England held to a draw as Switzerland make them struggle at Wembley

It was an England performance defined by mistakes. Switzerland’s first goal came through indecision between Rio Ferdinand and Joe Hart as a free kick came into the box and neither player dealt with the danger, leaving the ball to sail through a crowd of players before nestling in the corner of Hart’s net. If indecision led to Switzerland’s first goal, then a sheer lack of duty led to their second. A free kick was conceded on the left edge of the England penalty area, and as the shot came in, James Milner jumped out of the way of the ball when he was the lynchpin of the England wall. The shot flew through the wall at waist height, leaving a flat-footed Hart to watch it sail into the back of his net.

It is fair to say that England did well to get back into the game from 2-0 down. Frank Lampard pulled one back from the penalty spot after the impressive Jack Wilshire was tripped after making a storming run from midfield. The equaliser came in the second half as neat interplay between Leighton Baines and Ashley Young led to Young rifling an unstoppable shot into the bottom left corner of the Swiss goal. From there England should have won the game. Glorious chances fell firstly to Darren Bent, who characterised his off colour performance with a blazed shot over the bar from 10 yards out, and then to Stuart Downing, who missed from an acute angle in the last minute of the game when he really should have scored.

After the game, Capello was quick to point out just how tired his players were after an arduous Premier League campaign, but I think that the England boss got things wrong from the start. Against Ghana and Wales he broke the mould by playing Young and Walcott in advanced wide positions, but the decision to play James Milner instead of Young was one that highlighted his tendency to revert to past tactics. I felt that Milner looked lost playing in such an advanced position, and he dropped deeper into a more natural position as if he was playing on the left side of a midfield four. Against Wales, Young played right on the shoulder of the full back, which has obvious advantages for attacking, but also helps defensively because it stops the full back from pushing too far forward and providing an attacking threat.

Two players that do continue to impress in England shirts are Jack Wilshire and Scott Parker. Parker is perfectly suited to a holding role, more so than someone like Gareth Barry because he has excellent energy and breaks up the play really well. He is an excellent tackler and if England are going to continue playing a 4-5-1 system then he will be invaluable in that role. Wilshire is the type of player that England have needed in their midfield for a long time. He has the box to box style of typical scrappy midfielder, but he also has a great passing range and seems prepared to run himself into the ground for the shirt. For so long England debated how to incorporate both Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard into their midfield, but if Wilshire continues to develop and grow with more international experience then they may have found someone who provides the best of both Gerrard and Lampard at the same time.

England have a long way to go to even qualify for these European Championships, but if they are to develop as a team then they have to eliminate these mediocre performances and be more clinical. Switzerland are a team that England should be beating without trouble, and this game underlined just how much work they have to do to compete at the highest level.

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