Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
In today’s installment of “What if we were Coach?”, Drew and Young take a crack at Group D – England must finally come to terms with the ghosts of 1966 and move on from their failures with their golden generation, while Italy looks to bounce back from their disastrous 2010 showing. Uruguay must find a way to be more than Luis Suarez, and Costa Rica are in it for the ride, but can always spring a surprise in the end – after all, this is the World Cup. Let’s get to it, shall we?
Group D: England, Italy, Uruguay, Costa Rica
Drew is up first for today;
England – Other than Brazil (hosting the event) and the Netherlands, there is no greater pressure on a national team than on England. Their famous victory in 1966 was the first and only for a nation who has produced some of the greatest European players in the history of the game. Beyond the pressure to finally succeed, their reliance on out-dated tactics as well as making one player their focal point have all aided in their short comings. With the emergence of a host of younger talent in the country, Liverpool’s success with potential key England players and most of the Premier League playing vibrant attacking and counter-attacking football, manager Roy Hodgson must ring in the changes, else England will falter this summer where their predecessors have done exactly the same. Reliance on Wayne Rooney must be stopped and England must look to the German and Spanish systems of national team cohesion via club level performance in order to find the service ramp to a successful road. As such, if I were coach, I would deploy in a 4-2-3-1, with some radical personnel changes:
GK: Joe Hart
DF: Leighton Baines (LB), Phil Jagielka (CB), Gary Cahill (CB), Glen Johnson (RB)
MF: Steven Gerrard (CM), Jordan Henderson (CM); Daniel Sturridge (LAM), Adam Lallana (CAM), Raheem Sterling (RAM)
FW: Rickie Lambert (ST)
Italy – “Forza Azzurri”, or so they say. After their abysmal performance in South Africa in 2010 which saw them ousted from the tournament in the group stage, Italy are certainly out for blood in Brazil this summer. It’s very hard to ever bet against Italy, who are the most storied national team behind Brazil. The good news for Azzurri supporters, is that change is in the works and a reliance on the same crop of players can soon be disbanded. The emergence of the likes of Ciro Immobile, Mattia Destro and Lorenzo Insigne gives Italy young and vibrant attacking options to which their creative midfield players can release. There will always be the ever present Gianluigi Buffon, but this is likely to be his last major tournament with Salvatore Sirigu waiting in the wings – what a better way to finish his career than going out on a World Cup win. The same can be said for the great Andrea Pirlo, who is so critical to the pulse of the national team, that he too has every motivation to move heaven and earth this summer if it means he can end his international career with a win. Get ready, because this Italian team is primed to set the record straight. If I were coach, I would deploy Italy in a 4-2-3-1, unheard of from them, but it capitalizes on a potentially key attacking duo that some may not expect:
GK: Gianluigi Buffon
DF: Manuel Pasquale (LB), Leonardo Bonucci (CB), Giorgio Chiellini (CB), Ignazio Abate (RB)
MF: Andrea Pirlo (CM), Daniele De Rossi (CM); Lorenzo Insigne (LW), Alessio Cerci (SS), Antonio Candreva (RW)
FW: Ciro Immobile (ST)
Uruguay – When you have Luis Suarez as your main striker, you just have to think that somehow in the end, you are going to be just fine. Normally I would probably take that same approach, having just witnessed Suarez but the Premier League to the sword all season at Liverpool, on form he is one of the best strikers on the planet. The issue however, becomes two fold: 1. Suaraz has to play against England, where every single player knows what to expect from him and his Liverpool team mates even more so will know what to advise Hodgson on, and 2. He has to come up against Italy, and surely, no one does defense better than the Italians on the international stage. With Edinson Cavani being passively neutralized at PSG int the shadow of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he will need to be reinvigorated as well, Uruguay will have to put a large portion of the burden on their midfield. Talented they are, but they have not been saddled with this task before, but against the likes of England and Italy, they will have to step up if they hope to avoid Suarez and Cavani being put on an island all match and completely neutralized. Keeping that in mind, as coach I would set up in a 4-3-3, with the midfield three in a triangle:
GK: Fernando Muslera
DF: Alvaro Pereira (LB), Diego Godin (CB), Diego Lugano (CB), Maxi Pereira (RB)
MF: Walter Gargano (CM), Alvaro Gonzalez (CM); Nicolas Lodeiro (CAM)
FW: Abel Hernandez (LW), Edinson Cavani (ST), Luis Suarez (RW)
