It seems strange now that just a few short weeks ago it was difficult to track down a serious follower of the English game who genuinely thought that Glenn Hoddle's side were to going to come top of their group. Now, hysteria has set in. The Italians slipped up in what appeared to be a fairly straightforward away game, and the English are suddenly assuming that qualification is in the bag. Why is it that they always seem determined to set themselves up for the fall?
Two out of three outcomes will do Hoddle. A draw is the most obvious one, but then sometimes the easiest way to achieve one point is to go for three, and it is the question of whether to embark on just that gamble that the England manager must grapple with.
Given his record, it would seem safe to assume that Hoddle will opt for three central defenders with his two wing backs told to play defensively. Ian Wright and Teddy Sheringham fairly much pick themselves in a team which simply must be the strongest available for the task at hand.
Paul Gascoigne also looks to be a banker to play, and so it is with the selection of his final midfielder that Hoddle must decide his game plan. If David Batty plays, as he seems likely to, then England will have embarked on the gamble of playing seven outfield players behind the ball for long stretches and, depending on their ability, deprive the Italian attack space in which to work. Whether they can do that is far from certain, and if they slip early on then the initiative will have been completely taken from them.
The alternative is to play with David Beckham, whose flu makes him a far less likely starter, or Steve McManaman; either one would give the side a better balance. But then, if Hoddle does that and England lose, he may want to start learning the language and settle down there permanently.
For Cesare Maldini things are, at least, far more clearcut. His side must win and he must pick the team to do it. All across the English media there has been talk that the key man for the home side will be Gianfranco Zola, and this is probably right. England, with the extra defender, might decide to man mark him, but either way they must be wary of a player who, no matter how well you think you know his bag of tricks, is capable of turning a match - just as he did at Wembley.
Maldini has plenty of strong players jostling for the second striker's role, but Christian Vieri appears to be the favourite with observers out there. If England keep that pairing at bay, however, I don't think that we will wait long into the second half before players like Alessandro Del Piero, Pier Luigi Casiraghi or Filippo Inzaghi are taken off the bench and thrown into the fray. How Mick McCarthy must wish he could call on that lot!
(In an interview with Emmet Malone)
