2010 World Cup: Who should Fabio Capello start upfront against Algeria?
Fabio Capello has revealed that Jermain Defoe could replace Emile Heskey in England’s starting line-up against Algeria on Friday evening.
The England manager confessed that he’s still in the process of deciding on two positions. The first surrounds the goalkeeper conundrum, with Rob Green’s place in between the sticks at jeopardy following his howler against the USA; and the second is which striker will partner Wayne Rooney in attack.
The general consensus after England’s World Cup opener against the US suggested that despite Heskey’s impressive hold up play, along with the fact that he assisted Steven Gerrard’s early goal, his inability to stick the ball in the back of the net himself merely resulted in added frustration for the watching supporters.
Targeting Heskey as a scapegoat for England’s failings has been commonplace over the past decade. With just seven goals in 59 appearances, it’s not difficult to understand why some supporters would prefer to see a different striker partner Rooney for the Algeria match.
However, there’s a reason why a host of different high-profile England managers, from Sven Goran Eriksson to Fabio Capello, have opted to stick by the Aston Villa forward over the past 11 years.
Big, strong and unselfish, Heskey is the ultimate targetman. But on the other hand, he is also an enigma wrapped in a mystery. It’s hard not to think that if the 32-year-old had more confidence in his own ability, and more fire in his belly, then he would have been a far more revered striker.
After spurning a decent second-half opportunity to seal England all three points against the Americans, the less than prolific Heskey is on the brink of being dropped in favour of fox-in-the-box Defoe this Friday night.
It would be the Tottenham striker’s first ever appearance in a World Cup finals game after being left at home in 2006, and he’ll be h**l-bent on taking his chance to prove himself on the biggest stage. With 11 international goals to his name from 40 appearances, Defoe’s record is hardly exemplary, but it’s generally accepted that he’s the most natural finisher in the 23-man squad.
There are reasons to be pessimistic, though. For a start, Defoe has scored just once in his last 11 appearances for the national side and looked out-of-sorts during Spurs’ final few matches of the season. Meanwhile, the statistics for when Defoe features alongside Rooney are fairly concerning from an English perspective. The figures suggest that Rooney profits far more when playing alongside either Heskey or Peter Crouch, and rarely hits the back of the net when partnered with Defoe.
Stifling the influence of Rooney would be akin to Capello shooting himself on the foot. Therefore, it’s likely that Defoe will play in a slightly more advanced role ahead of Rooney, who will be able to control the game better in the hole.
In light of Capello’s admission that Heskey or Defoe will play upfront, it’s clear that the England boss regards Crouch as fourth choice striker – despite having the best goals to games ratio in the squad. As an impact sub, the Spurs striker can be deadly, though. And this seems to be how Capello plans to utilise the ungainly forward.
At 27, Defoe is now in his peak years, and must show why he was selected over Darren Bent – the man who scored six more league goals last season but wasn’t deemed good enough to make the final 23.
Had England won their opening match then Capello may have been able to experiment more against the unfancied Algerians. But as it stands, securing all three points is the only important thing for everyone associated with the England team.
Whether that means Defoe, Heskey, Crouch or none of them line up with Rooney; it’s up the England boss to get his tactics right and ensure England reach the last 16.
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