Dimitar Berbatov has gone but Bulgaria can make it tough for England | Jonathan Wilso

[Jonathan Wilson]

The Bulgarians have problems but their solid 4-2-3-1 will test England in Friday's opening Euro 2012 qualifier

It's rare for an international friendly really to stir the soul, but few in recent memory have been quite as flat as the 1-0 win Russia achieved against Bulgaria last month on the day England were doing their best to lose to Hungary for the first time in 48 years. With the game moved to St Petersburg because of the smog over Moscow, it represented a rare chance for the northern fans to see the national team live, but most probably went home thinking that if that was international football, the capital was welcome to it.

The only goal came after seven minutes, Bulgaria's goalkeeper, Nikolay Mihaylov, dropping a left-wing cross and allowing Roman Shirokov to hook in at the back post. After which nothing happened, apart from a couple of late saves from Mihaylov that meant the one thing England scouts might have concluded from the game – that Bulgaria's goalkeeper wasn't up to much – became less clear. Then again, given he spent three years on loan to Twente from Liverpool, and has since joined on a full-time deal, a quick phone call to Steve McClaren would have revealed that he can be skittish on crosses, and has a history of high-profile blunders. None was worse, surely, than his gaffe for Levski against Werder Bremen in the Champions League in 2006, which led to claims that he retained his place only because his father was Bobby Mihaylov, wig-wearing one-time Reading keeper who has since become president of the Bulgarian Football Union.

Other than that, it is hard to know what meaningful conclusions England could have drawn ahead of Friday's opening European Championship qualifier. Bulgaria were solid and comfortable in possession, but given Russia seemed content, having taken the lead, to doze their way through the game, you'd have fancied pretty much any side to keep the ball against them. Most significant was probably the switch to 4-2-3-1 from the 4-4-2 Bulgaria had used through World Cup qualifying.

The coach remains the same: Stanimir Stoilov, who is coming up to two years in the job, something that represents a period of almost unprecedented stability in Bulgarian football. A former defender who won the league four times with Levski and had brief stints with CSKA Sofia and Fenerbahce, Stoilov twice led Levski to the league title as a coach, and took them to both the group stage of the Champions League and the quarter-final of the Uefa Cup, gaining a reputation as an astute tactician.

As with England and Capello, though, it is probably financial circumstance rather than anything else that has given him a second campaign. Atanas Fournadjiev, the BFU's deputy president, admitted to Dnevnik, the national daily newspaper, at the end of the World Cup qualifying series that if they'd had more money they'd have turned to a high-profile foreigner (this, remember, is a country in which Terry Venables is still linked to the national side on a regular basis).

In World Cup qualifying, Stoilov tended to deploy an orthodox 4-4-2, with Dimitar Berbatov partnered in attack by either the Borussia Dortmund forward Dimitar Rangelov or Valeri Bojinov, now at Parma after his injured-ravaged spell at Manchester City. Bulgaria were inconsistent, beating Montenegro 4-1 and Georgia 6-2, but losing 4-1 to Cyprus. Stoilov first made the move to tighten up in March, switching to 4-2-3-1 in a friendly against Poland, with Berbatov and Bojinov having a half each in the lone striker role.

Since then Berbatov has retired from international football, and has rejected various overtures to reconsider. "The doors for Berbatov are always open," Stoilov said, "but no one will beg him to return." It's easy to be critical, but the chaotic nature of Bulgarian football, and the troubling kidnap threats against Berbatov's family, make his decision to stay away readily understandable, and given his indifferent form – sulkiness as some would have it – for the national team, he is probably not such a big loss as he may at first seem.

Against Russia last month, it was Bojinov who led the line, supported by, from right to left, Chavdar Yankov, Ivelin Popov and Martin Petrov of Bolton Wanderers. Yankov more usually plays in central midfield for his club, Metalurh Donetsk, so he had a tendency to tuck in, creating space for Stanislav Manolev, the PSV Eindhoven right-back, to overlap. He was quiet against Russia, occupied largely in negating Andrei Arshavin, but the battle on that flank on Friday against Ashley Cole could be key, particularly if England operate without an orthodox left-sided forward. On Bulgaria's left against Russia, Petrov operated as an out-and-out winger and was by far Bulgaria's most threatening player.

Realistically, this will be a far cagier Bulgaria than the one involved in the goalfests at the end of World Cup qualifying, and it may be that the combination of organisation and technical excellence will trouble England. Then again, Bulgaria have not won since beating Malta in November, and the Sofia Echo, whose football coverage is splendidly acerbic, isn't expecting much. "Can Bulgaria get a result at Wembley?" asked its correspondent Nick Iliev in his Monday preview. "Better chances of **** freezing over, but miracles do happen."

• Bulgaria
• England

Jonathan Wilson

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[ribeiro]

Im a bulgarian but I dont feel that we (Bulgaria) have a chance against England even with lots of missing players. We're playing slow defensive-orientated football and this is not winning points , trust me. People may say that Inter won the Champions League playing like this , but when they get the ball , they're playing fast.