Psycho surgery

Stuart Pearce must shake up his England side if they are to qualify for the U21 Euros semi-finals.

Perhaps it was the way the question was worded, but one of Stuart Pearce's responses in the post-match interview after England Under 21s' stalemate with Ukraine seemed to say a lot about his state of mind at this tournament. When asked by Sky Sports' Pat Davidson for his thoughts on Michael Mancienne being criticised back home, Pearce said: "I didn't know he had been. He's a sterling member of the group, an unselfish member, and very popular." The England U21 head coach's first reaction: deny all knowledge, circle the wagons, protect the innocent. Then his interpretation of the question elicited the follow-up: defend the captain's character to the hilt. Character is not the issue here, not for Mancienne or any of Pearce's players. Heart and spirit can be found in abundance in the Young Lions' camp in Denmark; 22 young men in a foreign land, fighting for English pride. The problems lie with strategy and deployment. Pearce is fortunate to have such a solid rearguard to work with. He described Phil Jones as "colossal" against Ukraine, and bar one misjudged bounce in the closing stages which allowed Roman Zozulya to test Frank Fielding, the new Manchester United recruit looked unpassable. Yet Jones, like the rest of his team-mates, was guilty of carelessness when trying to distribute the ball simply and that has been the root cause of England's failure to spark in their opening two Group B games. 'Arrogance' was demanded by Pearce in the build-up to Wednesday's clash, with England having been shown up by Spain in their previous outing. That is not the same as confidence, however, and England appear to lack the latter until given a half-time gee-up by their manager. He is patently missing Jack Wilshere, who is happy to instigate attacks by taking the ball from the toes of his defenders, but it is not just the midfielder's individual technical skills that have been lost. Wilshere's belief in his own ability is infectious, and we could have expected the likes of Jordan Henderson and Jack Rodwell to have expressed themselves better on the ball with Wilshere setting the standard alongside them. Mancienne improved a little against Ukraine, and Wilshere even paid him a compliment via Twitter: "Mancienne playing very good in midfield considering he is a right back or centre half!" England need a defensive lynchpin but the best option appears to be sat on the bench, in the shape of Jack Cork who is coming off the back of a classy season at Burnley and is one of the more pedigreed players in Pearce's squad. Fabrice Muamba may have more Premier League experience than Cork, but Bolton fans will tell you he is more destructive than constructive and with a sturdy rearguard already in place, England need to take a more proactive approach in midfield. Henri Lansbury and Scott Sinclair may have forced themselves into the reckoning for starting roles with lively performances when they came off the bench in the 57th minute, and many would like to see Mark Albrighton given a run behind the Czech Republic right-back Ondrej Celustka in Sunday night's make-or-break clash in Viborg. Like Kyle Walker, Celustka is attack-minded and there promises to be some space available on the left flank at times if England can react quickly enough. As for the 'Three Dannys' attack, Sturridge has looked stylish, Welbeck has been willing if sometimes wasteful, but Rose is a thorny problem for Pearce. Maybe it is because he is a former left-back himself, and remains unconvinced that is Rose's best position, but the 20-year-old always looks more effective in that role for Tottenham, bombing forward like Walker but defending resolutely too. Pearce even has a former winger alongside him in Steve Wigley, so between the two you would hope that conclusion would be reached; hopefully Sinclair's display has helped to persuade them to move Rose back in place of Ryan Bertrand, or leave him out. The winning teams on matchday two could all boast useful partnerships. Xherdan Shaqiri and Fabian Frei linked up beautifully for Switzerland's first-minute opener against Iceland; Denmark's left-sided Nicolais, Boilesen and Jorgensen, were the tormentors of Belarus; while the ingenious Juan Mata provided both goals for Adrian in Spain's win over the Czechs. Sturridge's superbly-executed lofted pass for Welbeck in the second half suggested they could be England's dynamic duo, but the evidence so far is relatively thin in comparison to the other nations impressing in Jutland. Still, back-to-back draws means the emphasis has now shifted to 'must-win' for England Under 21s, and Pearce still has time to prove he can make the right team selections and employ the right tactics when it matters most. His characters have all been evaluated; now the director himself must be the protagonist.