England 3, Estonia 0

Oct 15 2007 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

RATHER than Russian Roulette, Steve McClaren is instead facing a simple game of blackjack ahead of his team’s mission to Moscow on Wednesday.

Stick or twist; that’s the poser the England manager must address as he contemplates a selection that could conceivably make or break his international career.

The cards have fallen in McClaren’s favour in recent times, his various gambles on personnel and tactics – sometimes more through chance than design – helping rescue a Euro 2008 qualifying campaign that seemed on the verge of total collapse 12 months ago.

Saturday’s stroll against Estonia means England today head east for their pivotal showdown with nearest rivals Russia knowing victory would guarantee a place in next summer’s finals in Austria and Switzerland.

Having taken the bold decisions that have underpinned five successive 3-0 group wins, McClaren must now decide whether to maintain a successful status quo or play safe with the aim of securing the draw that would leave England requiring a home triumph next month against an already-qualified Croatia.

Evidence at the weekend would suggest the latter, England ending a hopelessly one-sided game in a 4-5-1 formation that stresses containment rather than creativity.

Many of England’s most famous results have been when earning draws in intimidating venues to achieve qualification for major tournaments; think Rome 1997, Chorzow 1989, Poznan 1991, Turkey 2003.

And despite the furore surrounding the plastic pitch at Moscow’s Luzhniki Olympic Stadium, it’s the players McClaren chooses to perform on it that will have the more critical bearing on the outcome.

With Gareth Barry likely to sit behind a central midfield pairing of Steven Gerrard and the recalled Frank Lampard, and Joe Cole and Wayne Rooney out wide in support of lone striker Michael Owen, England will look to stifle a dynamic Russia midfield that caused plenty of problems when the two countries met at Wembley in September.

However, such tactics come with a warning. Any dalliance that veers too far away from the conventional 4- 4-2 has often proved disastrous in England’s past, most recently in the 2-0 defeat in Croatia last year that has placed McClaren’s men in their current predicament.

Emile Heskey’s barnstorming performance last month exposed the Russian defence’s inability to deal with a physical threat. But with both Heskey and Dean Ashton injured, and Peter Crouch’s lack of match sharpness meaning he cannot be considered as a starter, McClaren has no genuine target man at this disposal, placing additional pressure on Owen to hold up play; not one of his greatest strengths.

Of course, Russia will be required to breach an England defence that has conceded just those two goals in Croatia in 10 qualifiers, the best defensive record of any country in the qualifying phase.

But even then, much depends on whether John Terry can recover from injury to prevent further disruption to a defence that is without the injured Ashley Cole, the Chelsea left-back yesterday ruled out by the ankle injury sustained on Saturday.

Given England’s turnaround since March, maybe McClaren deserves more faith in his methods.

Certainly, his confident handling last week of Wayne Rooney indicates the former Middlesbrough manager is perhaps finally growing into the role of national team coach.

Handing the Manchester United man the backhanded compliment of being "potentially world class" ensured the desired reaction from the striker at the weekend, a lively Rooney ending a wait of 1,211 days for a competitive goal at international level.

Although edged out of the man of the match award by the again impressive Barry, Rooney gave glimpses of his prodigious talent that have been absent in recent outings for his country, one audacious chip that was within inches of dropping over Estonia goalkeeper Mart Poom typical of the former Everton man.

Only four of the players who started in the 3-0 win over Estonia in Tallinn in June began Saturday’s game. But, in truth, McClaren could have picked almost any 11 players from those available to him and England would have still gained the desired result, so poor and accommodating were Estonia.

Without doubt, the Baltic visitors gifted England their goals. The first, on 11 minutes, came when Shaun Wright-Phillips ran on to a Micah Richards pass between defenders Dmitri Kruglov and Taavi Rahn before shooting low through Poom’s legs.

That lead was doubled just past the half-hour when Joe Cole’s low cross was left by Owen for Rooney, whose first-time shot deflected off Raio Piiroja and span beyond Poom.