Cant really complain about the score, France away is hard for anyone...but if it was a crap performance, thats another thing. At least Beckham got his 100th cap, that was all that mattered, no?

what a lucky man! hehe yeah i assumed you did

Topic please.

Although the topic depresses me somewhat having just watched the worst ninety minutes of football have seen in a rather long time. We had a great deal of possession within the back four yet the lack of any sort of idea or creativity once we got the ball forward was simply embarrassing. Wayward passing and supreme negativity was the order of the day. Beckham had a lively start whipping in a couple of decent early balls and corners yet to no avail. It began as a 4-5-1 with Gerrard attempting to play off Rooney which resulted in a 4-6-0 embarrassingly when they both dropped deep. When Crouch comes on as he did in the second half it just created a predictable, boring system which was very easy for the French to shut down, i.e loft it up to him in the hope Owen will get the knock downs, which he did not. We desperately need an efficient right back also. I am very glad we aren't at Euro 2008 to be honest, t would just end up in another failing disappointment. At least this way Capello has two years to work with and to prepare the squad.

We were poor besides Anelka and Makélélé nobody else was up for it, rubbish passing no wilingness to attack the ball or the defenders, overcomplicate and overelaborate football.
I am gald England were evn poorer than us.
What a waste of time this game.

@ floody

Hey G - we're just doing what the newspapers and tv do, but in reverse.

Personally, I get totally annoyed when any subject gets changed to what England are doing.

Have you not watched when they show a game in the WC or whatever, wher Germany are playing Italy say, and half-time is 3-3, 2 sent off, and Gary Lineker says at half time "Let's talk about England"

Must be the manager.

Its not the manager its the players attitudes.

Yeah, sack the manager!

Na, England will still be down after not qualifying, so might take a bit more time to sort out.

scotland got the job done home and away
scotland has risen to become the best nation at football in britain ... wohoo! at the international level that is

nice post.. floody..

i couldn't believe i was watching my team.. gosh.. it's like seeing a training match.. T.T
the mid's awful.. no good passing to the forward.. always lost the ball in the process of attacking.. T.T

the u-21 team would seem to play a little bit more decent the previous evening.. they had chances on goals.. too bad the lack of team collaboration and also bad finishing touch.. T.T

what a huge disappointment.. and most are world class players.. terrible..

The manager's job is to sort that out isn't it and if he can't do that, he should pick other players that can play together and have winning attitudes.

I have to say you are right.

Scotland 1-0 France
France 0-1 Scotland
Scotland 1-1 Croatia

Croatia 2-0 England
England 2-3 Croatia
France 1-0 England

Enough said.

please give capello a break.. monty..

he's still new to the team.. he's still trying to learn more about the players and their best position..

and it's not like he's coaching his team for every single day.. please state a difference..

not to mention it's just a friendlies..

i'm disappointed.. but not with capello..

It was not a good match, i don't think we will go far in the Euro.

The last time France played against England it was at the Euro 2004 and James have made the same fault but it was on Henry.

Welcome to reality, Fabio.

This match was an excellent barometer for Capello to measure how good our players and our systems really are, against a world class French outfit. He would have learned several big lessons last night. I don't think the performance was as bad as some people are making out - I'd guess that Capello didn't want them to be attacking 24/7 like Barcelona or Brazil - he simply wanted them to be organised and disciplined, true to his style. For them to keep their shape and be solid. For the most part, I think England were. But games such as these are often decided by the tiniest margins and unfortunately a John Terry lapse allowed Anelka to sneak in and the case is closed. I wasn't expecting us to score an equaliser - France are usually brilliant at defending a lead.

There were some decent performances in there, most notably from Owen Hargreaves. I thought his high work rate and ability to break up French attacks were one of the most postive things Capello can take out of this game. Rio did OK as captain although Anelka gave him a stiff examination. I was disappointed with Joe Cole, especially considering the form he is currently in. Wes Brown had a tough night and I'd be surprised if he starts the next match for England. Up front, we were a little lost for ideas. I don't like the idea of Rooney playing up front on his own; he should be playing in the role Gerrard was given last night: to support the target man striker, drop deep and link up the play. Beckham was for the most part ineffective: a few decent passes and crosses, but never looked truly threatening. As for the subs, I thought Downing had an absolute stinker: it surprises me how many chances this man gets in an England shirt. He is clearly not up to international standard. I didn't think much of Bentley either to be honest. The problem is a lack of pace, much like Beckham. Players of this mould are very limited in their ability to play the game. If you deny them space then they won't have time to tee up the cross, and that's what top class defences do - deny them space. Personally, I'd like see to see a winger with pace get a run on the right midfield, be it Lennon, Walcott, Pennant or whoever.

One thing that really disturbed me about the build up and aftermath to this match was the pathetic attention given about Beckham's 100th cap, like it's the whole reason England were out there in the first place. Beckham's post match comments made me particularly irate: he was smiling and taking all the plaudits (and congratulations cards), yet he hardly seemed to care that we lost the match, like it was completely irrelevant. This from a guy who captained the national side for 58 times. Instead, he talked about how emotional the occasion was for him and his family, how honoured he was to join Billy Wright, Bobby Charlton and co in playing over 100 caps, talked a bit about his fitness and and his intentions to carry on playing for England and gain more caps. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but I can't understand how a top level professional footballer can be that happy after we lost, regardless of what personal landmark had been acheived. We always hear cliches like "I'd be happy not to score as long as we win", but do they really mean it? I don't care who has the armband or who reaches 100 caps - winning should be the sole objective.

It's just the way the media are nowadays - they all love an icon, be it Amy Winehouse or David Beckham. TalkSPORT gave tribute to Beckham all day today, like it was some kind of national celebration. Forgive me for sounding disrespectful, but I didn't feel the same way. The way I see it? We lost to the French.

Why do they even bother playing Gareth Barry, he'll never be a top player. And this 4-5-1 tactic will never work with slow players like Beckham and Brown on the wings. Utter crap from England. They would of won with a team of Rooney and Wallcott in attack and J.Cole and Bentley on the wings, supported by Gerrard in midfield with Hargreaves protecting the back four but no they won't do that cause Capello is shite.

lol this is why no managers want to be england manager, because your are a bunch of impatient sownso's lol (no offence) , its his second game and already people are questioning him?? give the guy a break , they fa wouldnt have appointed him as a manager if they didnt think he knows what he was doing... have faith people , its early days yet.

and its not the manager its the players IMO....
they cant play together

I didn't watch the game yet so i won't comment on performance in a negative manner.I will say that this was a friendly and from the clips i saw it definitely looked like Capello was experimenting with different combo's.
I reckon people are getting a little carried away for such an insignificant match.
I thought the press trying to blame James for the penalty was predictable.Looked like the defense was more a fault for letting Anelka beat the offside trap.What was James supposed to do one on one against one of the best finishers is the game?Sad.

Capello out.Bring back Keegan or Venables.