ENG v USA Preview

Group C 12 June 19.30 Rustenburg

England (all White) v USA (all Navy)

Injury News
England only have doubts over Gareth Barry, the American’s seem to have overcome worries about former Hull City forward Jozy Altidore.

U. S. A.
Edson Buddle will lead the line but expect Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey to raid from deep. Herculez Gomez scored in their last 2 friendlies and may come from the bench late on. Michael Bradley will anchor the midfield, alongside Rangers pair DaMarcus Beasley and Maurice Edu.

At the back will be Watford’s Jay Demerit and Oguchi Onyewu who spent a year on loan at Newcastle in 2007, sadly he spent his time on Tyneside partnering Titus Bramble and Onyenwu returned to Belgium at the end of the season. West Ham’s Jonathan Spector and Carlos Bocanegra, formally of Fulham, complete the backline.

In their warm up games they lost 4-2 to the Czech Republic and beat Turkey 2-1 before flying to South Africa to play Australia, who they beat 3-1.

England
England are still reeling from the loss of captain Rio Ferdinand. Personally I am not as worried as if we’d lost the fully fit Rio of a couple of years ago. Ledley King is widely acknowledge to be England’s most natural defender, though there will be obvious doubts over his own fitness. Trust me, Ledley is the only player, since Paul McGrath, who can roll up on a match day and perform to the highest standard after a week working on an exercise bike or walking in a hydro pool. I liken him to a classic Rolls Royce, you wouldn’t use him everyday to go to the shops, but at weekends you polish him up and take him out for best.

My XI
James
Johnson Terry King Cole A
Lennon Milner Lampard Gerrard
Rooney Heskey

For me, James has everything a keeper needs, size, agility, good hands and a wealth of experience. Sadly his concentration seems to be his only weakness, I don’t personally see any point in taking him if he isn’t going to be first choice. When did he last cost England? The last real error came in Austria in a 2006 World Cup qualifier.

I would give Milner another chance as the holding player, despite an ordinary performance against Mexico in the warm up game, he seems to be the ‘go to’ man for any midfield berth that needs filling. He has excelled in the middle of the park this season for Villa and could be the ideal foil for Lampard in the middle.

The real question mark over my side for most of you will be my selection of big Emile alongside Rooney. I can’t argue that his goal scoring record (7 in 58 games) deserves a place but his work rate is second to none. Crouch offers an aerial threat but doesn’t work the channels like Heskey does, he will pull defenders away and expose space for Rooney, Lampard and Gerrard to utilise. I would probably replace him in the last twenty minutes for Defoe and hope that he can use his pace against tiring defenders.

Fabio’s XI
Green
Johnson Terry King Cole A
Lennon Lampard Milner Gerrard Cole J
Rooney

I suspect Fabio will stick with Green, he proved a safe, if unspectacular in qualifying but I would imagine the uncertainty is causing issues within the squad. We read that the players have stated their preference, and James would be their choice. But Capello is his own man and won’t be easily swayed.

This is probably England’s toughest group game and Fabio will most likely start with a 4-5-1 formation. Joe Cole is the man in form and will take the left sided berth, this suits Ashley Cole as he prefers the man in front of him to cut inside and leave space for an overlap. Glen Johnson’s raids down the right could also be a significant threat, along with Lennon’s obvious pace. Defensively there are weaknesses, for all of Johnson’s attacking attributes he is not a gifted defender. Milner may need to slot in and cover when he attacks.

I predict a 2-1 win for England, but wouldn't be surprised if we had to come from behind.