England 2 Switzerland 2: Fans show frustration as England end season on low note

A 2-2 draw at home to Switzerland was not the send-off to summer that a capacity Wembley crowd had expected or demanded ahead of the final Euro 2012 qualifier of 2010-11.

Those two dropped points meant the initiative in Group G had, it seemed, swung the way of Montenegro, who an hour or so after the final whistle in London were due to kick-off at home to Bulgaria.

A win for the tiny former Yugoslav republic, whose population matches roughly that of Leeds, would then have seen England slip to second, two points behind their rivals with just three games to go.

Thankfully, from a Three Lions perspective at least, the Bulgarians were able to claim a 1-1 draw in the Podgorica City Stadium – meaning Fabio Capello’s side are still in pole position as the race for a place at next year’s Championships takes a breather for three months.

Such a standing will, no doubt, have gone some way to placating those fans who booed at the end of a fourth-straight home game without a win for England, something that last happened a little over 30 years ago.

It was, admittedly, nowhere near the angry condemnation from the stands of, say, October’s goalless draw at home to Montenegro when, but for a late shot striking a post, the visitors would have won.

Nor did it come anywhere near matching the scorn that had poured down on the England players following their abject failure at last year’s World Cup, which had been so fierce in the immediate aftermath of the 4-1 defeat to Germany that Steven Gerrard was prompted to make his stark admission about the fans’ right to boo the team when this season got under way with a friendly against Hungary.

Nevertheless, there was no mistaking the sense of frustration and disappointment felt on Saturday night by those who had again handed over a sizeable chunk of their weekly wage to support the Three Lions.

It was an understandable reaction to a performance that had been littered with mistakes, whether it be goalkeeping howlers, wasteful finishing or even a failure to do something as basic as staying in a wall at a free-kick.

All combined to allow Switzerland, beaten so comprehensively by England in Basel late last year, and their noisy band of around 8,000 fans to leave London with a deserved point.

There were pluses for Capello, not least the contribution of Jack Wilshere. The Arsenal teenager once again underlined his growing importance to the senior side with a tireless display in midfield.

Wilshere may have been guilty of one aberration, when he made a Paul Scholes-esque mis-timed lunge at Tranquillo Barnetta that rightly brought a yellow card from referee Damir Skomina.

But, otherwise, the 19-year-old rarely put a foot wrong. For both England goals, it was Wilshere who first broke up play with a telling tackle in midfield that set-up the attacks that ended with the ball nestling in Diego Benaglio’s net – the first of which was a penalty won by the Arsenal youngster.

It wasn’t just in a defensive role, either, where Wilshere showed his worth with one curled pass into the path of Darren Bent in the second half being the sort that only the very best can pull off at international level.

Other plus points for Capello included Rio Ferdinand and John Terry being reunited at the back for the first time in competitive action for 19 months, while Ashley Young was lively after coming off the bench at half-time.

Those apart, however, it was not the most encouraging of ways to sign off what ahead of kick-off had been a productive season – certainly when bearing in mind the starting point of those post-World Cup blues.

Perhaps the most alarming aspect of the evening was the performance of Joe Hart.

A year on from the howler in South Africa by Rob Green that persuaded Capello to plump for youth in goal, the Manchester City man was at fault for both Switzerland goals.

For the first on 32 minutes, Hart, possibly distracted by the presence of Johan Djourou inside the six-yard box, was slow to react when it became clear Ferdinand was unable to reach Barnetta’s curled cross from the left wing – meaning by the time he threw himself across the line, the ball was already nestling in the net.

Then, just three minutes later, Hart was again caught out by Barnetta – this time at his near post after the Bayer Leverkusen winger ruthlessly punished James Milner for wandering away from his allotted position in a two-man wall at the vital moment.

Hart may point, with some justification, to being left exposed by Milner’s absent-minded stroll. But, even so, if the England goalkeeper had used his hands rather than slid in to try and save with his foot then the likelihood is the ball would have stayed out.

Two-nil down with ten minutes of the first-half remaining, England needed a lift. It came in the form of Wilshere, who, after winning a 50-50 tackle in midfield, raced forward to unleash a shot that was blocked.

Quick as a flash, the Arsenal midfielder retrieved possession before being tripped by Djourou and Frank Lampard drilled the resulting penalty under Benaglio.

The goal lifted not only the England players but also the crowd, meaning the few boos that did meet the half-time whistle were half-hearted – almost as if the home fans knew their side were back in the game.

Such thinking was justified six minutes after the restart when a delightfully intricate move on the left ended with Leighton Baines chesting a Milner cross into the path of substitute Young, who drilled a low shot beyond Benaglio. Young, surprisingly left out of the starting line-up after a stirring display against Wales in England’s most recent Euro 2012 outing, continued to threaten and it was his darting run with 19 minutes remaining that helped set up what should have been the winner.

After beating three defenders, Young hit a shot that Benaglio could only parry to Bent, who despite having most of the goal to aim at managed to shoot over from 10 yards. It was a bad miss and one that, together with a similar squandered opportunity when played through by Wilshere five minutes earlier, means the Villa striker is unlikely to remember the final game of 2010-11 with any fondness.

The 84,459 crowd probably feel the same this morning, though in truth it could have been a lot worse for the home fans with Admir Mehmedia drilling just past the post after finding space on the left of the penalty area.

Even allowing for that miss, however, there was no doubting that the visitors from Switzerland were the happier when the curtain was brought down on a season that, for England, is best filed under the heading ‘must do better’.