BACK TO ARCHIVE INDEX © All written site content is copyright ComeOnBoro.com 2004-2007, unless otherwise stated, and is not to be used without prior permission.	WING WONDERS HAVE STARRING ROLE Whatever else he achieves during his reign as England manager, Steve McClaren will be remembered as the man who brought width back to the national side. There was something refreshing about the sight of McClaren standing at pitch-side - that in itself was in stark contrast to the sedentary Sven-Goran Eriksson - exhorting his side to get the ball to the wide men he had ordered to get chalk on their boots. And perhaps more importantly, it worked. No-one can deny that Andorra would have struggled to beat a Sunday afternoon pub team who had prepared by sharing a liquid lunch, but the principles advocated by McClaren will remain as valid against much stronger opposition. Where Eriksson allowed David Beckham to roam and play anywhere but the right-sided position in which he was selected and picked the right-footed Joe Cole to play on the left, McClaren asked Steven Gerrard to patrol the right touchline and put the round peg that is Stewart Downing in the round hole that is the left-wing berth. Where Beckham's indiscipline in recent times, albeit sanctioned or at least accepted by the Swede, and Cole's tendency to cut inside narrowed the pitch, Gerrard and Downing repeatedly stretched a defence reinforced by a five-man midfield which often became six. The secret was McClaren's decision to split the central midfield partnership of Gerrard and Frank Lampard and employ Owen Hargreaves in the holding role. Hargreaves was excellent in the friendly victory over Greece and ran the game once again. Admittedly, a man of much less ability could have done the same job against Andorra, but the 25-year-old's inclusion releases both Gerrard and Lampard, who had previously been hampered rather than enhanced by their close proximity. Gerrard, of course, is not an out-and-out winger, although the way in which he side-stepped the dazed full-back to set up Defoe's first goal was almost textbook. But he lines up regularly on the right for Liverpool, and does so to devastating effect. McClaren revealed in the build-up to the game that he had spoken to Reds boss Rafael Benitez about Gerrard, and was persuaded by what he heard. He said: "Liverpool are getting the best out of Steven Gerrard, so you have to speak to Rafa to find out exactly what they are doing and what messages they are given to put Steven Gerrard into a position in which he is comfortable and in which he can perform at his best. "You saw against Greece he was comfortable in that position. He gave a very, very good performance and he was happy." Downing's inclusion is perhaps a different matter. The 22-year-old Middlesbrough winger is a specialist on the left, which Cole is not, and McClaren understandably knows his game better than any other member of his squad. He has been given his chance because Cole is injured, and with the Chelsea man expected to return soon, he will be under extreme pressure. Cole's contribution to the England team in recent times has been immense, and his ability is not in any question. However, the fact it is not his natural inclination to go past the full-back on the outside and cross from the goal-line means he provides a different type of supply line. The width in Saturday's game did not come just from Gerrard and Downing - or the men who took over from them, Aaron Lennon and Kieran Richardson - but also from behind them. Indeed, while Gerrard's pinpoint cross set up Defoe's first goal, it was Ashley Cole whose intervention led to Crouch's opener and Gerrard's strike. In addition, Lennon may have supplied the cross from which Crouch headed home the the fifth, but it was Phil Neville's header into the box which created Defoe's second. The personnel will change - Gary Neville will replace his brother at right-back and Cole seems certain to resume in place of Downing - but the indications are that McClaren's philosophy will not. That can only be good news for Gerrard, Downing, Lennon, Richardson and Shaun Wright-Phillips, if not a certain member of the Real Madrid squad who has hopes of returning to the fold. The king is dead, long live the winger. By Bettingzone.co.uk Used with permission. SEND THIS TO A FRIEND ENGLAND v ANDORRA & MACEDONIA MATCH PROGRAMME INDEX
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