| David Pleat's tactical look at England v Montenegro The midfield and full-backs were at a tactical loss when confronted by a bank of five midfielders shielding their back fourMontenegro, short of top quality, were honest brokers – destroyers not creators – but England's highly paid players lacked the skill and tactical acumen to penetrate their red wall.Montenegro opted to play 4-5-1, leaving a bank of five midfielders shielding their back four, and England required a fast tempo but started too slowly. Unopposed, Gareth Barry and Steven Gerrard picked up possession in safe territory but found themselves confronted by a protective shield.Frustrated, Wayne Rooney increasingly came towards play to get involved. True, there was little room behind the deep-lying Montenegro backline but, even so, neither he nor Peter Crouch sought space beyond it.Gerrard was also needed further forward and both England full-backs should have been racing upfield to support their wingers. When confronted by immovable opponents sitting safely you must try to drag their players away from the central defensive positions.England were slightly more positive in the second half and Gerrard was a bit further advanced. Montenegro grew in confidence when gaining possession during isolated raids and this ploy helped England by opening the midfield up a little. Gerrard supplied Rooney with a good chance scorned but the visitors were still posing questions we could not answer.Crouch, who needed a diagonal or two and Rooney to be closer, required service from more advanced positions. It was not provided. We needed to overload going forward and hit the byline but, instead, stuttered in front of confident opponents whose goalkeeper was forced to make only two fine saves. There was also no sign of Fabio Capello switching his wingers to attack their full-backs on the outside from different angles on a night when Adam Johnson merely flickered.Capello's substitutions were meek. They did not affect the team's shape.Shades of South Africa. A more drastic change round was needed. Barry could have sat deeper, releasing a newly liberated Gerrard (see graphic) and allowing Rooney to play on the shoulder of the No3. Instead it was slow, lacking dynamism, craft and subtlety. Rooney's demise continues, Glen Johnson looks short and Barry, when not playing one touch, appears laboured.Euro 2012EnglandMontenegroDavid Pleatguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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