VERDICT: Eriksson's new system baffles team

ENGLAND fans sang ‘Are you Scotland in disguise?' and I'm pretty sure they were taunting the Welsh.

But I'm not absolutely certain.

Because they could have just as easily been taking the mick out of Sven's men.

Or should I say Becks' boys after all the talk of player power in the camp.

Of course, you have to admit and acknowledge right away that England did actually win the game albeit via a deflected shot from the disappointing Joe Cole after 54 minutes in Cardiff.

And, yes, the victory does take England closer to guaranteeing their place at next summer's World Cup finals which is obviously what this is all about.

But on this evidence — and remembering the 4-1 debacle against Denmark in Copenhagen last month — it seems we will be going to Germany just to make up the numbers.

Certainly all talk of winning the thing is simply laughable after this shambolic showing.

But what went wrong against a side ranked 83rd in the world and who had not earned a win against England for 20 years? Did Sven Goran Eriksson, David Beckham and Co take it too easily, too nonchalantly?

After all, it is surely one of the more comfortable World Cup double headers they are ever likely to experience, with Northern Ireland next up on Wednesday.

And maybe the boys wanted to spice it up by having a little play around with the system as they ambled to the expected victory.

Maybe Sven thought there was no harm in that against such minnows.

But I bet he was not thinking that as he squirmed on the bench watching this rubbish!

And, to be honest, Wales were not even that good.

It was not as if England were knocked and bullied out of their stride by a relentless red tide. Yes, the Welsh dragon huffed and puffed but even John Toshack would not claim they breathed fire.

Threat

True, they did have the class, pace and trickery of Ryan Giggs and the power and aerial threat of John Hartson. But, apart from that, the Welsh did not offer much.

Yet England still stuttered and staggered around the park and the ultimate embarrassment must fall on the men who were the brains behind this 4-5-1 line-up.

If you are going to suggest a system, at least make sure YOU know how to play it, let alone anyone else.

Admittedly, David Beckham did OK spraying the ball around from his new position just in front of the back four.

Unfortunately, he was so deep and the players in front of him in such disarray, that you could count the truly incisive passes on one hand.

Steven Gerrard (pictured left with Carl Fletcher) and Frank Lampard looked even more forlorn and lost alongside each other than usual.

Yet this system was supposed to bring out the best in them.

And just as bizarrely we frequently saw England's lone striker Wayne Rooney operating 20 yards deeper than his midfielders, leaving the side short of its most lethal force.

As a result, England's two wide men — Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole — continually strayed inside to fill the gap left by Rooney's desertion of the penalty area. And that consequently robbed England of their wits.

In short, the masterplan descended into an almighty mess David Beckham  and England can thank Paul Robinson for making sure it did not become any more serious than that.

A flying save to his left in the 39th minute kept out a Hartson header that was on course to plunge Eriksson's England into crisis.

Giggs picked out the Celtic man at the far post but Robinson was equal to his terrific effort.

It was the only quality moment from an English player all afternoon. To be fair, it was the Welshmen's sole chance but it could have been so costly for England. A couple of dropped points here would have put a massive dent in their Group Six campaign and done nothing for national confidence in Eriksson or his side.

Imagine the attacks on his leadership, motivation, man-management and tactics if this had gone the way of the pear.

Fortunately, for him, it did not but the warning signs from Copenhagen still remain even after this victory.

England did not create much, either. Keeper Danny Coyne saved well from Rooney in the 21st minute. And he was back on his feet to keep out Wright-Phillips' follow-up effort.

Joe Cole then put a header wide from a sweet Beckham cross when he really should have done better.

Coyne also denied Wright-Phillips and Rooney after the break but he still could not prevent England taking the lead.

Elegant

Beckham glided an elegant ball to Wright-Phillips on the right touchline.

The £21million Chelsea man was allowed to pick out Joe Cole in the box and he did not waste a second in flashing one of his snazzy white boots to sweep the ball goalwards.

Luckily for him — and unluckily for the Welsh — it struck centre-half Danny Gabbidon and took a dramatic deflection into the back of the net.

England celebrated wildly — most probably out of relief — but they continued to falter and Eriksson's substitutions inspired more scratching of heads.

He sent on a second striker, or so we thought, in Jermain Defoe but then promptly pushed Rooney out to the right.

When Joe Cole came off for Owen Hargreaves, we were treated to the spectacle of both Beckham and Hargreaves trying to play in front of the back four with Gerrard on the left.

And when Gerrard was put out of his misery, it was Kieran Richardson who came on.

But, by this time, England were a sorry, shapeless dog's dinner of a side and the final whistle did everyone a favour.