The Liverpool man has mostly been used in a holding midfield role by the Swede, who also has to shoe-horn Frank Lampard and David Beckham into his midfield.

But such is the 25-year-old's influence in the opponent's half, as he demonstrated with two goals and a virtuoso performance in the FA Cup final victory over West Ham, Eriksson has now admitted he may use Gerrard as a second striker should Wayne Rooney remain sidelined by his foot injury. And for Manchester City boss Pearce, who has played in two World Cup finals, making the most of Gerrard's attacking instincts is essential if England are to succeed in Germany.

He said: "He should play anywhere he wants to play.

He is such a key player. If you sit him in front of the back four in the holding role you are not getting the best out of him.

"With Stevie's shooting ability, which he demonstrated in the cup final, he needs to be in a more advanced position. Anywhere around 35 yards out is fine for him."

Martin Peters, a goalscorer in England's 1966 World Cup win, is keen for the problem of who plays where in midfield to be sorted out as soon as possible . . . and criticised Eriksson for not having made up his mind earlier.

He said: "For me, the three people who could win it for England are the triangle of Lampard and Gerrard in the middle and Rooney in front.

Now we have lost Rooney, for a period anyway, but I still feel Gerrard and Lampard have got to play together.

"People say they can't play together but they have got to learn to do it. That's why you have to have friendlies. The friendlies have been outrageous for me.

"Alf Ramsey played the team in those that he wanted to play in the finals. He didn't take half of us off at half time.

Friendlies should be played with the first team.

"The players should have played together for enough time by now, or been around together. That's what they need to win the World Cup."

Peters is not the first member of the 1966 side to criticise Eriksson, who will step down once the finals are over, having been destabilised by a series of off-field scandals.

But Pearce believed that was unlikely to have a detrimental effect on England's chances, having helped them to the semi-finals in 1990 under similar circumstances.

He said: "Sven is in a similar position to Bobby Robson was in Italy '90. He was under a cloud and a lot of people were questioning his credentials . . . unfairly at times . . . as he was stepping down afterwards.

"Sven is going through the same scenario and in many ways the pressure is off him.

He can make any selections without any fear of upsetting players. He has nothing to lose in many ways."

Gerrard himself believes he can adapt to play as a second striker should his manager need him to do so.

"We did it a lot against Chelsea because we always wanted a man against Claude Makelele, who starts a lot of their attacks, " Gerrard said.

"When I first played there I must admit it was a bit strange to be receiving the ball so high up the pitch with my back to goal, having top defenders like John Terry and (Ricardo) Carvalho right behind.

"But I like to think that I'm at a stage in my career where I can learn quite quickly and adapt to certain situations."

Gerrard also revealed that Rooney is "really hopeful" of playing at some stage in the tournament, although it remains unlikely he will be fit to play in the opening game against Paraguay on 10 June.

"He thinks he's got a chance of playing some part, " said Gerrard. "He told me that he doesn't want to target one particular game in case he doesn't make it, but he's really hopeful that he's going to be part of it."

The Liverpool midfielder added: "Sven's got to make a big decision on him but I'm just glad Wayne hasn't been ruled out completely."