Fabio Capello's experiment is facing its acid test

In the running: Fabio Capello takes training with the England players at Wembley yesterday
11 April 2012

There are signs that England are learning the lessons from failures of tournaments past but tonight they face a test of their tactical development.

Although Bulgaria provided meagre resistance in Friday's 3-0 romp, the employment of a 4-2-3-1 system encouraged many to believe that Fabio Capello was finally instilling an attacking inventiveness so often lacking.

As the manager searches for the tactical diversity that will be required to succeed at Euro 2012, he has been experimenting with a variety of systems since his painfully rigid 4-4-2 was exposed as antiquated long before last summer's World Cup.

Capello has long called the system he is attempting to find '9-1' - a rather cute numerical way of describing a team that attacks and defends together but with a lone forward at their apex.

From the 4-4-1-1 system used against Switzerland a year ago, through to the 4-1-3-2 set up against Wales in Cardiff and a 4-3-3 formation that so nearly earned victory against Ghana a week later, Capello has experimented with various blends.

The system heralded against Bulgaria was deployed for spells in England's February friendly win over Denmark - a match in which Jack Wilshere made his full debut in the disciplined role that he performs for Arsenal - and while it sparked in Copenhagen, it took off in Sofia.

England have flourished on the road in recent years because they are essentially at their best as a counter-attacking side.

It makes sense. England have for so long found themselves incapable of maintaining possession well enough in international football, why not develop a style that concedes possession as a coiled spring waiting to pounce on any error?

Inviting pressure from opponents is not always wise, however, as a team with the quality of, say, Spain or Germany can scythe through you at will. You cannot counter-attack if the ball is already in your net.

So as Capello searches for the right alchemy, Wales arrive at Wembley tonight threatening to pose a different problem in packing men behind the ball with England set the task of breaking them down.

It is a problem that England have struggled to answer as they have faltered on the front foot.

Draws against Switzerland, Montenegro and Ghana - along with a friendly defeat against France in which they were given a sharp reminder of the quality required in possession - have contributed to a record that means England have not won on their own patch for a year. Not since they last beat Bulgaria, oddly enough, 4-0 at the national stadium.

England have a habit, especially in tournament football, of reverting to type as invention gives way to familiarity in the face of fear, which probably explains in part why Capello feels they need a number of tactical alternatives aside from 4-4-2 in which the players feel comfortable.

"We will probably change the style from Friday," he said.

"I need to decide but we need to play differently because we are at home. The positions of the players on the pitch will be different. All the players are playing really well away because they can find the space and play on the counter-attack.

"We can attack the space. We have got really good technical players and in the space it is easier to make passes to find solutions.

"When you arrive running in front of the goal it is easier than when you receive the ball with your back to the goal, it is different.

"It is my idea - we have got a lot of players here and I choose the players ready to play for the games.

"All the players have got confidence and I think the solution is to choose the best 11 for the job."

England's evolution towards 4-2-3-1 has rendered the notion of a box-to-box midfielder as outdated given the two central players are charged with the responsibility of sitting deep while the four ahead of them wreak havoc.

The need for Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard's dynamism is consequently nullified. Gerrard, surely alongside Wilshere when fit, has proven able to perform a more disciplined role but the need for alternative tactical plans should ensure the obituaries written about Lampard's international career are premature. Capello yesterday hinted at a possible recall for the 33-year-old but Lampard's omission has prompted the Italian to be re-cast in the role of ruthless autocrat many craved upon his appointment.

The 66-year-old insists that is not the case but the idea that Capello's credibility is rising after the disappointments in South Africa can only be a good thing for all concerned.

He said: "I think the players understand me better! I focus always during the training - we work for one hour, one hour and a half and we need to do this, this and this.

"Afterwards, I am relaxed, absolutely. They can do everything. My relationship with the players has always been the same. They understand now that I am not an ogre!

"Probably, I understand more about the players and more about where I am living. It is a different job to being a club manager and there is compromise. I understand something about the English players and managers. It is not discipline, it is about respect."

Only in Poland and Ukraine can England definitively prove they have developed a more sophisticated style capable of adapting to any challenge. But sealing victory tonight in convincing fashion would further enhance the notion they are making progress.

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