10 Big Questions Raised By England's World Cup Squad

10. What Formation Will Hodgson Play?

Perhaps even more important than the players themselves is the shape Hodgson organises them into when they finally take to the field. The good news is that England have looked more tactically versatile since their rigid 4-4-2 was pinned back by Andrea Pirlo at Euro 2012. While England looked short of ideas in the early stages of the qualifying rounds, Hodgson gradually got his players more confident on the ball and able to adapt to the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents. Poland and Montenegro may be several steps behind the opponents lying in wait at the World Cup, but England needed to beat them to secure qualification and did so in relative comfort, which has not always been the case in big games. Subsequent friendly losses to Germany and Chile weren't encouraging, but both saw Hodgson experimenting with his side and hopefully, lessons have been learnt. Hodgson seems to have settled on swapping between a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-3-3 depending on the opponent. The 4-3-3 seems best suited to the players Hodgson has selected, with a trio of midfielders providing ample protection for the slightly weak back line - more on that in a moment - and allows Sterling and Sturridge to use their pace and trickery as inside forwards on the flanks and Rooney to collect the ball from deep and charge forwards into space with options on either side of him. The 4-2-3-1 is a more attacking option, though risks leaving the back four vulnerable given England's lack of natural pivot players. The tactic could be used effectively against more defensive opponents like Costa Rica, however, but would require a strong centre forward to disrupt their back line and allow the three players behind to exploit the gaps with runs from deep.