England Get Their Rewards for Reverting to Basics Against Switzerland

When push comes to shove, football can essentially be a very simple game. It all boils down to 22 men trying to kick a piece of leather into a net, but thanks to managers and tactics, the game can be made incredibly confusing at times.

Formations such as 4-3-3, 4-5-1, 4-2-3-1, and even the re-emergence of 3-5-2 makes for a lot of head scratching, and a lot of dilemmas being posed to fans on a regular basis. That's all down to trying to get the upper hand on your opponents, but on Monday night in Basel, England simply reverted to the basics to get a result against Switzerland. And as if by magic, it worked to dramatic effect.

Their 2-0 victory against a Swiss side who are placed higher than them in FIFA's rankings was a great start to their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. And, given the bizarre qualifying structure, it pretty much guarantees they'll make the finals after just one game.

Roy Hodgson, a man who had been under real pressure before the game, got it right on the night in Basel. He finally remembered that in order to bring the best out of your key players, you have to play them in position.

The core of England's success was built around the man at the point of the midfield diamond, as well as their two strikers. First, the captain. Wayne Rooney has almost become England's proverbial scapegoat in recent years, but he's been hindered by the fact he gets constantly played out of position for his country.

Yet last night, Hodgson opted to play him upfront alongside former Manchester United compatriot Danny Welbeck. And it produced some sparkling link-up play from the England captain, as well as a couple of chances he might have been expected to take.

However, he's clearly low on confidence at the moment, but a strong performance like the one he delivered on Monday night (in most areas of the pitch) will hopefully see his confidence levels come soaring back. Louis van Gaal must learn from that game if he is to get the very best out of his captain. He's a striker and has always been a striker.

As is Danny Welbeck, another man who seems to regularly become a victim of systems without two strikers. He's been deployed out wide more times than recent history allows us to remember for club and country. However, Hodgson invested some faith in Arsenal's new boy on Monday, and it certainly paid dividends.

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Arsenal fans who were watching will have been falling off their sofas in excitement, as Welbeck stole the show with two goals to deliver three points for England. Some will say the first was very fortunate, but he did fantastically well to get into the position to score, after starting the move off in midfield.

There was nothing fortunate about the second, though, as he opened his body up magnificently to tuck the ball away like any good striker would be expected to. This is a young man who has been constantly labelled for his inability to score regularly, yet when he is deployed in a natural striker's role, the goals seemingly come flooding in.

The performances of Rooney and (more significantly) Welbeck, shouldn't just be an important learning curve for Roy Hodgson. It should be a lesson for all managers across the globe, who are in the growing trend of bosses that insist on playing people out of their natural positions.

England have done that for way too long, but after their success in Switzerland on Monday, there's little doubt where Danny Welbeck and Wayne Rooney belong.