Former Coventry City forward Mark Hateley has said that England should play Andy Carroll in their Euro2012 Quarter-Final against Italy tonight.
“I would play Carroll,” Hateley told talkSPORT. “I’ve been watching Italian football for a long, long time and they don’t like the big centre-forwards, they don’t like balls coming into the box from the wider areas and Italian goalkeepers do not like coming for crosses.
"It’s as simple as that. The Italian centre-halves will head balls all day long from free-kicks but from wider areas it has never been a great skill of their big centre-halves.
“[Carroll’s inclusion could be especially crucial] given the situation with the Italian side at the moment, whether De Rossi is going to play at the back or going to play in midfield, and Chiellini not playing, which is a big plus.”