All Whites: Last throw of the dice or an inspired move?

The decision itself is sound, if a little desperate, but the timing is extraordinary as the All Whites prepare for their World Cup lift-off with a re-jigged midfield against Slovakia.

Coach Ricki Herbert had indicated he would name his starting lineup early this morning, but after a closed session at Daveyton, the word came out that the puff of smoke would emerge late today.

Ivan Vicelich, the tall, lean Auckland City captain, is by all accounts going to replace Jeremy Christie as a defensive midfielder.

After years of build-up, and a carefully orchestrated campaign over the past few weeks, a radical shift has been planted in the heart of the operation.

Vicelich may well have remained in international retirement by now, had Ryan Nelsen not been forced out of last year's Confederations Cup when Vicelich agreed to a Herbert SOS. Herbert and Nelsen point out that Vicelich has midfield experience from his days playing in Holland.

The question, though, is why was this remedy, following Tim Brown's injury, not tried before the All Whites played Chile near Nelspruit last week, a match Herbert had previewed almost with disdain.

This was a moment of truth for Herbert - with time at a premium, he needed to know what his best option was, and give it time to gel.

If Vicelich does start against Slovakia, then Herbert and his cohorts got the decision to play Christie against Serbia and Slovenia in Europe wrong.

Christie himself had come out of the wilds of lower-level American soccer and was a surprise selection in the squad anyhow, having been in the international wilderness.

His selection in the 23-man squad could certainly be justified - given New Zealand's stocks, he is worth a place.

But his elevation to start in the midfield had an experimental look to it.

The underlying problem is that New Zealand is severely lacking in the midfield, that there aren't any major options.

Vicelich would line up alongside Simon Elliott, giving the heart of the midfield a combined age of about 70.

You sense that as the big day draws near, Herbert is dealing with the pressure by leaning on experience.

Vicelich is probably less likely to give the ball away, and NZ's most capped player has been a survivor through good and bad.

He has poise and a cool head, although the removal of Christie takes pace out of the side, and this is not a quick unit overall.

The fact is Herbert is dealing with the lesser of two evils because Vicelich - who had lost his starting position to Tommy Smith - has been primarily a central defender in recent years.

Down the track, New Zealand Football might look at this situation and work on strategies that could start to address a major problem.

The country has a decent band of strikers and defenders, but the midfield is a black hole. To progress in world soccer, something has to be done about that.

And there is a grave danger that this problem area will be brutally exposed in the World Cup.

Likely lineup: Mark Paston, Winston Reid, Ryan Nelsen (c), Tommy Smith, Leo Bertos, Simon Elliott, Ivan Vicelich, Tony Lochhead, Shane Smeltz, Rory Fallon, Chris Killen.