steven Gerrard-Wayne Rooney partnership, with Gerrard presumably playing off Rooney in similar manner to his previously successful partnership with Fernando Torres. A 4-4-1-1, if you will.

If they can’t have that then they want Jermain Defoe – 24 goals this season for Spurs – alongside the United man in a straightforward, safe, 4-4-2 formation. And, if there has to be A Big Striker, then they think the other Tottenham man Peter Crouch should be it – anyone but Emile Heskey, it seems.

England fans’ reluctance to play Heskey has sound enough reasoning to back it up: his form: Capello’s own marker for an England place (”A place in the national squad has to be deserved, and it will be based on behaviour, play on the field and attitude”). The Villa striker has been a benchwarmer for his club during most of the season and has a far less impressive goalscoring record than most of his direct competitors to start up front – just 3 in 2010.

But whilst Heskey’s lack of form legitimises a preference for the likes of Gerrard and Defoe, it doesn’t necessarily explain it. Heskey is an ancillary name who plays a subservient role: two attributes that fans rarely have time for. Capello’s judgement is more thorough: Heskey’s performances particularly early on in England’s qualifying campaign against the likes of Croatia have demonstrated his effectiveness as a foil for Rooney and any given winger, be it Walcott or Lennon, and the experienced England manager is unlikely to forget that quickly. Don’t bet against him being in the team that lines up against the U.S.A in three weeks’ time.

If this seems to dismiss the views of England fans as trivial, it is not the intention. The prospect of a playing Gerrard and Rooney in tandem appeals beyond the superficial notion of naming a team packed full of stars. Rooney’s season at Manchester United has seen him operate largely as a lone striker (albeit ably supported by a talented selection of wide-men) and perhaps Gerrard’s most impressive form ever was facilitated by a second-striker role behind Torres in the 2008-2009 season.

These facts alone may tempt Capello to rethink his intention to play a target man like Heskey or Crouch. Added to that though is the already well-recognised relationship between Gerrard and Rooney, the two men generally acknowledged as England’s most creative forces (as seen against Belarus in particular in the qualifiers). Few doubt that the two could, in the right circumstances, create a profitable partnership.

And it is at this point that the get-out clause is excercised: pragmatist that the England manager is he may well rotate his striking options depending on the approach of opponents and the immediate realities of a game over the course of the tournament. Emile Heskey (should he make the flight at all!) could find himself coming on late in a tight game against, for example, Algeria, who may (!) sit deep in order to neutralise the creative sparks of Rooney and Gerrard. Or, Defoe could come on for Heskey in a game where the target-man role adds little – perhaps against an Italy or a Germany where the likes of Chiellini and Mertesacker will in all likelihood dominate the aerial battle but look less assured one-on-one with an attacker.

Capello and England fans’ opinions have differed surprisingly little during his reign so far – winning, of course, makes this more likely – and whilst the appearance of disagreement is there when the discussion moves to strikers, only watching will reveal what Capello really thinks.

The gap between assumption and aspiration may not exist at all and if England keep winning we may not notice even if it does.

England Football Team World Cup Blog RSS Feed

http://england.worldcupblog.org Ethan Dean-Richards

Now, readers, I must stress that this post is not an attack on John Terry
http://england.worldcupblog.org Ethan Dean-Richards

England arrived in Austria today, intending to get their ‘altitude’ right before the World Cup…

Yes, I went there…
Peter Taylor

Please Don Capello,
give Mr Heskey a rest this summer,and take Messrs Crouch,defoe,Bent and Rooney,
and please give Mr Gerrard a place just behind your favoured two.
And don,t send young Johnson home.
http://soccerlimeyinamerica.com SoccerLimey

I can’t believe Heskey will start any of the games. He will make the trip to back-up Crouch who is more of a goalscoring threat.

I think the key to England’s success is not necessarily Rooney and Gerrard but more of whether we utilize speed on the wings. Remember, Rooney will be closely marked by everybody, most likely double-teamed in many situations, so we have to find an alternative way to score. Playing Lennon and Johnson on both wings, especially against the USA who have two appalling full backs in Bornstein and Spector, might be the answer.
Ethan

I definitely agree that the performance of the wingers will be key, but with Heskey (or Crouch) as a pivot, I think that they’re more likely to be able to get involved…and have someone to cross to other than Rooney.

As for your first point, the bet is on: Heskey to start ONE World Cup game…if he doesn’t go I am going to look pretty foolish…but still!
Ethan

Not many comments…quick, someone say something about the Daily Mail
Tim

Guys, there is an amesome Facebook page where you can win England v Mexico tickets and the chance to play at Wembley Stadium in June. Search ‘nation expects’ to find out more.
riccardo

Hi, I’m Riccardo, I would like to make an exchange of links with my soccer blog…STADIO GOAL. Let me know if you are interested in it…thanks…have a good day with you good work!Keep it up!
LINK: http://www.stadiogoal.com
ANCHOR TEXT: STADIO GOAL
vN

Daily Mail!…er, something about foreigners…causing…the pound to fall to record lows!…er, which means that…good hard-working Brits…can’t afford World Cup tickets!
Ethan

Well played vN…Well. Played.
vN

Ethan: to be fair, any combination of foreigners, the pound falling, house prices falling, swine flu, “European bureaucracy”, or terrorism is a valid Daily Mail headline. The only thing stopping chimps randomly generating headlines is that they have more principles than anyone at the Daily Mail.

