Sorry and tired - same old excuses from Capello and England

Fabio Capello was back to his hypocritical best yesterday, blaming tiredness for yet another poor England performance at Wembley, a match where in all truth England were lucky to take a point with which to mull over this summer.

Capello went some way to point out how the players had been allowed several days holiday before preparing for yesterdays game and how he had seen his players looking fresh, despite having just come off the back of a gruelling league season. Such was this new found confidence before the game, England's head coach suggested that such a move would also be proposed before next years European Championships, if England make it that far.

Whether England will be competing in the Ukraine and Poland next year does still remain in their hands, following Montenegro's failure to take advantage of England's slip up, but England's fortunes in qualifying still pale in comparison to the rest of Europe. The Netherlands, Spain and Germany have continued where they left off from South Africa by winning every competitive game before them.

By contrast, England and Capello seem to have learnt little from last years debacle. Although much of the deadwood from England's squad last summer have been omitted, the ageing spine of the team remains the same. Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard looked way off the pace yesterday, with none of England's 'first choice' team distinguishing themselves. Almost laughably two of the players who did emerge with some credit, Leighton Baines and Ashley Young, started the game on the bench and weren't even part of the 23 that travelled to the World Cup last year.

Along with Scott Parker and Jack Wilshire these fresh faces in the England camp are certainly an improvement but their inclusion like Capello's belated switch away from the his stagnant 4-4-2 formation seems to be an act of desperation rather than acumen. The inclusion of James Milner and Theo Walcott over Young in the starting line-up proved to be huge mistakes, with neither doing much to justify their inclusion. These are basic errors and the inability to select players who are in form is unjustifiable for a man earning £6 million a year.

Despite allegedly being reassured by Capello after the game, Darren Bent's two misses will probably ensure he is back to a berth on the bench when Rooney and Carroll are available for the next round of matches. The fickle Capello seems not to look on to kindly if a emerging player fails to deliver in just one match: just ask Jordan Henderson who seems likely to remain on one full cap for the foreseeable future.

Switzerland despite only accumulating five points in Group G, looked far more comfortable in possession yesterday and England's Premier League stars were given a lesson in movement and possession by the less fancied Swiss. Their teenage prodigy Xherdan Shaqiri excelled, as did Jack Wilshire, but the confidence and ambition of a young Swiss team was far superior to the lack of creativity shown by yesterdays England side.

The first half performance did indicate that the team was playing on empty and were slightly burnt out, but this makes a mockery of Capello's pre-match claim that the players seemed refreshed. His struggle to grasp the English language means that whatever he claims in a press conference can not be taken at face value. This failure in communication and the ease with which Capello seeks to pass the blame do not bode well for a national side short on confidence and bereft of creativity.