There are positive signs that England is on their way up but much work needs to be done too.

For stretches of the game (long enough for a top-notch opponent to take advantage), England were merely a mishmash of individual players who were uncomfortable playing as a team.

If not for the goals, the old England deficiencies will be magnified. The defense is one area which needs to be examine closely. If not the next friendly against France will be embarrassing.

They're awful. You got it right about J. Cole.

What made me laugh was when we were passing the ball around in the 78th minute and the crowd were oleing. I may have mistaken this for sarcasm. I hope so because passing the ball to your own tea mates is what international football teams are supposed to do, at least the good ones anyway.

Five Life’s Mike Ingham asked Fabio if he felt that England looked more comfortable when Crouch joined Rooney, implying that two strikers are better than one. Fabio replied with something along the lines that we had enough chances with just Rooney up front and if the midfield pushed up a bit more then there would have been even more.

The reason why I like one up front is that it, when it works, it allows Joe Cole to support the striker in attack rather than him being stuck out on the left wing where he gets booked for ham fisted tackles while tracking back. J Cole is England’s best player in my opinion and I thought the system worked well for him and that is reason enough to persist with it.

I, like you, thought that were good things on show last night. Like holding on to the ball when going backwards (perhaps they could show the England Rugby players that trick), and not throwing in an aimless ariel bomb.

I agree about there being a few too many long balls, too — maybe it's just a habit that's hard to break all at once. I realize the France match is like fifty years away, but it will be really interesting to see how they evolve between now and then.

The most disturbing thing was the crowd. There was one stretch of play where England retained possession, but were forced backwards by a slightly misplayed pass and some good pressing from the Swiss. Yet as soon as the ball went back, the crowd started to boo, presumably hoping for an aimless longball to be pinged at England's not particularly tall forward.

Instead, England were patient, built from the back, and carved out a good scoring chance. That was good to see on the pitch — but the crowd reminded me why we don't see that often enough from English sides.