By Iain Spragg
Football 365
The Questions Keegan Must Answer In The Build-Up To England v Argentina
IT MIGHT only be a friendly, but next week's meeting with Argentina at Wembley could be one of the most important England matches for years. The game against the South Americans is England's first outing since they limped past Scotland and into the Euro 2000 finals and, in many ways, should be the first fixture of a new era for the national side.
Without getting too carried away, England are at a crossroads and it's time Keegan decided which direction he wants his team to head. Expectations for this summer are generally low with more than one influential voice arguing that the England coach must start planning for the World Cup qualifiers and take anything we achieve in Belgium and Holland as a bonus.
In this light, Keegan's squad, to be announced on Thursday, takes on a wider significance and should focus everybody's thoughts on exactly what we are aiming for and what we are capable of achieving. With this in mind, Football365 presents the ten most burning questions that should be preoccupying the England coach and offer him a few pointers in the right direction…
Which formation best suits the players he has at his disposal?
England coaches' recent habit of tinkering with their tactical formation on an almost match-by-match basis has bemused fans nationwide. Surely now is the time to adopt one system and stick with it? England's three internationals this season have seen Keggy plump for 3-5-2 but, looking at the players likely to feature in the European finals, there is a strong argument for reverting to 4-4-2.
The conventional argument for 3-5-2 is that English centre-backs struggle against fast, mobile forwards. But if you start with a central pair of Sol Campbell and Martin Keown rather than the negative, safety-first option of three across the line, the team will have two genuinely quick men as the last line of defence.
Adopting 4-4-2 also negates the need for wingbacks – a position that so many players have looked either hopelessly out of their depth or just plain wasted in during recent internationals – and means there will be an extra man in midfield, an area where Keegan increasingly looks to have more and more enticing options.
Who is the best man to partner Alan Shearer up front?
Kevin Phillips? Andy Cole? Emile Heskey? Michael Owen? The attack is an area which should be giving Keggy relatively few headaches but he still has to decide which is his first-choice partnership. Despite their undoubted individual talents, Shearer and Owen are yet to fully convince as a duo and Owen's enforced absence through injury presents the England coach with an ideal opportunity to examine the credentials of one of the pretenders to the throne.
Cole seems destined to remain one of England's greatest enigmas while Heskey continues to promise more than he produces, leaving Sunderland's Phillips in pole position to win his third cap against Argentina. The Wearside wonder has partnered Shearer in both his England games so far but the jury is still out whether they can combine effectively at top level. Then again, there’s only way to find out…
How does he cope with the shortage of quality on the left side of defence and midfield?
Obviously, Keegan cannot 'solve' the dearth of left-sided England-eligible players overnight but can, and must, plan ahead.
He has already tried a number of players on the left of both the defence and midfield but now is the moment of truth. Phillip Neville may yet establish himself as the regular left-back – and by default he should start there against Argentina - but his inconsistent crossing means he should not, under any circumstances, be used in midfield ever again.
Leicester's Steve Guppy, handed his debut by Keegan in the friendly against Belgium earlier this season, should be given another go in midfield. Alan Shearer's resurgence at Newcastle has been a direct result of improved service from wide areas and crossing is nothing if not Guppy’s forte.
Who is his first-choice goalkeeper for the Argentina match and beyond?
This should be as one-sided as the recent Mike Tyson-Julius Francis 'fight'. The incumbent David Seaman has looked beatable all season and even Arsenal fans have become frustrated with his alarming and seemingly irreversible decline. Leeds' Nigel Martyn on the other hand is in fine form and, at 33, is three years younger than his rival. Seaman's reign as number one for both club and country is coming to an end and Keegan must install Martyn now or risk a repeat of the embarrassing and costly slump that marred the end of Peter Shilton’s international career.
How does he deal with the controversy surrounding Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate?
A tricky one for the England coach. Don't be fooled by their Under-21 call-ups – Keegan is a big admirer of both and the Leeds duo are firmly in his Euro 2000 thoughts. The dilemma is whether to stick by them or wait and see what happens in the wake of their arrest in connection with a racist attack. If he supports them, he risks a backlash if they do come a cropper. If he waits and they are cleared, valuable time that could have been used to bed them down in the senior squad will be lost.
Bowyer presents the trickier problem. England have enough defensive cover to do without Woodgate, but Bowyer's ability to score from midfield could prove priceless in a cup competition like Euro 2000. With midfield options limited, Keegan should take the bull by the horns and take both youngsters under his wing.
What are the options for the holding midfield role?
David Batty's latest injury, Paul Ince's indifferent form in a struggling Middlesbrough side and Tim Sherwood's lack of international class leave Keegan in something of a pickle.
Ince or Sherwood could play against Argentina and beyond, but a lot depends on what formation Keegan wants his team to play. After all, England sides including a midfield ballwinner have hardly set the world on fire in recent seasons and now is as good a time as any to embrace a more continental approach and do away with our outdated obsession with win-it-and-pass-it midfield grafters.
Does he give Steve McManaman yet another chance at international level or is it finally time to look elsewhere?
David Beckham's emergence wide on England's right side has led to countless failed attempts to make something of Macca on the left or in a free role.
Real Madrid's ex-Liverpool winger often survives the axe because he is perceived as one of England's few 'creators', but if the likes of Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Bowyer continue to progress, his days could be numbered. Keegan will probably include him in the squad named tomorrow, let's just hope we (Macca and we, the watching fans) don't have to endure another 90 minutes of his fish-out-of-water bumblings on the left.
Who should be handed the mantle of the central midfield creator?
Does Keegan move Beckham inside or leave him out on the right? Does he give West Ham starlet Cole his eagerly-anticipated debut? Is Gerrard ready for the step up?
All these questions should be giving Keegan plenty to think about and there are no easy answers. Cole, another hopeful named in the Under-21 squad, should be given at least a taste of the action against Argentina and the same applies to Gerrard. Beckham should be left where he is because his service to Shearer overrides his potential contribution in the middle, leaving Old Trafford team-mate Paul Scholes to pull the strings in the centre.
Is it time for a wholesale clearout of the squad's veterans?
It would take a miracle for England to win Euro 2000 and Keegan has to think long-term and focus on qualifying for and making a genuine impact on the World Cup finals two years later. That means there can be no place for the likes of Merson, Sheringham, Seaman, Ince and Batty in his plans for this match and, by definition, the summer.
For years, England's greatest failing has been the inability to give younger players a chance and then stick with them beyond a couple of token games. Keegan has to assemble a young squad now if England are to have any hope of doing well in the next World Cup. However painful that may be in terms of results at Euro 2000, it is time for a radical overhaul.
What exactly should England be looking to get out of this Argentina game?
Regardless of the result (although putting one over the South Americans after the heartbreak of France 98 would be nice), England have to start establishing a pattern of play. The 11-strangers-playing-the-first-football-match-of-their-lives debacle of the Scotland game at Wembley last year cannot happen again. Keegan happily admits he's not the man for tactics, but international teams need a clearly-defined gameplan.
England have looked like a group of men on the same page tactically only rarely since Terry Venables' reign and that has to change. The challenge of subduing the threat of Gabriel Batistuta and an Argentinean team not dissimilar in style to Euro 2000 group rivals Portugal is a timely blessing. Rather than concentrating only on finding ways of stopping the opposition however, England should focus on stamping their own authority on proceedings - even if it means taking a few risks.
