A mixed bag last night I thought. Capello had clearly instilled the virtue of patience into his players but there was not a lot he could do about their passing in the first half. On the whole their inability to find a team-mate with even the simplest of passes was a depressing reminder of why they had failed to qualify for Euro 2008. I think Capello was right to blame some of these stray passes on nervousness, but he must have been shocked at the general waywardness of the distribution.
It was interesting to hear the crowd start booing after about half an hour. It showed that the new coach has to educate not just the players in the importance of possession, but also the crowd. Those used to the crash bang whallop of the Premiership need to realise that such a formula has not worked for England at international level. Ironically, when England went ahead these jeers were replaced by cheers as England did a passable impression of Italy for one brief spell in the scond half. How fickle we football fans are.
Things improved after the first goal and there was a lot more energy to England's play with both Rooney and Gerrard becoming more involved in the play. The nature of the Swiss goal was a worry though. Ferdinand suffered a familiar momentary loss of concentration but the responsibility was not his alone. It was reminiscent of the third goal conceded against Croatia with neither a defender nor a midfielder closing down the man on the ball in a dangerous area. It was a great finish, but before the ball was passed the man in possession should have been put under more pressure. That space between defence and midfield (the type of area occupied by Makelele) remains a problem position for English players and it's an area Capello nows he needs to work on.
Overall, I'd say it was a 6 out of 10 performance. Plenty of room for improvement, but one or two encouraging moments as well.
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