The Times May 30, 2006
Revealed: the Eriksson plan to cope with loss of Rooney
By Matt Dickinson, Chief Football Correspondent
# Carragher will play in anchor role
# Owen upbeat despite injury scare
SVEN-GÖRAN Eriksson must prepare for the World Cup finals without Wayne Rooney and, remarkably, his plan promotes Jamie Carragher to the starting XI. The Liverpool defender will be deployed as a defensive midfield player against Hungary this evening to allow the England head coach to throw Steven Gerrard into the attack.
It is an unexpected elevation for Carragher but the country will hope that it unlocks the talent of Gerrard and Frank Lampard, two brilliant midfield players who have rarely worked successfully in tandem.
If all goes well at Old Trafford — and the plans are not disrupted by Michael Owen’s tight thigh muscle — the Swede will field the same, novel team against Paraguay in England’s first match in Germany on June 10. By then, he should be wiser as to whether Rooney has any chance of coming back into the side.
After talks between Eriksson and Sir Alex Ferguson yesterday morning, another scan on the Manchester United forward’s broken foot was, sensibly, scheduled for June 7. Rather than wait another week, it will allow England to assess the speed of Rooney’s recovery before Fifa’s deadline for withdrawing injured players on June 9.
“This was at my request and United understood the situation,” Eriksson said. “I can’t change the list after June 9 so it’s good to have a better idea what the future will be.” Coming three days after it was announced that Rooney would definitely be going to Germany and not scanned until June 14, the earlier check-up provoked concerns that there had been a setback. Those fears were exacerbated by a statement from United, which said that the injury “involves the joint” and would take longer to heal than the initial diagnosis.
However, Eriksson insisted that he still believed Rooney would play at the World Cup and that there had been “no change” in the assessment of the doctors. Sources with England and United both claimed that the striker, who has begun light running, remained optimistic although he may now stay behind to continue his recuperation when the rest of the squad flies to Germany next Monday. Jermain Defoe and Andrew Johnson remain on standby.
The scan on June 7 raises the prospect of England’s preparations for their opening match against Paraguay three days later being overshadowed by the latest, and possibly the definitive, Rooney bulletin and Eriksson said yesterday that he was fed up with talking about the will-he won’t-he saga. “Please,” he said, “let’s talk about a lot of other good football players in the squad.”
In Rooney’s absence, there are few more important players than Owen and there was a scare when he pulled up near the end of training yesterday with a tight thigh. He was taken for a precautionary scan but should play unless there is any recurrence overnight. That will not ease the displeasure of his club, Newcastle United, however, who complained last night that they had not been informed of their player’s condition.
Owen will be the attacking tip to a new-look England with Carragher in the holding role. Lampard will play close to Carragher, driving forward from midfield as he does for Chelsea. Gerrard will be pushed forward behind Owen in the hope that England can harness his attacking power, with David Beckham and Joe Cole operating on each flank.
Eriksson would not discuss his selection yesterday but he did confirm that he would start with the team that he believes will play against Paraguay in Frankfurt. While Carragher, and hopefully Gerrard, should be the beneficiaries, the obvious losers are Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves, who had hoped to play the holding role, and Peter Crouch.
Eriksson is likely to try more than one formation against Hungary, and against Jamaica in the final warm-up game, also at Old Trafford, on Saturday. If that includes Theo Walcott, the teenager will become the youngest England international, breaking Rooney’s record of 17 years and 111 days.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,28782-2202318,00.html