England waste Gerrard's talents

Last updated : 13 June 2006 By Al Campbell
Paredes played against Gerrard in England's opening game of the 2006 World Cup on Saturday. Although England won the game 1-0 Paredes said Sven Goran Eriksson was wasting Gerrard's talents by playing him as a defensive midfielder.

"At first we lined up with flat midfield, thinking England were going to do the same," he said.

"But when we saw that Gerrard was sitting deep and Frank Lampard was making the forward runs, I pushed on and moved into the hole.

"That's when we created a lot of problems for them. Even though I am not an attacking midfielder, I found I had a lot of space playing in the hole, because Roque Santa Cruz was dropping deep and we often had a man advantage in that area.

"Tactically, I think we got it right. Gerrard is one of the very best midfielders in the world, but in that position, as a defensive holding midfielder, he did not look comfortable. There are certain movements, certain ways you read the game when you are a holding midfielder and it's difficult to play the position well, even for a great player like him, if you are not used to it.

"On paper, their midfield should have dominated us. Instead, we dominated them, especially in the second half.

"Gerrard would have created many more problems for us in his true position.

"We deserved more, no question about it. But that's football. It's not about deserving, it's about doing. And we didn't do it - England did."


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