"?Former England winger Darren Anderton has questioned England manager Roy Hodgson's apparent choice of formation going into the summer's European Championships, saying that the formation the team lined up with against Portugal last Thursday risks wasting the talents of some of the side's best players.
The Three Lions lined up in a diamond formation at Wembley, which ended up pushing Jamie Vardy and Dele Alli out into unfamiliar wider positions where they floundered.
TEAM NEWS: Wayne Rooney starts in apparent diamond formation for England against Portugal https://t.co/8g0h2gx97d pic.twitter.com/JMB8NnO7e1
When asked if Hodgson ran the risk of playing with too narrow a formation, with the talents of Raheem Sterling and Adam Lallana on the bench, Anderton told 90min: "It's kind of the way international football is, in that your full-backs almost play like your wingers.
"But with someone like Sterling, I think you need some pace in the team, but there's no doubt that he's had a disappointing season - only two or three games where he really did what a £50m player should do."
He had fulsome praise for ex-teammate Adam Lallana though, having played with the Southampton man when their careers overlapped on the south coast.
He said: "For me, Lallana is an international footballer. He's a clever player he knows how to get into little pockets and he makes things happen in the final third. He came to Bournemouth on loan when I was down there finishing my career, and you could just see what a talent he was."
With England's opening game against Russia fast approaching on Saturday, the former Spurs man suggested: "In the Portugal game, trying to get Kane, Vardy, Rooney and Dele Alli all in the team didn't really work. Vardy and Alli almost ended up playing wide and tracking back, and you've got to play players in their best positions.
He continued: "Wayne Rooney's going to play, so play him off Harry Kane and for me, play Sterling right and play Lallana and have a little bit of fluidity in there. You've got to have Dier to protect that back four, that's what I'd go for. If it doesn't work out people will call for Wayne Rooney not to play, but I think you've got to have that bit of experience in there.
"The thing is, if you're not going to play Jamie Vardy up front then there's no point. In international football, you've got to have a player who can play up there, but also come in and play in the hole and help out in midfield - which Wayne Rooney can do. But if you're going to play Vardy and play him out wide, it's detrimental to the team in my opinion."
Anderton also told 90min that England's fans appear ready to create a 'special' atmosphere around the team, saying: "The fans in that tournament [Euro 96], when it all changed after Gazza's goal against Scotland, the feelgood factor throughout the country was like nothing I'd ever experienced, and like nothing I've experienced after.
"It was so special. I think the fans are ready for that again - they want that, they want to get behind the team and they want something to cheer about."
When pressed for some predictions, the Euro 96 semi-finalist picked France as overall winners and added: "I think the group's good [for England]. The way it's set up - it was a disaster to not get through the group at the World Cup, but this would be even worse.
FEATURE: What every other nation expects England to achieve at Euro 2016 this summer - https://t.co/Nbv1JuXuXL pic.twitter.com/zRsNnbVDAT
"I actually see us winning the group, I don't think we should lose any of the games, and then it becomes a knockout competition. At the very least I think we'll get to the quarter finals, and I'd be surprised if we didn't make it to the semis if we play the right way.
"You need a bit of luck - in the last six tournaments, five of the winners have had to go through a penalty shootout at some point - but that's the nature of the beast."
Darren Anderton was speaking at Racing Post Sport's Euro 2016 preview. Watch the full video HERE and follow @RacingPostSport for the best sports tips and betting information.
For more from Chris when he's not writing on 90min, follow him on Twitter at @ThatChris1209!
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