World Cup musings - Changes a must if England are to progress

Listless, poor, dreadful and many more adjectives could be used to describe England's performance against Algeria last night but what has happened to the team since they qualified in such convincing fashion last autumn?

Goals

The goals have dried up since they thrashed Croatia 5-1 to secure their passage to South Africa. Rooney appears short on confidence, and maybe fitness too. On too many occasions England's talisman has drifted deep to pick up possession but what damage can he do 60 metres from goal?

Solution: Drop Heskey, and play Gerrard in behind Rooney. This means playing the two in tandem, in the positions they play so succesfully for their clubs.

Confidence

When Fabio Capello took charge of his first game against Switzerland in February 2008 he noticed the players lacked confidence whilst playing for the national team. The shirt seemed to hang heavy on their shoulders. Slowly but surely he gave the team the much needed morale boost they needed and they started believing in themselves again. This form has completely disappeared since the turn of the year and England have regressed to their former selves. USA midfielder Clint Dempsey noted after last week's 1-1 draw that England were "edgy". That feeling was enhanced last night in Cape Town as many of the English players had a heavy touch and their passing was poor.

Solution: Get back to basics. The players need to be reminded of their qualities, even show them dvds of what they're good at. Also, playing players in the positions they prefer, ie Rooney up front, would help.

With these two key things fixed, England will surely get the win they need against Slovenia on Wednesday but there are a few other tactical tweeks that may be required.

Shaun Wright-Phillips should not be turned to as our saviour. In the last two games he has come on as a substitute and performed even worse than the player he replaced.

Furthermore, what has Joe Cole done to upset Mr Capello so much that he can't seem to get near the starting 11? With him, Gerrard and Aaron Lennon lined-up as a three behind Rooney we could play the 4-2-3-1 formation we see used throughout the Premier League. This would give us many more options going forward, whilst also enabling us to play our best players in their best positions.

Lennon deserves persisting with. Last night his delivery improved and it was a lack of a presence in the box that cost England dearly. On several occasions Heskey and Rooney were both seen deep in their own half.

Dispensing with Heskey would also encourage England to play a more expansive game following the justified accusations from Franz Beckenbauer that we had become a "kick and rush" team.

Also, the full-backs need to get forward more. Against the U.S Glen Johnson was one of our best players but against Algeria, he and Ashley Cole were rarely seen venturing forward.

Finally, some due respect needs to be given to the Slovenians prior to kick-off. In the build-up to last night's game Gerrard spoke of the need for a "convincing win". The only purpose these ill-advised words served was to increase the pressure on England, as well as motivating the Algerians. This comment would have been more understandable coming from a naive youngster but not the England captain.