Can England Beat Uruguay?

By Adedayo Ayodele

Well.. Even with Suarez back, I think England can beat Uruguay as long as they can keep a bit of discipline at the back. Uruguay are worse than England defensively. As long as they don't get punished, then the pace and power of Sterling, Sturridge and Welbeck can cause all sorts of problems, and hopefully Rooney doesn't wear his boots on the wrong feet this time - though I'd like to see Barkley given a start ahead of Rooney, as Rooney hasn't performed.

I think what they are also lacking is a proper defensive midfielder to sit next to Gerrard. When Pirlo sits deep, he always had Marchisio or De Rossi close by to tidy up and do the running. Strong, blood and thunder type midfielders. 

Henderson is a good player, but he's not a DM and doesn't protect Gerrard in the same way. I struggle to think of an all-out defensive midfielder England have actually. Someone like Owen Hargreaves would have been perfect for this current system. 

Maybe even Gareth Barry if he was a bit younger and more mobile. It's quite an un-glamorous position, so there's not many young defensive midfielders coming through in the Premier League. Phil Jones has "done a job" there for United (including at the Bernabeu against Real), but is he ready to do it at this level - the highest possible level? I'm not sure.