Anyway, back to Rooney and Gerrard: the only thing about the 4-4-1-1 is that it requires a lot of time to click properly (to be useful against the good teams), and with Rooney and Gerrard I just don’t think they’ve reached that level of understanding. I think it’ll be too easily snuffed out by good organized defences.

The 4-2-3-1 on the other hand requires less effort for good players to play well at: none of the supporting three really need to be telepathic with the lone forward, they just need to exploit and create space. The only drawback is that probably only Rooney, Gerrard, and Lampard could play in that support three — anyone else would neither have the experience nor intelligence to play it (unless I’ve forgotten someone). The other thing is that the 4-2-3-1 doesn’t really operate with traditional wingers, and we have quite useful ones with the likes of Walcott, Lennon and Milner.

And that’s nothing to mention Capello’s apparent 3-5-2 idea…
http://england.worldcupblog.org/ Matilda

The idea of combining Gerrard and Rooney like that is coming up more and more (http://theythinkitsallover.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/the-england-world-cup-squad-my-picks/) and it is quite attractive isn’t it? vN does make a good point in that we haven’t practiced it that much, but considering that both of the players in question play in similar positions at club level, perhaps the transition wouldn’t be so hard.
Ethan

We should use that Telegraph squad selector to embed our predictions of Capello’s lineup…and then what it would look like if we had our way…?
Ethan

vN: yep, I’d favour the 4-2-3-1 as well (with, Heskey, not Crouch, because I think he helps supply Rooney and the wide men best – even if he doesn’t score, the team scores more when he plays…I believe…).

Let’s not speak about 3-5-2…Oh dear.
Ethan

And, to quote myself (how self indulgent can I get?) “Heskey is an ancillary name who plays a subservient role: two attributes that fans rarely have time for”. I think that’s the reason the Gerrard-Rooney combo is becoming more popular.
http://england.worldcupblog.org/ Matilda

Oooh good idea on the Telegraph thing, I hadn’t even put the two together.

And very true on the fame thing. It’s so tempting to stuff the team full of stars.
Ethan

If only Real Madrid would realise problem with 11 stars…

Spain have got the balance right (obviously). Leaving Fabregas on the bench works for the team etc
http://www.worldcupblog.org Daryl

Am I the only one who both wants and expects Emile Heskey to start?
http://england.worldcupblog.org Ethan Dean-Richards

ooh ooh, me too! Me too! Like I said, I don’t think he’ll start every game, but I do think he’ll start some and I do support that decision.

I wussed out of saying that in the post
vN

Gotta agree with Daryl and both Ethans: I’d prefer Heskey too. Unless he plays really badly in training, I think he brings more to the lone striker position than Crouch does in terms of pulling in defenders and distribution, and I’d imagine Capello thinks the same way.

SoccerLimey: I don’t know; I think it’ll be Crouch who won’t start any games. 4-2-3-1 is basically an attacking unit of four at the front, so it’s not that heavy a requirement for the lone one up front to score. And Crouch isn’t that heavy a goalscorer. I don’t think Crouch himself would score as many as Heskey would create indirectly. Against the USA, I think Capello will play proper wingers, like you said, in a 4-4-1-1. But Crouch probably wouldn’t start there either.

Having said all of this, 3-5-2 might not, on paper, be that bad an idea, you know. If most teams are going to play one up front, then why bother with two centre-backs and two full-backs? Why not play three centre-backs with 2, 3, or even 4 defensive midfielders to pick up anyone operating of the front man.

It could be a master stroke! But, then again, this is England, who are more on the sclerotic side of things when it comes to innovation…
vN

Gotta agree with Daryl and both Ethans: I’d prefer Heskey too. Unless he plays really badly in training, I think he brings more to the lone striker position than Crouch does in terms of pulling in defenders and distribution, and I’d imagine Capello thinks the same way.

SoccerLimey: I don’t know; I think it’ll be Crouch who won’t start any games. 4-2-3-1 is basically an attacking unit of four at the front, so it’s not that heavy a requirement for the lone striker to score. And Crouch isn’t that heavy a goalscorer. I don’t think Crouch himself would score as many as Heskey would create indirectly. Against the USA, I think Capello will play proper wingers, like you said, in a 4-4-1-1. But Crouch probably wouldn’t start there either.

Having said all of this, 3-5-2 might not, on paper, be that bad an idea, you know. If most teams are going to play one up front, then why bother with two centre-backs and two full-backs? Why not play three centre-backs with 2 or 3 defensive midfielders to pick up anyone operating off the front man.

It could be a master stroke! But, then again, this is England, who are more on the sclerotic side of things when it comes to innovation…
vN

(sorry about the double post. Mods, delete one if you can, please…and then this too, I suppose.)
Ethan

Haha – there’s just one Ethan (me!) I just commented ‘logged in’ and ‘logged out’ at various stages. I’ll try to be consistent in future.

