Expected team:

------------------------James-----------------------

--Brown-------Ferdinand---Upson---------Cole--

-Bentley------Gerrard------Hargreaves--Young-

---------------Cole----------------------------------

-------------------------------Rooney--------------

Gerrard can have no excuses for a poor performance tonight, with Hargreaves playing the holding role, Gerrard should be able to play the same game he plays for Liverpool. Failure to stamp his authority in the game, and serious questions must be asked.

We said exactly the same RE: Gerrard when Barry was beside him in the centre of the midfield, and the performances were still not Gerrard-esque, as we have come to expect in a Liverpool shirt.

It's a solid XI that should beat the Swiss, and I think Joe Cole has the right attributes to be very effective in that role, although I'd have prefered to have seen a second striker, rather than an attacking midfielder, playing.

The Swiss have the likes of Senderos playing for them, who are, for all the will in the world, crap - so it ought to be a comfortable game for England.

Owen only on the bench is a good call, I think. He's done very little to stake a claim for an England starting berth, and for a change that actually counts for something, and he's not playing. Good.

A big game for Upson, if he plays well he could stake a claim for a regular England squad place for himself.

Same goes for Bentley and Young. Good luck to all of 'em. It's good to see different faces getting a proper chance.

I think Crouch will partner Rooney......Cole will play left winger. Hope capello actually picks his team on form. If so that is how it should play out. Ashley Young is not in top form, Joe Cole has been playing out of his skin. Crouch has 3 goals in his last 3 games, rooney has not really been finding the net but he will likely get the game. SWP may play in place of Bently as well, but they have both been in fine form.

I think Hargreaves and Gerrard will work very well together. Gerrard will also allow Hargreaves to get forward.

looks like Capello is going for a disciplined 5 man midfield.

---------------------------James
Brown-----------Rio---------------Upson---------------Cole
Bently-----------Jenas-------------Gerrard---------Barry
---------------------------Cole
----------------------------------Rooney

that is what most expect the shape to look like. .......

Could also be

--------------------------James
Brown------------Rio-------------Upson---------Cole
----------------Jenas--------------Barry
Bently-----------------Gerrard-----------------Cole
---------------------Rooney

I certainly hope we can find the right mix before september. I have never been conviced by Jenas although he has been in form. Nice to see Barry keeping his place although I would think that Hargreaves will end up taking Jenas out of the picture.

a bit of a disjointed first half from England, a few chances created and perhaps deserving of the 1-0 lead.

I thought Jenas had a good half, and of the pairing of JJ and Gerrard, I thought he was the one who got up and supported, and got beyond Rooney the better of the two, and if he'd been a bit more decisive when he broke the offside trap, he could have squared a bit earlier to the on-rushing Joe Cole to make it 1-0 earlier in the game.

Bentley's been a bit hit and miss, and can only improve with experience.

There's been quite a few poor passes, but overall it's been ok.

And what's the deal with the England fans booing when the England players put a succession of passes together. Do they not realise that passing the bloody ball to each other is a good thing? It ended with a shot on goal, you muppets! Be patient. Keeping the ball is essential, and is something that England don't do enough of.

Also the chants of 'there's only one David Beckham' whenever David Bentley's f*cked up. That's gonna help the lad, well done!

first half was not impressive from the 3 lions. Really nervy and shaky all around. Seems Jenas is playing the supporting role with Cole playing the wing. Jenas is getting forward and did get a goal but credit has to go to Joe Cole and Gerrard as well, Gerrard made a good decision to set Cole free on the left when he could have opted to shoot and Cole showed brilliant skill to make the goal for Jenas. In the end it was a disapointing first half. Would like to see Crouch or owen come on in the second half and try the natural 4-4-2 and see if we can apply more pressure.

Possitive substitutions from Capello. Crouch has really made a difference in the link up play. You can see England looking far more potent with Crouch in support. His flick on to free up Gerrard was exactly what you expect get from having a Target man. Crouch took a nice shot on goal and had another flick on for Rooney to shoot. All in all England look much better with the 4-4-2, although it seems Gerrard is play the left. Great link up between Gerrard and SWP so far as well. Think Bently is looking better having SWP on the wing.

good second half performance, overall we should be pleased that we got many different looks. Though Hargreaves was excellent when he came on and impressed more in his 15 minutes than Barry did all game. Crouch's work rate made it difficuilt for swiss and his link up was excellent. Gerrard was Engalnds best player in the second half creating and setting up the chances as well as keeping the lads calm in the dying minutes. Thought Bently settled in nicely after a shaky first half. SWP was hit or miss, very exciting player but gave up posession easily at times. Wes Brown and Rio looked the most settled in the defence thought Cole and Upson were caught out of possition a few times. James was good comanded the box durring set plays.

Rooney - 7
J.Cole - 8
Bently- 7
Gerrard - 8
SWP - 6
Brown - 8
Rio - 7
A.Cole - 6
Barry - 6
Hargreaves - 8
Young---
Crouch - 8
Bridge - 7
James - 8

England didn't switch to 4-4-2 with the substitution. Rooney was on the left where Joe Cole was, and when Rooney drifted inside, Gerrard filled in the space. That worked better than I thought it might, fair play.

I thought both Gerrard and Rooney were very good. Bentley was also much better in the second half, created a lot of chances and did himself no harm at all.

I thought Jenas was also very good and could count himself unlucky to be taken off.

All round solid start to Capello's reign, a lot of work to be done, but some good football played at times. That's something to build on.

it seemed that Gerrard filled in on the left and roooney drifted when Gerrard cut in.

What about Crouch MTTC?

I can't believe there are no 'Gerrard was rubbish what was Fabio thinking' threads.
I thought Hargreaves was man of the Match.

Crouch won a few headers in the time he was on the field. If that gets you off then yes he was world beating fan-f*cking-tastic!

In the real world though he did what even Emile Heskey could do

Ona, did you actually watch the same game? What did Hargreaves do to deserve an 8?! He was only on for 17 minutes and didn't really do much.

Yet SWP was on for longer, and got himself a goal, and you marked him at a 6. What the hell?!

Don't get too carried away. He was hardly outstanding, but it was a step in the right direction.

After getting caught on the ball on the edge of the England penalty area early on in the game I thought 'here we go again, Gerrard in an England shirt!' but he managed to put that behind him, and apart from a few wayward passes he was very good. A bit more like what we expect from him.

Gerrard perhaps ought to look at David Bentley though for how to unlock a defence. In the second half Gerrard was certainly eclipsed by Bentley in the attacking third.