At the same time it would allow Becks to drift into the middle when he wants.
Then if the ploy doesn't work England can introduce their defensive midfielder, like Owen Hargreaves in his place. Otherwise you have all the positive preparation in the world, but starting the tournament negatively sets the tone for England's performances throughout the World Cup. Then, should Wayne Rooney recover, Sven can go back to being more conservative from the start of games.
‘If only for morale, Rooney will want to be kitted out on the bench this Saturday. As Jermain Defoe departs from England's base in the Black Forest, there are many who believe that he should stay,' wrote Matt Dickinson in The Times.
Martin O'Neill wrote, ‘My belief is that Michael Owen is not suited to playing in a 4-5-1 formation and I think Peter Crouch needs to develop his ability to hold the ball up longer to allow the midfield to join the attack. Playing off a target man inside the penalty area is another matter to playing off him outside the box. The pattern of play at the start of a game is completely different to going gung-ho in the last 20 minutes. I do not think at the moment that Steven Gerrard is as cute as Wayne Rooney when it comes to playing as the second striker. The fitness of Rooney will have a big impact on England's chances of going all the way in this World Cup.'
David Beckham and Steven Gerrard paid tribute to the part Defoe played during the preparation stages. "He will be sadly missed. The goals he's scored and the way he's trained has been top class," said Beckham.
Gerrard said: "Jermain has been really professional. He's shown a great attitude in training and the players are really sad to see him go but the manager could only pick 23 players and unfortunately he missed out again. But his attitude, the way he's trained and the way he's been around the hotel has been a credit to himself."
Other than Paul Robinson, the only other Spurs player who is guaranteed to start for his nation in their opening game of the tournament is South Korean full back Young-Pyo Lee.
They play their first game at the home of Eintracht Frankfurt, against Togo, the same stadium England take on Paraguay this Saturday.
Dick Advocaat's side beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 in Seoul on May 26. Lee effectively played with appropriate over-lapping whilst Manchester United Ji-Sung Park showed active movement and made chances for his team.
Striker Ki-Hyeon Seol headed them in front at the start of the second half started before the second top scorer in the J-League last season, Jae-Jin Cho added a goal in injury time. Other World Cup 2002 stars Nam-Il Kim, Eul-Yong Lee, and Young Chul Kim also featured in the match. Their pressing and co-operative defence was good enough not to concede a goal.
Korea then played out a goalless draw with Norway in Oslo, but were defeated 3-1 defeat by World Cup finalists Ghana at Hibernian's Easter Road last Sunday. Eul-Yong Lee got on the scoresheet.
The day after England had ended their own preparations with a 6-0 mauling of Jamaica at Old Trafford, Advocaat said: "We could have played Jamaica instead but this match was more interesting for us than playing a weaker team we could have beaten easily." (The Guardian)
Meanwhile, Edgar Davids, who was left out of the Dutch squad, told Tottenham's official website: "It was a big disappointment, but I have played in the World Cup already and I can tell you it was a beautiful experience so I am happy I have had that experience."
Holland are in the toughest group on paper, with Argentina, Serbia and Montenegro and the Ivory Coast all vying to go through to an easier second round tie.