Much of the pre-match focus has concentrated on the 'diamond' formation that Sve
Much of the pre-match focus has concentrated on the 'diamond' formation that Sven employed in the second half against Slovakia and has hinted he may use again in tonight's match up with Macedonia.
The FA's Director of Technical Development, Les Reed, gives us a tactical teamtalk ahead of tonight's game...
TheFA.com caught up with Les Reed, The FA's Director of Technical Development to get a bit more info on what me might see tonight.
"There are a couple of different ways of playing the diamond formation," explains Reed. "The one I suspect Sven would opt for would be to see both Beckham and Scholes play in more central roles than the conventional 4-4-2 would normally allow.
"The benefits are that it allows two of our most talented players to tuck inside and see more of the ball. This can sometimes be at the expense of a little width so, when we go forward Beckham would need to get out wide again on the right while Scholes would be looking to push on and get as far forward as possible.
"We've discussed playing it in some of our youth team games with Sven and last night [in the England Under-21 game] in the second half we played Joe Cole off the front man in a position that would also suit Paul Scholes.
"The success of the way it is employed probably depends on the flexibility that the players can bring to the system. You may start in that 'diamond' formation but really it allows you a lot of fluidity in the positions you take up.
"It also looks to be a very good formation for the players that Sven has at his disposal. Beckham's ability on the ball and passing range are well suited to a more 'tucked in' role, while Scholes' ability in the box will be well served by a slightly more advanced role.
"In Steven Gerrard you also have the perfect base to the diamond. He can break up attacks and patrol in front of the back four as well as pick up the bits and pieces and start our moves going forward. In addition, the formation also helps to get over the issue of who plays on the left hand side.
"Tonight looks like a good game to try it in because, not only does it appear to suit the players, but you would also be hopeful that England could cause Macedonia some problems, irrespective of the formation."
How England shaped up over the years:
Bobby Robson (1982 - 90)
A keen advocate of 4-4-2, Robson was persuaded of the merits of playing 3-5-2 during the 1990 World Cup - a tactical switch which took England to within a penalty shoot-out of the Final.
Graham Taylor (1990 - 93)
Relied on the rigid 4-4-2 formation that had served him so well at club level.
Terry Venables (1994 - 96)
Venables has always been regarded as one of the greatest tacticians English football has produced and he adopted a highly flexible approach to the formation of the team. Famous for his 4-3-2-1 "Christmas Tree" formation, he also employed 4-4-2, 3-5-2 and 4-3-3 in his time with England.
Glenn Hoddle (1996 - 99)
Unique among England managers, Hoddle favoured 3-5-2, a system which was becoming increasingly popular with English club sides. The wide roles were filled by attacking full backs like Graeme LeSaux or traditional wingers, such as Darren Anderton.
Kevin Keegan (1999 - 01)
Reverted to England's traditional 4-4-2 system, which complimented his attacking philosophy.
Sven Goran Eriksson (2001 - )
Although he prefers 4-4-2, he believes in playing to his players' strengths and has experimented with 4-3-3.
Les Reed was talking to Daniel Freedman