SVEN-GORAN Eriksson should know our formation by now - and based on the Sweden game he obviously doesn't.

We are in the middle of a World Cup so we shouldn't still be talking about formations. We've had years to get that right and solve the problem.

Eriksson did the right thing resting players who went into the Sweden game on a booking.

And I think it made sense to leave Peter Crouch out of the Sweden game from the start because he was on a yellow card, and no-one could have known what was going to happen to Michael Owen.

It would have been great to pair Wayne Rooney and Owen together but at the same time you can't blame Crouch for the fact that England have been pumping long balls forward when he was in the team.

There was a lot of criticism aimed in Eriksson's direction about his decision to pick only four strikers in his squad and I'm afraid to say that Owen's injury only makes the problem more acute.

It pains me to say it but I think Eriksson could regret not taking a fifth forward and that could hurt England in the latter stages of the competition.

It is right that we tried something different in midfield, but I'm worried our lack of options in terms of which formations we have up our sleeve could be our downfall.

Eriksson has been criticised for his treatment of friendlies throughout his tenure and I hope Steve McClaren learns from his mistakes.

Friendlies can give an England manager a great chance to experiment, but only if you take them seriously.

His attempt to appease Premiership managers by resting top players has left him short of options now it really counts.

I do think Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are compatible but not in a 4-4-2 formation.

The players say they are happier playing 4-4-2 but I cannot help thinking that England would give teams more to think about by shuffling their midfield and the best way to do that would be to play three at the back.

Lampard and Gerrard would then have the freedom they need to express themselves in a 3-5-2 formation.

But right now there are other problems as well and I have to say David Beckham was anonymous for the first 20 minutes against the Swedes.

He almost created something out of nothing when he struck a great ball in for Rooney but you have to say he was a peripheral figure over the course of the game as a whole.

Paul Robinson needs to communicate better with his back four and he needs to be more decisive.

On a positive note I thought Owen Hargreaves fitted into the side well. We saw less of him when England sat back after Rooney went off but he can be pleased with how he got on overall.

As for Ecuador I am happier to be facing them than preparing to take on Germany. Playing the Germans on home soil would have been a big ask and they are still chasing revenge for the 5-1 back in 2001.

We know Ecuador - like all South American teams - will be technically very gifted. So you can expect them to hold on to the ball for long spells and make England sweat.