Tuesday 31 March 2015 14:46, UK
England could make the most out of the friendly against Italy by blooding new young players and rewarding others' strong club form, even if it means leaving Wayne Rooney on the bench, according to Stuart Pearce.
Asked to select a starting XI to face Italy in Turin on Tuesday evening, the former England defender told the Morning View on Sky Sports News HQ he would leave the skipper among the substitutes.
"I would not have played Rooney because I don’t think, as a manager, I would learn anything by playing him apart from does he play well with Harry Kane or not – you could find that out in the second half," Pearce said.
"Harry Kane is a shoo-in for everybody - we want to see Harry play. Henderson and Delph in the middle have been in good form.
"Learning a bit about players and rewarding players who are playing particularly well, friendlies are for that."
It is unlikely England manager Roy Hodgson will heed Pearce’s advice and leave his skipper on the bench, particularly when Rooney is in such strong form and just two goals shy of Sir Bobby Charlton's national scoring record of 49.
I would not have played Rooney because I don’t think, as a manager, I would learn anything by playing him.
Regardless of who makes the starting side, an attacking midfield diamond formation is the best way for England to starve Italy of possession and get a result from the friendly match in Turin, according to Pearce.
Hodgson will have to tinker with his line-up, with Danny Welbeck and Raheem Sterling unavailable through injury, and Kane has been confirmed as a starter after scoring 79 seconds into his international debut against Lithuania last week.
A 4-4-2 formation would play into Italy’s hands, according to Pearce, who believe England need to concentrate on starving Italy of possession if they are to avoid a repeat of the World Cup loss to the Azzurri.
'Diamond'
“I would still play one striker, personally, and probably play a three-man central midfielder with two wide players, against Italy and away from home, especially,” he added.
"I think the best way of doing that is the diamond situation. If you strip your midfield and play a 4-4-2 scenario, at international level against an A-team like Italy, then you cannot see the ball for a length of time.
"We saw that in the World Cup: Pirlo and his teammates dominated the ball - we couldn’t get the ball off them basically - and that was the key decider to Italy beating us, I believe."
England have not won in Italy since 1961 and the friendly match will be key in the team maintaining its European Championship momentum.
"I think we’ve been very fortunate in regard to the draw, the draws been very kind to us in regards to qualification but it’s another step up for us and our young players,” Pearce said.
"We’ve got momentum on our side at the moment with the results that we’ve gained, certainly we need to continue that if we can. This friendly puts a big marker down against one of the big A-list teams of Europe.”
STUART PEARCE'S ENGLAND XI:
Jack Butland, Nathaniel Clyne, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Ryan Bertrand, Jordan Henderson, Fabian Delph, Theo Walcott, Ross Barkley, Andros Townsend, Harry Kane
