Gerrard is the man to solve England's striking problem Lawro

Gerrard is the man to solve England's striking problem

May 2 2006

By Mark Lawrenson, Daily Post

STEVEN Gerrard could be the man to answer England's call in their hour of need. The likely loss of Wayne Rooney is a huge blow to their World Cup ambitions.

But perhaps the influential Liverpool skipper offers a solution.

His flexibility means he could play up front off a more forward player, leaving a midfield behind him of, say, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole and David Beckham.

And manager Sven-Goran Eriksson could overlook the more obvious names to fill the front-runner's role and go for Darren Bent of Charlton.

He has played in the lone role often before and has done a great job for his club.

I still see a place in the squad for Peter Crouch, who would give England an alternative in games while Aaron Lennon at Spurs is staking a late claim for inclusion with eye-catching performances in the final weeks of the season.

He, too, could make quite an impact from the bench if England need to turn the tide in a game.

I still think England will take Rooney, unless there is absolutely no chance of the former Everton player appearing in any games. They will be hoping he will be fit enough for the latter stages if they can get out of the group.

Rooney will be taking comfort from David Nugent's appearance on the Preston bench at the weekend, just six weeks after a similar injury. But until the full extent of Rooney's problem is known there will be some anxious days ahead for England fans.

Iexpect Steve McClaren to be named England manager in fairly quick time as the FA seek to clear up the mess left by their move for Scolari.

I don't think it was a bad shout going for the former Brazilian manager who is clearly one of the best in the game, but imagine the reaction if the Portuguese FA had made a move for Eriksson in the build-up to a World Cup.

The FA had put themselves under pressure by announcing the new man would be known ahead of the Germany finals.

Instead they should have told everyone there would be no announcements until after the tournament, that they were going for the best man for the job regardless of nationality and that there would be no further news until the appointment was confirmed.

These can not have been easy weeks for the likes of McLaren, Sam Allardyce and Alan Curbishley, and Stuart Pearce to a lesser extent, with all the speculation and their clubs' supporters can be forgiven for being confused about what was going to happen.

McLaren is a safe pair of hands though there are question-marks over his ability to motivate and inspire but he is tactically sound and should do a decent job for England.

However the FA now need to look at streamlining their selection process. Sir Trevor Brooking and the Chief Executive are the only ones who need to get involved in the initial stages and only if they cannot agree should further members of the FA Board step in.

Gap is closing but Chelsea still have spending power to go for third title win

BARELY has the fizz gone out of Chelsea's title champagne than thoughts turn to next year and who will stop them completing a hat-trick of Premiership titles.

If I was a betting man, then it is difficult to look much further than Jose Mourinho's side.

Even though teams have closed the gap on them at the top they are still several wins clear of the chasing pack - and that is before they strengthen this summer.

You can see Michael Ballack arriving at Stamford Bridge and if they add another striker and a left back they will be hard to catch.

Even if the teams closest to them also add three players each the strength and depth in quality of the Chelsea squad is always going to pose problems for the others.

And that is where the Abramovic millions make a difference. Chelsea can afford to keep good players on big money in a squad system because they are such an attractive proposition.

Players will be prepared to take their chance, even as part of the squad, because of the rewards on offer.

Chelsea may not have the history of Liverpool but Abramovic has helped make them a place people want to play their football.

Supporters at other clubs may be jealous of what they have got but it is something everyone in football just has to deal with.

Liverpool have made the greatest strides of all the teams in the Premiership in terms of cutting the distance between themselves and Chelsea and I think we can expect a realistic challenge from them next season.

There is a great team ethic at Anfield and that will stand them in good stead again, especially if Benitez can add some more quality to the squad in the summer.

Chelsea are so good defensively and that has helped them in patches this season where they have not played particularly well.

It is difficult to see the title winners coming from outside the quartet of Chelsea, Liverpool, United or Arsenal - and given the riches on offer in the Champions League that gap is likely to get bigger.

Tottenham will be hoping to get their chance in Europe's top competition, but it is a sustained presence that gives teams financial power.

A good run in the Champions League yields millions in revenue before TV revenues and Premiership finishing positions are even taken into account.

That makes it all the harder for the rest of the division, especially when you know a team like Chelsea can get to January and plunge into the transfer market if they are not doing as well as they want.

Mark Lawrenson was talking to RICHARD WILLIAMSON