Becks must keep eye on the ball

"David wants to demonstrate tonight that he's not finished - and of course he isn't," insisted Eriksson.

The England coach has complete faith Beckham's his leadership. Their relationship is as close as any I can remember between an England coach and captain.

But the emergence of Wright-Phillips adds another element to the equation, especially if Eriksson abandons his favoured 4-4-2 and successfully experiments with a 4-3-3 formation against the Dutch.

The England coach, clearly impressed with the tactical success of Jose Mourinho, will probably ask Wright-Phillips and Wayne Rooney to do what Damien Duff and Arjen Robben have been doing for Chelsea this season.

Whether you interpret that as 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 makes little difference. The system suits Wright-Phillips and even the temperamental Rooney, perhaps more comfortable in a central role, has been playing on the left for Manchester United.

This leaves Michael Owen as the lone central striker with a midfield three of Beckham, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard all capable of providing significant support.

Few England teams can ever have been so heavily populated with attacking players. While this is an exciting strategy it could mean that at times England will be outnumbered in midfield, a big risk when there is no tackling specialist in front of the back four.

But Eriksson has frequently claimed the result to be of only limited importance in these friendlies.

His first defeat as manager was against the Dutch - 2-0 at White Hart Lane in August 2001 - and since then he has lost home friendlies to Italy, Australia and Denmark.

Back in November, of course, England played woefully in a 1-0 defeat in Spain. "That was not good," said Eriksson. "We have to do better than that."

Indeed they do, but the real purpose of this match is to help Eriksson prepare for the World Cup double-header next month against Northern Ireland at Old Trafford and Azerbaijan at St James' Park. If England were to win both matches, only some unforeseen calamity could then rob them of a place in Germany.

The Dutch are the leaders of Group One having beaten the Czech Republic, Finland and Andorra.

But, like England, they have had problems with the non-availability of players and will be without key men such as Ruud van Nistelrooy and Robben while Eriksson has lost his four first-choice centre backs, plus Wayne Bridge and Nicky Butt.

This opens doors for others like Jamie Carragher, Wes Brown and the uncapped pair of Andy Johnson and Stewart Downing, who could both make debuts as second-half substitutes.

At Villa Park four years ago this month Eriksson picked his first England team. They beat Spain 3-0, but I suspect it might not be quite as straightforward tonight.