England Qualify for Second Round

England again looked far from convincing as they beat Trinidad and Tobago 2-0. The big problem for England seems to be the central pairing of Gerrard and Lampard in midfield, who despite having been the first choice for a couple of years have failed to strike up an understanding.

My preferred solution to this problem would be to drop Lampard and move either Beckham or Cole into central midfield and start with either Lennon or Downing on the wing. This would mean that Gerrard would have to play a more defensive role than he prefers and would leave us a little weaker in defence but Lampard already looks weak defensively.

The other big question facing Erikson is does he drop Owen or Crouch in the knockout round as Rooney returns. On form it seems an easy choice, as Owen has looked out of sorts and he might come on with a bit more fire as a substitute.

As an aside - Lampard must be worried about his position in the Chelsea squad as Ballack is looking more than twice the player than Lampard at the moment.

England goals to follow later tonight.