Costa Rica – Much like Australia, the fate of Costa Rica was decided the minute the group stage drawing placed them here – literally, they will be here for the ride and for the experience of playing in a World Cup staged in Brazil. But, really, could they offer maybe just a little more than that? They do have some talented attacking players on offer in the mold of Joel Campbell, Bryan Ruiz and Alvaro Sabori0. They have some experienced defenders, quite a few European based players and they have two very solid keepers. Do you just think that maybe, on their day, in a climate they are far more accustomed to than England or Italy, that maybe a long ball tracked down by Campbell, squared to Saborio could level a match late on? After all, this is in fact the World Cup and doesn’t anyone remember the miracle displays put on by New Zealand in 2010, where they drew Italy, Paraguay and Slovakia, in a group they were suppose to get trounced in, while only surrendering two goals in the process? At the end of the day, you truly can never discount anyone, and while Costa Rica have next to no chance of making the knockout stages, who’s to say they won’t derail the efforts of someone else? As coach, I would have to highlight their ability to counter well, so a 4-3-3 with two defensive midfielders would be best:
GK: Keylor Navas
DF: Junior Diaz (LB), Michael Umana (CB), Kendall Waston (CB), Cristian Gamboa (RB)
MF: Jose Miguel Cubero (DM), Yeltsin Tejada (DM), Celso Borges (CM)
FW: Joel Campbell (LW), Alvaro Saborio (CF), Bryan Ruiz (RW)
Young, you’re up next!;
England –
This isn’t the group of death, but England aren’t facing any pushovers either. Notoriously known for underperforming and lacking coherence, England could be the underdogs of this group. I’m going with Drew on omitting Wayne Rooney from the starting XI, but my decision isn’t based on the idea of coherence over talent. It’s fitness over talent. I’m staying traditional and would vouch for Rooney to be the leader and captain of the World Cup team despite his spotty tournament stats, but the fact that he’s coming into the tournament with major doubts regarding his fitness sounds a bit too familiar with the events that led up to the 2010 World Cup and 2012 Euros. History repeats itself, and it’s best to be cautious and not start Rooney and opt for a more fit option. In a humid and hot weather, fitness is a must in order to play sharp. And of course, England has to play like Liverpool with the 4-4-2 formation:
GK: Joe Hart
Def: Leighton Baines (LB), Phil Jagielka (CB), Gary Cahill (CB), Glen Johnson (RB)
MF: Steven Gerrard (CDM), Jordan Henderson (RM), Adam Lallana (LM), Raheem Sterling (CAM)
FW: Daniel Sturridge (CF), Rickie Lambert (CF)
Italy – The Azurri’s 4-3-1-2 formation is the most familiar design for this squad. Although their aging stars and lack of width on the pitch left them exposed by the likes of Spain in the 2012 Euro and almost defeated by Japan in the 2013 Confederation Cup. Experimentations with 3-5-2 and 4-2-3-1 haven’t proved to be successful on a consistent basis. If Italy wants to win this, they cannot switch their formations depending on their opponents. They have to impose their football before their opponents can and that means attacking both through solid possession from the midfield and making plays from deep. It also helps that they’re playing in Brazil where the humidity will kill the likes of England. The Italian backline plays defense quite gracefully, but they have a blue-collar mindset. That will factor in their advantage in close games:
GK: Gianluigi Buffon
DF: Giorgio Chiellini (LB), Andrea Barzagli (CB), Leonardo Bonucci (CB), Christian Maggio (RB)
MF: Danielle de Rossi (CDM), Andrea Pirlo (CM), Claudio Marchisio (CM), Alberto Aquilani(CAM)
FW: Giuseppe Rossi (SS), Mario Balotelli (ST)
Uruguay – Several pundits have tabbed this team to finish second while a rare few expect them to finish first. Why not? They’re playing in their home continent, which means the Brazilian heat and crowd support won’t be a problem, and they boast the best player in the Barclays Premier League, Luis Suarez. They will have no problem finding the back of the net, but the problem is can afford to let their opponents dominate them in possession? Without a world class holding midfield, Uruguay will opt to play with high tempo in their 4-3-3 formation:
GK: Fernando Muslera
DF: Maxi Pereira (RB), Diego Lugano (CB), Diego Godin (CB), Martin Caceres (LB)
MF: Walter Gargano (CM), Alvaro Gonzalez (CM), Nicolas Lodeiro (CAM)
FW: Abel Hernandez (LW), Edinson Cavani (ST), Luis Suarez (RW)
Costa Rica – Costa Rica is the weakest team in their group, but one thing works to their advantage; weather. The hot and muggy climate of Brazil is no different from what Los Ticos have in their backyard, which means they can play with consistent energy for the full 90 minutes; something that the English will struggle with. With their backs against the walls, the Costa Ricans will have to play 5-3-2 and go rope-a-dope. Once the Italians or English tire themselves, they will need to launch a swift counter-attack and catch them by surprise:
GK: Keylor Navas
DF: Junior Diaz (LB), Michael Umana (CB), Giancarlo Rodriguez (CB), Oscar Duarte (CB), Cristian Gamboa (RB)
MF: Christian Bolanos (LM), Yeltsin Tejeda (CDM), Celso Borges (RM)
FW: Joel Campbell (ST), Bryan Ruiz (SS)