As for the double comment, it simply has to stay: it gives the blog charcter…and makes it look more popular. I can’t use my moderating powers to get rid of something with as many brilliant uses as that…
Ethan

I just realised I’m already too late – nooooo
vN

“there’s just one Ethan (me!) I just commented ‘logged in’ and ‘logged out’ at various stages.”

“…and makes it look more popular.”

J’accuse!
vN

“Haha — there’s just one Ethan (me!) I just commented ‘logged in’ and ‘logged out’ at various stages. I’ll try to be consistent in future.”

“…and makes it look more popular.”

J’accuse!
vN

(Damn it! You guys seem to have the Windows Vista of commenting systems on here.)
http://soccerlimeyinamerica.com SoccerLimey

“Crouch isn’t that heavy a goalscorer – are you kiddin’ me ? I’d hazard a guess that 20 goals in 37 games is up there with the best at international level. Rooney won’t be able to play the lone striker role – he’ll be marked out of existence. The whole point of the Big Man is to 1) create a diversion for Rooney to work off and 2) give the two wide men a target. Trust me, Crouch will start over Heskey.
WC_Metro

How can you guys justify taking Heskey over Bent? Bent offers so much more – form, almost as much strength and power and he is a much better finisher!

I think Capello will stick to 4-4-2. Much more efficient than messing around with tactics (remember previous managers experimenting with different formations and it just complicated everything?) Capello is a purist and I cant see him changing things a great deal between games. Maybe switching to 4-4-1 now and then.

The main problem in the WC will be if England can keep the ball, control the game and kill the game. England have never had a problem scoring but we had a tendancy to then defend and allow the opposition to dominate possession. Capello seems to have changed this philosophy however which leads me to believe that England could do very well at this WC!
http://england.worldcupblog.org Ethan Dean-Richards

I agree entirely with your last two points, but will have to disagree on Heskey and Bent.

Yes, Bent is in great form – and I will feel sorry for him if he doesn’t make it – but for me, his lack of caps and international goals place a question mark over whether he can convert his form to the international stage.

Heskey may not score as many for England as Bent would (although, like I said, I’m not sure Bent would score many), but he has proven ability in terms of facilitating other’s goalscoring – England score more with him in the team.

It’s a pretty devisive issue, thanks for commenting!
http://glenconer.wordpress.com glen

When and at what times do England kick off in the World Cup?
Here is a complete list of the times and dates of when and at what time England play during the World Cup.

Add this page to your favourites especially, if like me, you have a memory as leaky as the North Korean defence.

So, the only time you may need to throw a sickie (book a day off work) is Wednesday June 23 because it is a 3:00pm kick off GMT.

Saturday June 12 v USA Kick Off time 7:30pm GMT

Friday June 18 v Algeria Kick Off time 7:30pm GMT

Wednesday June 23 v Slovenia Kick Off time 3:00pm GMT

Should England as expected win Group C then their next game will be on Saturday 26 June at 7:30pm GMT

Should the unthinkable happen and England finish runners up in Group C they will play on Sunday 27 June at 3:00pm GMT.

So, no problems about taking time off work for the round of 16..unless you work weekends.

If England make it to the quarter finals as Group winners we will play at 3:00pm GMT on Saturday July 3

If England make it to the quarter finals after finishing runner up in Group C we will play at 7:30pm GMT on Saturday July 3

If Engalnd make it to the semi-finals as Group winners we will play at 7:30pm GMT on Tuesday July 6

If we make it to the semi-finals after finishing runners up we will play at 7:30 GMT on Wednesday July 7

In conclusion, if you work 9-5 Monday to Friday then your only real cause for concern is the final Group C game against Slovenia as all the rest are at the weekends or evening kick offs.

Some commuters may struggle to get home for 7:30pm so find a local pub. Group games will finish at the latest 9:30pm while games in the knockout stage should be completed at the latest by 10:15pm (should they go to extra-time)

The most important date is the World Cup Final which will be played at 7:30pm on Sunday July 11.

http://glenconer.wordpress.com
http://www.worldcupcollege.com Ed

The deployment of Rooney and Gerrard in a central attacking combination is an appealing notion. There are plenty of options for the left-flank if Gerrard plays centrally, but I think the principal concern is that club form does not transfer to international level in a straightforward fashion. Rooney leads the line effectively for Man Utd, but I can see him becoming isolated as a lone forward for England. And Gerrard’s performances for England have improved since Capello started using him in a more defined left-sided role, as he generally looked weighed down with stress when he was used centrally.

Both Rooney and Gerrard performed admirably over the qualifiers when a target-man provided an advanced apex to the team structure. A forward such as Heskey or Crouch provides Rooney with freedom to drop deep and wide in search of space – and using Gerrard on the left relinquishes him of the expectations associated with a centrally-located playmaker. There’s also an article here which suggests that a centrally-located Rooney/Gerrard pairing should remain a back-up plan: http://worldcupcollege.com/2010/05/23/england-plan-c-2/
http://england.worldcupblog.org Ethan Dean-Richards

Completely agree, Ed. By the way, will you have England as your number two team?