Young England should look to 2004

Although Sven will probably go 4-4-2 against Sweden, I would play a different formation because I think we get outnumbered in midfield.

That is a problem against the top teams at this level. I prefer to bulk up the midfield. We've looked quite bright in a 4-3-3 system but I think Sven will play just two strikers, Darius Vassell and Michael Owen, because they are in form.

England will be without Steven Gerrard and Gary Neville, which is desperately sad, but in trying to follow Sven's 4-4-2 formation, after Owen and Vassell this would be the rest of my team. Whoever we play at full-back will be vulnerable because of their inexperience at this level. Wes Brown, Ashley Cole or Wayne Bridge might come up trumps in one game but teams will try and get at us there. We might get away with it for one game but not three.

I would go with Sol Campbell and Rio Ferdinand as the two centre-halves but the right-back is a toss of a coin between Danny Mills and Brown. I favour Brown because Mills often wants to bomb up and down the pitch. In Japan's climate you will need to keep possession.

I also differ from Sven on the left by going for Bridge in defence with Ashley Cole in midfield instead of Emile Heskey. I thought Bridge was fantastic against Cameroon - our best player by a mile for the first 45 minutes. He got forward well and got crosses in. Everything he did was excellent but in the second half he was so knackered he could hardly get over the halfway line. So I would play Ashley Cole in front of him and make them dovetail. That way they can overlap each other, giving us the ideal balance and blend on the left.

The great miss for me is Gerrard. Whenever Beckham has been out, he has done a great job. His shooting and long-range passing will be missed, especially by Owen and Vassell. Owen Hargreaves, though, has done well and I would play him alongside Paul Scholes. Like David Batty, Hargreaves looks like a player that refuses to get flustered by the opposition and has the mental attitude required at this level.

Obviously, full fitness permitting, I would play Beckham on the right and, since Sweden look as though they could get caught by the ball through the middle, Vassell and Owen are made for that. They are quick and in form at the moment but you cannot underestimate the part which the heat will play. I've based this line-up on the assumption that Kieron Dyer is not really fit and Nicky Butt short of games.

Since tactical substitutions will be vital, Teddy Sheringham will play an important role later in games. As an opposing coach, I would hate to see him entering the fray. He will play a huge part in these finals from the bench, as he did against Greece.

I had similar injury problems before every squad I had in charge of England but the timing of these injuries has been horrendous for Sven; to have three players with broken metatarsals is just bizarre. I feel for him but he is experienced enough to get on with it.

A 100 per cent fit Beckham is very important to England because he has improved so much. However, it is a shame to have him out wide all the time. He is one of the greatest crossers of the ball in the world but he should be allowed to run and go in behind the front two strikers. He can't do it if Scholes is playing off the front two, but if Scholes plays deeper with Hargreaves then Beckham could sneak in behind the strikers. I'd definitely encourage that in a 4-4-2, because it allows you to change shape.

Beckham and Scholes have played together for so long at Manchester United I think they could do it for England. I'd like to see Beckham in that position because he can draw opponents into fouls in central areas. That gives him a chance to use his trademark free-kicks or even have a shot if he gets a chance.

The climate will be a big factor - and a big problem for us. Having shut down our Premiership season in early May, we are expected to win a World Cup three weeks later. Japan went to France for three months before the last World Cup and trained hard. Then they went back seven weeks before the finals. But they did that not with France '98 in mind but this tournament four years later. Can you imagine us employing that kind of forward thinking? That's why it will be difficult for a European side to win the competition this time.

History shows that no European side has ever won it outside Europe. The longer grass doesn't help us either because it is not made for a slick passing game. We are used to a quick tempo but over the next few weeks you'll see a much slower game. Teams like Brazil will have no problems with these pitches because they will find the grass familiar. I've seen the new ball too and it looks very light. The goalkeepers will not like it. Sometimes it is harder to bring a lighter ball under control.

All these obstacles will have to be overcome but even if we achieve that, there is still the fact we have not beaten Sweden for 30 years. We have had a lot of draws but they have always been resilient. Their belief in this record means they will be hard to beat. People forget they came third at USA '94. They have mental strength and while they have respect for us, they are not scared. In Freddie Ljungberg they also have a talented player.

But even if he is fit the climate will prevent him making as many runs as he does for Arsenal. He goes into the penalty area to make a nuisance of himself and get the ball at the very last minute. He is the surprise element but it is difficult to put someone on him all the time. If he plays on the left he is up against Beckham, but I wouldn't ask Beckham to track him. There is no way you can stop Ljungberg doing the things that he is effective at. But you have to ensure that your back four is aware of when he is going on a run. Communication will be vital.

Ljungberg is at his most dangerous when he is without the ball because his runs are difficult to stop. That's why I am worried about our inexperience at right-back, especially if he is allowed to float across the pitch and into that last third. But injury may prevent him playing and even if he does make it, his performance may be affected by the doubts that follow this sort of thing. Ljungberg would be badly missed if he doesn't play because we've all seen the season he's had with Arsenal. His fitness problems are a massive bonus for us and a negative for them. That will put us in a good frame of mind, I'm sure.

The Swedes have had their problems with Ljungberg's little training ground spat with Olof Mellberg. But that could easily work in their favour. As manager I would turn it into a positive. If the Swedish coach has done that there is every chance they will have become closer.

The team will view it as a problem resolved and so, in a strange way, will become a tighter unit. I never experienced anything like that as England manager but when it happens it is usually because something in a player's private life has boiled over. If it was a genuine problem between the two players it would be happening every day.

Even with a fully-fit Beckham, we will find it difficult to get more than a draw out of this game. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that the injury jinx does not strike again.

The tournament will be a real test for our kids and while we should be thinking that we can win this competition, we should also be using the experience for the European Championships in Portugal in two years. That's a more realistic target.

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