England outclassed by France

England youngsters never looked likely to take control of this game, standing off far too much and giving France too much room. France, sensing the fear in the English players, had three shots within the first ten minutes - England had one free-kick taken by Gerrard, collected too easily by the French 'keeper.

At their seventh shot, France scored just quarter of an hour in, 1-0 France.

After 28 long minutes, England have their second strike on goal, straight to the 'keepers hands again.. At the end of the first half, England have been thoroughly outplayed and outclassed, 'lucky to get nil' as the old joke goes.

Almost unbelievably Capello then takes off two experienced players in Barry and Ferdinand, he also replaces Walcott with Adam Johnson - at least that was a sensible move. Walcott had two sniffs of the ball in the first half with little to show for it.

Just 9 mins into the second half, a ball crossed in from wide finds two French strikers in space, one of them scores and England are two-nil down. Only now do England show any spirit with Gerrard nodding a free-kick across the top of the goal. After 71 mins débutante Andy Carroll is replaced by Jay Bothroyd. A few minutes later Gerrard latches onto a loose ball in the box and shoots narrowly past the far post. 82 mins and Nasri nearly makes it 3-0 hitting the post, meanwhile Gerrard signals to the bench that he needs a replacement. Crouch comes on with 6 mins to go, he dangles a long limb in the air to guide an over-hit corner beyond the 'keepers reach. England have one back, Crouch has barely been on the pitch for 30 seconds. England are finally up and running but it is far too late, more chances come and go, but even five minutes of extra time cannot get England out of this mire. England lose 2-1 to France, and were lucky to only lose by the one goal.

Conclusions from this match are:

• England are missing some key players who are looking irreplaceable right now.
• Carroll looked a good prospect for the future, although what was asked of him on the night was probably unreasonable.
• Too many youngsters inexperienced at this level will not hold sway against a tight international outfit.
• Putting on the same shirt does not make you a 'team'....