No Latin style for speedy England: Eriksson

England will be pinning their World Cup hopes on the familiar weapons of pace and counter-attacks, according to their manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Eriksson has admitted his players are simply not ready to switch to the Latin-styled possession tactics favoured by tournament favourites France, Argentina and Italy.

"In football today, if you don't have pace, it's very difficult to win games," he told reporters after Wednesday's 1-1 draw against the Netherlands. "It's not just that, of course. You must be skilful and clever as well, but I think pace is more and more important.

"I don't think we are as good maybe as Argentina, France or Holland at keeping the ball. I think they are a little bit better.

"When you meet those teams and you don't have pace it's very difficult to reach their end and to score because they press you, put you under pressure."

Eriksson, though, has been encouraged by the improved possession football being played by his team.

"We're working on it," he said.

England relied heavily in their qualifying campaign on the pace of striker Michael Owen, particularly on the break, plus the long-ranging passing skills of midfielders David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes.

Eriksson believes that, technique aside, there are cultural reasons why England cannot play the same way as the world's best teams.

FOOTBALLING HISTORY

"When you talk about France, Italy and the best South American teams it's their history of football, it's their way of playing," he said.

"The further up in Europe you go, there's less possession and more pressure, more counter-attacks and so on. I'm not here to do another style of football, and I don't think you can do that in one or two years.

"We try to keep the ball," Eriksson insisted. "We did rather well sometimes against Holland and we're doing better and better. But for the World Cup, you should try to do what you really are good at doing."

The one experiment Eriksson has tried, with a view to surviving the World Cup's 'Group of Death' which also includes Argentina, Sweden and Nigeria, was to deploy a 4-3-3 formation against the Dutch.

England had lined up 4-4-2 in their 10 previous matches under Eriksson, and both the manager and the senior players felt they needed an alternative strategy.

"They thought, like I did, that before the World Cup we should try something because I think in some games there you might need three central midfielders. Italy play like that normally, so do Argentina and France," he said.

"I think we are a little bit better prepared for the World Cup with this game, than just going out knowing how to play 4-4-2."

DISCOVERY

If pace is crucial to England's plans, one particularly quick player with a chance of making the squad is Darius Vassell, scorer of the equaliser on his debut against the Dutch in Amsterdam.

The Aston Villa striker is only the latest discovery for Eriksson, who has been pleasantly surprised by the young talent he has seen on his trips round the premier league grounds.

"A year ago, when I came to this country, I had never heard of him," the Swede admitted, before adding that Vassell will need to produce a few more performances like Wednesday's before the season is over.

"Of course, if he plays like that I must consider him for the World Cup. I wouldn't be doing my job otherwise," Eriksson said. "But he has played one game -- we'll see how he goes on with his club."