Basically, Steve McClaren has to be honest about what he’s got.
He said the 0-0 against Macedonia was a reality check for the players but it should be a reality check for him as well.McClaren and Venables sabotaged their preparations by rehearsing 3-5-2 in case they need to use it.
Then they played 4-4-2 and didn’t play it well enough and ran out of ideas and belief after 20 minutes.
Rooney and Gerrard came out at 100 mph and tried to win the game in the first 20 and that didn’t work.
Then they were outplayed by a Macedonia side who were tidier, more fluent and better rehearsed. It was the same old story. As they game went on they worked England out and realised they were facing paper tigers.
Having looked at the tape again, Carrick was better than I thought on Saturday night, and Ashley Cole improved as the game went on.
In the last 20 minutes the game became a siege, and England had chances, but Crouch missed them.
Shaun Wright-Phillips added pace and flair to a side that was one-paced and unable to improvise. It’s a bonus that SWP knows Lampard well from playing with him at Chelsea. For two years I’ve wondered how Rooney and Shaun might play together.
Peter Crouch is not a blunt instrument but he is a limited instrument. We play him because we don’t have a proper No 9.
If we had Alan Shearer, Les Ferdinand or Cyrille Regis to play with Rooney we would beat Macedonia every time.
But only if Lampard stopped playing like a plank. He had one of his worst-ever games for England on Saturday.
SCOTLAND are much more humble and pragmatic than England and that helped them to a shock 1-0 win over France.
Walter Smith had told the fans and the media that France would have the ball most of the time because they’re World Cup Finalists.
He started with 4-4-2 and when France were slaughtering them in midfield he pulled one striker back into a 4-5-1 and contained them for the next hour.
And then he put two up and attacked a bit and got a corner and scored and for the first time in history a Scottish crowd was cheering a team who had ten men behind the ball and were booting the ball up to the centre circle where there was no Scots player within 30 yards.
Walter Smith is honest about what he’s got. And his Scots make up in passion and organisation what they lack in skill.
For me, Steve McClaren has to be more honest about what he’s got. That is the way forward.
Smith made the most of his limited resources while McClaren and Venables wasted vital sessions rehearsing 3-5-2 when they knew they had a rusty team in which Carrick was making another debut, and Rooney and Lampard were off form.
CROATIA have had 30 qualifying games at home since independence. They have won 20 and drawn 10.And we are not good enough to beat them, so we will play for a draw.
We will play 3-5-2 and go for a draw and maybe try to nick a goal from a set-piece.
And that is what I expected on day one when McClaren was appointed.
I said : get ready for a lot of draws.