Should England play Steven Gerrard in central midfield?

Former Liverpool defender Jim Beglin and Wycombe manager Peter Taylor discuss Steven Gerrard's role in the England team

The Guardian, Wednesday October 8 2008

 

Jim Beglin Former Liverpool defender and ITV match summariser

Yes

I think Steven Gerrard would tell you himself that he is at his best and most effective when he plays in central midfield because it makes best use of his intelligence to pick and choose his runs from a position where he can be most dangerous. Of course you can stick him out wide and he is that good a player he will do a job for you. He can be a good provider from the right and moves inside well to make the selection work but for me it does not extract the maximum from his talent.

If you're going to play four across midfield, as Fabio Capello seems to prefer, you can't squash three candidates into the two available central berths . It's a dilemma for the England manager and I appreciate how difficult it is for him to decide. After the Croatia game when Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard combined effectively, I can understand those who want to go with the status quo. But let's not forget that Gerrard and Barry have worked well together as a pairing in the past.

The crux of the issue is the balance of the side and nothing should compromise that. As we saw on numerous occasions, particularly during the 2006 World Cup, you are asking for trouble by accommodating both Lampard and Gerrard in their favoured roles. Capello is going to have to decide to leave one out. I'm glad it's not my decision to choose which one plays.

But if I had to I would go for the Liverpool captain . Gerrard gives you more aggression and is a real battler in the tackle. His specific quality is pretty obvious — he is capable of producing sensational match-winning moments. I think Lampard is a more consistent contributor, maybe better at linking the play and probably gets more involved in a match in terms of passing. I just think Gerrard has the knack and ability to transform games with one huge moment.

Gerrard now has brought more discipline to the way he plays. I know Liverpool set up diff erently — against Everton Xabi Alonso and Gerrard were stationed deeper in midfi eld with Robbie Keane playing off Fernando Torres. In the past Gerrard had a tendency to vacate this position from time to time to go out and seek the ball which left the defence a bit vulnerable. But at Goodison Park I saw a new maturity to his play — he knows the role much better and is shrewder about when to break forward .

I feel perhaps I am being a wee bit unkind to Lampard. I really am torn. I would give the nod to Gerrard but it's a marginal decision. Lampard's general play this season has been absolutely superb — his link-up play, passing, astuteness in timing his runs to take opportunities in the box and finishing have been wonderful. But as good a player as Frank is, my gut instinct is that Gerrard is capable of even bigger things, decisive, game-changing interventions.

In terms of the balance of the team you could squeeze Gerrard in on the right but Theo Walcott has come of age now and deserves a run there. It's a close call but if you stick with Barry, and experience tells us you must, I would pick Gerrard to partner him.

Peter Taylor Wycombe manager and former England caretaker

No

I wouldn't break up the partnership of Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard in England's central midfield for the upcoming games because Fabio Capello has started well with those two and he now wants to start building a team for South Africa 2010 . So, with Steven Gerrard having missed the fi rst two World Cup qualifiers because of injury, it prompts the question: do you leave the Liverpool captain on the bench?

The answer is simple: No. I would never leave Gerrard out and, because I think he can play everywhere in midfield, he would be the one, yet again, who would have to play wide.

Steve McClaren had Gerrard on the right and I think that was the right idea. Gerrard is such a talented player that he can play anywhere: he can play right, he can play left and he can play in the middle. I would have him on the right because of his fantastic crossing but this time, as I wouldn't want to drop Theo Walcott after his hat-trick against Croatia, I would play him on the left. That will give him the opportunity to cut inside and shoot with his right foot.

Playing him wide gives him more freedom. My experience as an international manager is that the opposition will focus on the two middle men and mark them tightly, because it is easier to locate them and pin them down in the middle of the park.

Some people say Gerrard and Lampard should play in central midfield but I don't think you can drop Barry. It is not that Lampard or Gerrard can't defend, because they can, but they are not defensive players. Barry is a defensive player: he thinks like a defensive player and he plays like a defensive player. He shields the ball, starts attacking moves, heads the ball well and reads the game well.

And even though England are playing Kazakhstan and Belarus this time — perhaps not the strongest teams in Europe — you can't underestimate them and think you can play without a defensive midfi elder. It just doesn't work that way any more. You need to show all the teams respect and that means having Barry in the team.

It is not that Lampard and Gerrard can't play together because they can. Any team in the world would love to have them and would probably not contemplate dropping one of them. They are world class and give England so many options. Also, I think that Capello has introduced something that may have been missing before and something that will see them play better together: patience.

I have sometimes felt that they have wanted to play well for England so badly that they have tried too hard. They haven't been patient enough. With Capello, however, I have seen them have more patience in their passing and that can only benefit the team.

There is no way I would drop Lampard and, as I wouldn't play him wide, he has to stay in the middle. Lampard has been getting quite a lot of criticism from England supporters recently and I just can't understand that. It baffles me. He is a tremendous player and the thing with him is that he is desperate to be there and desperate to play well for England, which may not always have been the case with every player. The criticism he has been getting is unfair and silly because he is such a good footballer. End of story.