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.

England game and Bent slip in under the radar

Given the amount of attention that FIFA and Zurich have received from the English media over the last seven days, you'd be excused for forgetting that this Saturday England face Switzerland in a crucial qualifying match.

England remain top of Group G for qualification to the European Championships next year, only on goal difference from a determined Montenegro side, who came within a crossbar of claiming all three points when the sides met in October. Three points this weekend will see England remain in pole position over the summer and hopefully restore some normality to a week which has seen FIFA and the world game reduced to a farcical state.

A raft of withdrawals from the initial 23 man squad, and Capello's decision not to call up replacements means that a concise team will be asked to overcome Switzerland, on paper the strongest team in Group G.

Already without two of England's most influential players in Rooney and Gerrard, through suspension and injury respectively, Capello has a squad comprising only three recognised strikers. Bobby Zamora, who has only just returned from a lengthy lay-off, Peter Crouch, who has hardly been prolific this campaign, and Darren Bent, the £24 million man at Aston Villa.

Bent appears to be in favour with Capello, getting the nod ahead of other forwards for the Wales game this March and putting in a superb performance which was capped with a goal: finishing a slick move which was assisted by his club team-mate, Ashley Young.

Bent's arrival at Villa in January and his already impressive link up with Young helped ease Houllier's men away from the bottom reaches of the table in the Premier League and this interplay looks to have carried on to international level. The movement that Bent offers to any team proves invaluable, and his runs off the last defender will cause problems for even the most experienced defenders, especially so with talented play-makers in a midfield.

After an excellent season and Capello's belated switch to a 4-3-3, Young finally seems to have established himself within the England squad. Young failed to even make the initial 30 man squad for the World Cup, losing out to midfielders Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips, who have failed to even make the bench at times for their clubs this season, so his emergence on the international scene marks a remarkable turnaround.

Young and Bent would have watched from home last summer, as England toiled to elimination in the round of 16, but now look like nailed on starters for the game against the Swiss this Saturday. The pair, much like Saturday's game, itself have come into contention with little attention and fuss; although if England do finally get one over on the Swiss on the pitch, there will be plenty of media attention.