Fabio Capello had a bit of a grilling from the assembled media following the less than impressive 3-1 victory over Mexico tonight..
A Chelsea-less England struggled in the first half and were only marginally better in the second.
Thanks to some excellent goalkeeping from Robert Green who kept Mexico at bay, England took a two nil lead before losing a goal on the stroke of half-time
They hit their third early in the second half.
There is no way on earth this team will win the World Cup.
It was the England players’ last match at Wembley before the real action takes place on June 12 against USA.
They have another friendly on Sunday against Japan but Capello is still no nearer deciding which seven players to leave behind. He has to cull his 30-man squad to 23 by June 1.
The Italian said: “It’s too early to decide who will be left out. There is pressure playing at Wembley is immense I have to take that into account.
“We will have to wait to see who is fit. Rooney has a neck problem but nothing serious. He wanted to come off tonight but I had made substitutions so I told him to stay on.
“Rooney is okay, no problems,” Capello added.
He continued: “I am happy with the result.
“I study games, Mexico are good and fast opposition. But I learned a lot about players and tactics in this game.
“We need to press more to win back the ball.
“I spoke with players at half-time to tell them what to do.
But it’s normal. We trained hard in Austria, but we are focused on USA game.
“I change tactics at half-time putting Stevie Gerrard in the middle of park. He can play in many positions.”
There must be some doubt surrounding the ability of Ledley King to play matches close to each other.
While King is adamant he can play a full part in South Africa, it appears Capello is not so certain.
“Ledley King will not play on Sunday,” revealed Capello.
“The central midfield is a bit dilemma for me also.”
Trying to identify what he had learned about the players tonight, Capello said:
“When we play counter attack we are dangerous, but we need more than that.
“It’s good for me but I am focussed on the World Cup.”
Capello admitted that David Beckham will be with the England squad in the World Cup.
He said: I met with David Beckham tonight and he will come with us to South Africa and I will decide what to do with him.”
England won the match 3-1 with goals from ledley King, Peter Crouch and Glen Johnson, but will have to improve dramatically if they are to make a real impact in the World Cup which starts in 17 days time.
None of the Chelsea stars played tonight – rested after the exertions of the FA Cup on Sunday. But they will get a run out on the coming Sunday.
The big plus from tonight – no injuries.