McClaren - The Right Formation

After Steve McClaren's disastrous foray into the world of 3-5-2 against Croatia last October, I decided to see how England would fare in an entire European Championships qualifying campaign using 3-5-2. Would England under perform again and condemn the 3-5-2 as a footnote in history, or is it the formation to guide England safely to the top of their qualifying group for Euro 2008?

A comfortable 2-0 friendly victory over Greece heralded my arrival, as I warmed up for my first competitive game against group minnows Andorra. After Frank Lampard's poor performance against Greece, my midfield three consisted of Joe Cole, Owen Hargreaves and Steven Gerrard.

This wasn't the sternest of tests the 3-5-2 would face up to in the group and England ran out comfortable 6-0 winners. The victory saw Dean Ashton bag a hat trick as England dominated. The immediate difference between 3-5-2 and 4-4-2 for England was the use of the wide players.

Players such as Aaron Lennon and Stewart Downing aren't wingbacks so they were sacrificed for players with better defensive qualities, Ashley Cole and Micah Richards, the latter I deemed pacier for right wingback than Gary Neville, who moved into the centre of defence.

Four days later my next game was away to Macedonia. Sticking with the same team, England were 3-0 winners, as the midfield dominated and the back three was never really tested. The team controlled possession and won 90% of tackles, spraying the ball out to the wings for Cole and Richards to supply the crosses for two of the goals.

The following month I was due to play Macedonia again, and welcomed back Wayne Rooney, who took the place of Ashton. Again the midfield dominated, with 61% of the possession and Rooney marked his return with two goals in a 5-0 victory.

Even without two out-and-out wingers, plenty of opportunities were being created for the strikers, and with Joe Cole and Gerrard getting forward to support them, there were no shortage of takers for a shot on goal. Croatia were next up, where McClaren's 3-5-2 experiment fell apart in what was perhaps the hardest test on paper.

Key defenders Ashley Cole and Neville were missing through injury, although maybe Neville's absence would turn out to be blessing in disguise after his own goal in England's 2-0 loss in October! The game started at a blistering pace, with several good chances spurned in the opening 10 minutes. It followed a similar pattern to the others, we controlled the possession and the midfield created plenty of chances, and, but for the misfiring forwards, we could have been two up at half time.

Klasnic and Eduardo were a handful for the back three all night and with Croatia slowly getting back into the game at the expense of our missed chances, the inevitable soon happened. Paul Robinson was to suffer another embarrassing moment in Zagreb, as a weak, 25 yard drive from Vranjes squirmed through his grasp into the England goal with just six minutes left.

Pushing forward for the equaliser, we grabbed a deserved goal four minutes from time. Eduardo, the tormentor of McClaren in Zagreb, deflected a John Terry drive into his own net. With the score ending 1-1, I had escaped from Croatia with a creditable point and a decent performance which perhaps deserved more.

The next two games were tough friendlies against the Netherlands and Spain, which were used to experiment; Leighton Baines and Nigel Reo-Coker being the pick of the new players involved in two, 2-0 victories. Israel, themselves challenging for top spot, proved no match for my dominant team, as Jermain Defoe scored a hat trick in an easy 3-0 win. The miserly defence again kept out Israel, who failed to register a shot on goal, leaving me having only conceded one goal in six qualifying games.

Terry and Ferdinand picking up the two strikers, with Neville acting as almost a "sweeper", meant the back three weren't too narrow and there was no confusion over who was marking who. Away to Estonia, I welcomed back Michael Owen from injury, who started on the bench. Hargreaves as a defensive-minded midfielder allowed Gerrard and Joe Cole to get forward in attack and these two are the main supply source to the forwards.

Rooney dropping back into a slightly withdrawn role adds an extra man to the midfield, and allowed him to come deep to get the ball to either dribble or shoot from distance. Rooney had six efforts on goal, scoring one in another comfortable victory that ended 2-0.

With five games to go, I was six points clear of Croatia and the 2007/08 season had just started as I was due to play Israel at Wembley. Playing against Israel's 4-3-3 gave the wing-backs more defensive duties, yet freed up two of the central defenders, which led to me abandoning the sweeper system, with one centre-back man-marking, the other two on zonal.

We enjoyed complete domination in the match; the wing-backs stopped the supply line to the lone forward, who was shackled by Terry. Israel managed one effort on goal as we ran out easy 2-0 winners, with Lampard, recalled at the expense of the injured Gerrard, bagging both goals.

Playing third-placed Russia four days later offered the opportunity to qualify for Euro 2008 with three games to spare. Playing the same formation and players as against Israel reaped a similar performance, as we won 4-0 against a poor Russian team to leave me 12 points clear of third with three games to go. Top spot was still not assured, however, as Croatia were six points behind.

Beating Estonia at home would ensure top spot, with potentially difficult games against Russia and Croatia still to come. Hargreaves, the most defensive-minded of the midfield three was the star of the campaign so far; scoring three goals and having four assists.

Acting as cover for the back three and also allowing the other two central midfielders more freedom to go forward made him a key figure of the team, playing in every game. The midfield dominated against Estonia and snubbed out any attack; Estonia could only muster one shot off target as England, with an impressive pass completion rate of 81%, won 3-0, two from Hargreaves and one from Defoe, who had now scored 12 goals in 24 games for England.

With nothing to play for in the final two games it would be important to guard against complacency, so I decided not to deviate too much from my first choice squad. Unfortunately I came unstuck in Moscow after a poor defensive display, which up until that point had gone eight games without conceding. After we went 2-0 up before halftime, Russia changed to a 4-3-3, which put more pressure on the back five.

With several players seeming to lack urgency, it was no surprise that Russia hauled themselves back into the game with two goals after several uncharacteristic errors from the defence.

The midfield lacked the "bite" of previous games and with nothing to play for, threw the win away and were lucky to hold out for a 2-2 as the match became dominated by Russia's counterattacking 4-3-3. The result ensured second place for Croatia behind me before the two of us were due to meet at Wembley for the final game of the qualifying campaign.

Despite their being nothing to play for, it wasn't taken lightly, not least because I wanted to end the campaign undefeated. Playing a first choice eleven, the central midfielders again were important in the match, and had a hand in all three England goals. Lampard and Gerrard, with Hargreaves sitting back to free them worked well throughout the campaign and certainly proved that they could play in the same team.

A 2-0 win left me on 32 points, nine clear of Croatia, in a comfortable qualifying campaign, something which I'm sure McClaren expected when he took over. The lack of a supposed left winger for England wasn't a problem, although 3-5-2 did sacrifice the pace of someone like Lennon or Wright-Phillips on the right.

It also left a problem in midfield of who to play in the centre; Cole, Lampard, Gerrard, Hargreaves and Carrick could all stake a claim, but if Gerrard and Lampard play, I found it best to play with the defensive cover of Hargreaves or Carrick, which meant sacrificing Cole.
Although the 3-5-2 did work, it is clear that with no Premiership team playing this formation, it is far more sensible for McClaren to play a more conventional formation that the players are used to. But surely most managers would love the problem of how to juggle England's midfield?