England's road to the FIFA World Cup: When lions enter the jungle without any roar

Arsenal

Finally, a season for Arsenal has started which is promising to bring silverware to their cabinet. One of the major factors is the signing of Mesut Ozil. It is inevitable to talk about Ozil while talking about Arsenal. What a signing it has been. Ozil brings in the much required competition and class to the team. Everybody is saying that too many foreign players will side-line England’s youth but the reality is different. Players like Wilshere and Chamberlain are going to be hugely benefited by the arrival of Ozil. For replacing the likes of Cazorla and Ozil from first team they have to immensely improve their game. It will not be surprising if we see a different aspect to Wilshere’s game at the end of season.

Walcott can be a surprise for teams playing against England. Roy Hodgson prefers an organized play from his players. Such kind of play at times, leads them to sit back and counter. He can provide the lethal counter attacks which at times, are missing in England’s game. Also, his goal scoring abilities cannot be neglected. Gibbs is also a player to watch but not for this World Cup.

Chelsea

Once the loved one, now a great one is in London. Mourinho is the manager which will decide the fate of England in the WC. If he succeeds to bring the best out of Terry, Cahill and Lampard then it will solve many hurdles of England.

Roy Hodgson does not prefer a high defensive line against a quality side instead he prefers a tight shape from his players. Mourinho also does not prefer a high defensive line especially with Terry and Cahill. Both of them do not want to leave space behind them for strikers.

The major reason of fallout of AVB at Chelsea was because he wanted a high defensive line from his players. Terry, Lampard and Cech were the players who struggled most due to that. Since, Terry lacks pace; his partnership with Cahil is better suited when they defend near the goal. With that kind of positioning strikers can’t outplay them with pace and both of them are defensively so strong that they can’t be beaten easily by one two’s.

It has been seen that an established central defensive pairing at club level is preferred more often by countries and that proved to be a good decision for them. Thus, Chelsea can provide a stable central defensive partnership for them.

At left back England have their all-time favourite Ashley Cole. He is the player who can drive England’s morale in low times just like he did with Chelsea against Barcelona in the second leg of the UCL semi-final in 2012.

This year BPL is so open that the so called big four can’t guarantee a top four finish, but they can make sure that the roars of three lions will be audible to other teams.