Going into last nights game England sat joint top of group G with Montenegro, a win against the Swiss would have been a big jump toward Euro qualification. It turned out to be a let off on the night, had Montenegro managed to stop Bulgaria scoring as they have with every other side this campaign. Montenegro conceded their first goal in the competition missing their opportunity to go 2 points clear at the top.
England's team selection lead a lot to be desired on the night, boss Capello had opted to start without inform Aston Villa attacking midfielder Ashley Young, a mistake that proved costly during the first period of the game with no link from the midfield to the forwards. Darren Bent, Theo Walcott and James Milner all but lost up there on their own having to drop deep in order to pick up the ball.
Not all of this can be blamed purely on England, you have to credit the Swiss they set out their stall from the start, pressing England ensuring they had very little time to get the ball down and play. Impressive performances were put in from Arsenal's Johan Djourou and midfield playmaker Tranquillo Barnetta who scored two on the night. They said this is somewhat of a revitalised Switzerland squad with new coach Ottmar Hitzfeld at the helm. They played a good game but, should they come against a better side who are not "tired" then they may struggle.
Good points for England on the night. Jack Wilshire's performance in midfield was impressive showing some real promise, he outshone West Ham's Scott Parker and was the creative playmaker in the centre. He and Arsenal teammate Theo Walcott appeared on the same wave length and their pace and ability to run at players put you at times in mind of an attacking Barcelona side. England did seem to pick it up in the second half and an oppertunity for Darren Bent to close the game off 3 - 2 in an empty net was put over the bar, a chance an accomplished centre forward should be converting.
Two a piece was probably a fair result on the night and as England captain John Terry said in his post match interview, this was not a case of tired players. It was merely a case of England can and should have done better.
