England-2, Switzerland-1...Recap

Distinctly average.

That's how I would categorize England's performance for the majority of their 2-1 friendly victory over Switzerland tonight. Distinctly average.

If the England players wanted to come out and set a positive tone to impress new manager Fabio Capello, I'd have to say that as a group, they didn't accomplish their goal.

David James was OK between the sticks. He made the stops he was supposed to make, but shanked a couple of goal kicks and clearances after back passes from field players. He didn't appear to control his back line very well either, but more on them in a second.

The starting back line (Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Matthew Upson, and Ashley Cole) was the definition of mediocre. In fact, I think "mediocre" would be flattering for the games these four players had. First of all, one could make the argument that Brown, Upson, and Cole shouldn't have been in the starting lineup based on current form in the first place, but that's neither here nor there. Ferdinand and Upson looked very, very shaky at times in the center, none more so than on Switzerland's equalizer in the 58th minute. Brown doesn't give you anything going forward, and Cole gives you very little on defense for a left back. Wayne Bridge came in for Cole in the 73rd minute and was an immediate upgrade at that position in my opinion, but if Switzerland had any attacking capability in their front line whatsoever, they would have scored more than once because this England defense was ripe for the picking.

The midfield was definitely England's bright spot, with both goals coming from that group. Neither Gareth Barry nor Owen Hargreaves, Barry's replacement at the holding midfield position, played particularly well, but captain Steven Gerrard, Joe Cole, David Bentley, and Shaun Wright-Phillips all had solid games. Tottenham midfielder Jermaine Jenas opened the scoring on a tap-in finish in the 40th minute after a wonderful bit of dribbling skill from Cole, and Wright-Phillips tapped in a left-footed cross from Gerrard in the 62nd minute to put England back in front, 2-1. Jenas didn't exactly light things up today; I thought he actually played poorly aside from the goal.

Up front, Wayne Rooney, Peter Crouch, and Ashley Young all played, with Young coming on for Rooney just three minutes before the match ended. Wazza dropped deep in the first half, as is his usual playing style, and then ended up in a wide left midfield role for most of the time in the second half. The Manchester United man continued his lack of production at the international level though as he had numerous shots, but none of them seriously threatened Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio (sounds real Swiss to me!!). Crouch was more useful than Rooney I thought; the big man has an incredibly soft touch, and can win balls in the air and control them to his teammates or to himself, and he showed these skills today. Personally, I feel that the lone striker formations which Capello favors cater more towards Crouch's strengths than Rooney's, so I'll be looking at that position more closely in the future.

As I said, I think the play of the midfield was England's lone bright spot today and if Switzerland had any offensive punch, they could've easily gotten a result out of this game. Not the most impressive way to begin under Capello, but a victory is a victory.

My Man of the Match: If I was forced to pick, it would be the captain, Steven Gerrard.

My England Starting XI

I've been focusing on the England national team over the past week or so here, trying to divert attention away from the Premiership a little bit and to the new era under Fabio Capello.

Injuries have limited the options Capello was able to choose from for the friendly today against Switzerland, but if I had to pick a starting lineup from today's roster, here's who I would go with:

GK: David James (Portsmouth)
LB: Wayne Bridge (Chelsea)
CB: Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United)
CB: Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham)
RB: Micah Richards (Manchester City)
LMF: Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
DMF: Gareth Barry (Aston Villa)
CMF: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
RMF: David Bentley (Blackburn)
ST: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
ST: Peter Crouch (Liverpool)

Subs:

Scott Carson (Aston Villa)
Matthew Upson (West Ham)
Joleon Lescott (Everton)
Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham)
Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United)
Joe Cole (Chelsea)
Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth)

I have a feeling Capello might go a different way and possibly play a 4-5-1, with Hargreaves, Barry, and Gerrard in the middle. The Italian manager is known for playing with two holding midfielders and a lone striker and if that's the case today, I don't see how he couldn't put Peter Crouch as the target man up top ahead of Wayne Rooney, who drops too deep for my liking.

What's your take? I want to hear your preferred lineup.

Steven Gerrard Handed Captain's Armband

I don't think this is a shock to anyone.

Liverpool's local hero had been the skipper in John Terry's absence in the fateful Euro 2008 qualifiers against Russia and Croatia last year and with Terry injured AGAIN, Gerrard was the odds-on favorite to lead England out today in their friendly against Switzerland.

The only other choice was Manchester United center back Rio Ferdinand, but Ferdinand isn't even club captain and was responsible for organizing the Christmas party at which Jonny Evans, now on loan at Sunderland but with the Red Devils at the time, was accused of rape.

To be clear, Capello hasn't named Gerrard permanent captain and won't name a permanent captain until England's first World Cup qualifier in September, against Andorra. Until then, there will likely be a rotation involving Gerrard, Terry (when healthy), and possibly Ferdinand.

If you ask me though, Steven Gerrard would be the right man for the job. Many readers think I have a bias towards Liverpool, which is far from the case, but trust me, I know a leader when I see one. Gerrard has put the Reds on his back on numerous occasions, most notably the famous come-from-behind victory over AC Milan in the Champions League final in Istanbul in 2005. He clearly inspires his teammates whenever he's on the field, and Capello said as much yesterday:

"I won't be picking a permanent captain for the time being but at the moment I think Steven Gerrard is important for everyone because he is a player who can motivate other players and transmit ideas," said Capello.

I believe Gerrard should be the full-time captain, with or without John Terry in the lineup. I have a feeling the former will receive that honor as well, although a string of unimpressive performances at the international level could mean otherwise and Gerrard hasn't exactly lit it up for England in recent games.