England produced a world-class performance using the sweeper system that Bobby Robson had virtually ignored throughout his reign as England manager. The player he chose for the sweeping job was Derby central defender Mark Wright, who was recalled for his first international since England's defeat by Holland in the European Championships. This was the match in which Paul Gascoigne came of age as an international player. He strode around the centre stage as if he owned it, and some of his forward surges and his passes were exceptional in their quality and execution. One twisting turn on the ball when he foxed two Dutch defenders in the second half was out of the Johan Cruyff school of skill. England were always that little bit sharper and hungrier for the ball, and David Platt proved himself made for the World Cup stage when he came on as substitute for injured skipper Bryan Robson.  There was a dramatic climax when Stuart Pearce drove a late free kick from out on the right wide of the Dutch defensive wall and straight into the net past diving goalkeeper Hans van Breukelen. Celebration of a winning goal was cut short when the referee made it clear that he had awarded an indirect free kick. The ball could only have missed the fingers of van Breukelen by inches. England came that close to what would have been a richly deserved win.
  

"So, for our second game in the group in Italy, I decided to add a sweeper to our defensive structure, to play three defenders against two attackers, which brings me to the great myth of that World Cup, one of the great fairy stories of my career, in fact - the players' revolt. If you believe the whisperers, we switched to a sweeper system at Italia'90 at the request of the senior players. A delegation approached me, apparently, and demanded the change. Allow me to place this story where it belongs - in the realms of fiction.
"I was never dictated to by my England players. In all my time in management I've never had to ask a team to make decisions on my behalf. It's a ludicrous concept. The manager who allows his players to determine the shape or composition of his team is dead in the water. He surrenders his authority. That's not to say that we, as a group of professionals, did not discuss tactical ideas that originated with me, the manager, but the sweeper system was my initiative. Sure, I bounced the idea off the players who would be asked to apply the formation five days after our draw against Ireland, but I made the switch, not them. I had no intention of allowing Van Basten and Gullit to rip holes in us the way they had in Dusseldorf in June 1988. That day, Van Basten had wrecked Peter Shilton's one hundredth international appearance with a hat-trick and Gullit had tied Adams and Wright in knots.
"So Mark Wright, Terry Butcher and Des Walker would be our three centre-halves, with Paul Parker on the right and Stuart Pearce to the left. Nowadays they call those two positions 'wing-backs'. Robson, Waddle and Gascoigne were to be my three central midfielders, with Lineker and Barnes up front.
"I saw that Mark Wright had the attributes to play as a sweeper. He was tall, he could pass, he was good in the air, clever in possession and not a bad marker. The so-called 'libero' role was perfect for him. Mark was a sufficiently accomplished footballer to be able to carry the ball out of defence and support his midfield. He was ideally equipped to work the two sectors of the pitch.
"I can remember saying to Don Howe, 'Let's modify the team to give us a bit of strength through the middle.' Then, on the training ground, I shared my thoughts with the players and asked them to practise in a 3-5-2 formation. Pearce and Parker were given licence to 'bomb on', provided we always kept three-on-two at the back.
"This is what I intend us to do. What do you think?' I asked Gary Lineker.
"'Yeah, I think it'll work.'
"'What do you think, Mark?'
"'Yeah, I can handle that.'
"'Terry, what do you think?'
"'Yeah, that'll suit me.'
"'I don't want to put you into a situation you don't fancy, or you don't believe in. What do you feel? I'm telling you that this is how I think we should play against Holland. Can you handle what I'm saying to you?' This is how I remember our discussion before the Holland game, mature and sensible. It hardly adds up to a mutiny."

Source Notes

TheFA.com
Voetbalstats.nl
Original television broadcast
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Norman Giller, Football Author
Bobby Robson's Farewell But Not Goodbye
Terry Butcher My Autobiography
Peter Shilton The Autobiography
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CG