Should England start the either of the speedy Arsenal wingers or the maligned Liverpool man on the wing?
Roy Hodgson has a few big decisions to make ahead of England’s crunch clash with France later today.
The match will shape the rest of England’s campaign, and a win would do wonders.
England’s players will go into the match believing they can get a win against France, but how many fans believe Laurent Blanc’s side – unbeaten in 21 games – will lose to Roy Hodgson’s outfit.
How England’s manager sets his side out will determine their fate, will they be brave? Or will they take a conservative approach.
No area of the pitch defines this more than the right of midfield – with a spot up for grabs.
In the centre, England will pick Parker, Milner and Gerrard, and Ashley Young will start on the left and link up with a lone striker, likelier to be Welbeck than Carroll.
The formation could shuffle to become a 4-4-2 with Young playing up front and Milner moving out on the left, indeed many believe this is how Hodgson will line the team up.
On the right, it has been reported that Liverpool’s Stewart Downing will get the nod.
Early press reports can often be wrong, and there is no guarantee this is accurate, but his inclusion is a big talking point.
We all know the statistics, 0 goals and 0 assists in the league for Liverpool this season, but they bear repeating.
It is one thing surely him being selected in the squad as a reserve, many felt Adam Johnson would have been a better shout, but being in the starting line up?
Whatever happened to the mantra that club form was essential to earning a place in the international set up?
Hodgson will be aware that if a gamble on Downing backfires, it will go down as another black mark against him, but we should consider the winger’s two plus points.
England’s boss seemingly considers him more defensively sound than either Oxlade-Chamberlain or Walcott, and against a team as threatening as France it could prove a prudent move.
Secondly, going forwards Downing will be able to link up with Ashley Young, a player who he knows well from their time together at Aston Villa. At the end of the 2010-11 season they performed impressively in tandem, and if they can produce similar interplay it could be a bonus for England.
However Downing will be up against Patrice Evra at left-back, a player from which he got little change out of during their club clashes this year. Evra though has been shaky at times in the past couple of seasons, most susceptible to pace.
This would make Theo Walcott, or even the far more unpredictable Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain better bets to expose this weakness.
Walcott remains an enigma, producing in big games for Arsenal against Tottenham and Chelsea this season, can he rustle up another big match performance?
Much of the time he runs into blind alleys, and struggles to make the right pass, and against France attempting to keep possession will be key. However surely he will offer more of a threat than Downing, and could thrive off the link-up play Danny Welbeck offers.
He is more of a conservative bet than Oxlade-Chamberlain, his young apprentice at Arsenal who many consider more talented. ‘The Ox’ is Hodgson’s wildcard, his joker in the pack.
Will he deal him in from the off in the opening game? We very much doubt it, although one paper this morning claims that is exactly what he is going to do. It would be the decision of a gambler, one which could be a real winner.
So far Hodgson looks anything but a gambler, and him playing safe with Downing seems the most probable bet. Could he shock us all?
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image: © dannymol
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