FABIO Capello is prepared to pick Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard together again, insisting there is no need to break the pair that caused selection problems to previous England managers.
The midfield duo played together for the first time under Capello this week and although they will be separated on Sunday – Lampard was one of seven players from the Champions League final not travelling to face Trinidad and Tobago – the Italian sees
a future for them both to feature.
Sven-Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren tried to accommodate both players, often drawing criticism for upsetting the balance of the midfield, and Capello's solution was to start Gerrard on the left against the United States on Wednesday evening.
The England manager, who is confident the pair can play in the same team, said: "I think this because in this position Gerrard is a very dangerous player for the opposition and he is free for every movement. He does not always come back into defensive positions, but he does that sometimes as well. I was very glad for his performance."
The argument is that Lampard and Gerrard are too similar, and, after the 2-0 win at Wembley, even Capello started to describe the qualities of the Chelsea midfielder before correcting himself as it was Liverpool's skipper he was talking about. Gerrard playing on the left could be seen as a waste of his talents, although he did pick up the man-of-the-match award from the sponsors after scoring the second goal against Bob Bradley's side. His preferred position is in the middle, where Lampard plays his natural game.
"Lampard always plays well," Capello added. "They are very good players and very important players for me. I think the good players can be played together in the same team."
Three matches into his reign and the Gerrard-Lampard axis is among the issues Capello has to solve, along with who his permanent captain will be. Gerrard took the armband against Switzerland, then Rio Ferdinand against France and John Terry started the healing process after his Moscow misery by scoring as skipper against the Americans. Gareth Barry has been widely tipped to stake his claim this weekend in Port of Spain.
Capello is also ready to keep David Beckham in his plans for the World Cup qualifying campaign. The 33-year-old created the opener against USA and his set-pieces were England's inspiration when chances were difficult to create. "Beckham for me is not important only for free-kicks and corners," Capello said. "He is an important players during the game for other parts of his game."
The full article contains 443 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
