P Is For Patience

Sorry I'm a bit late posting tonight girls. I have been watching THE match.

So what did Georgie think of her first proper international as a football fan and with her increasing understanding of the beautiful game? And more importantly what is her verdict on Mr Capello and his boys?

Well after a wobbly start I thought the England team gradually got into its stride. What I saw was a team still trying to gel. Certainly in the first half they struggled to get the passing and positioning right, frequently losing possession. And the 4 - 5 - 1 formation did look different to the football I have been used to watching. But you could see how if other parts of the team had been working more smoothly, Rooney could have fired shots in from his position.

I liked the way too that the shape of play gradually shifted and Rooney started operating more on the wing. What a game he had too. He is like a little turbo.

The Switzerland side worked hard to keep us closed down but once we got in our stride, despite a good goal, they were largely out-gunned. So much so that by the end they had less than half the original team on the pitch!

I thought Rooney, Gerrard, Joe Cole and Bentley all had good matches. Jenus played well too and deserved his first international goal.

I don't know for sure because I haven't been watching football long enough, but I thought the crowd's reaction was fascinating. Although as I say we were a bit hesitant and wobbly early on, when England started passing the ball around to retain possession and allow people to get into position they started booing for goodness sake! Moments later we had created a chance. It was as if the crowd were thrown by the different approach and just didn't get it. And yet clearly showing a bit of patience paid off.

Overall , I thought there was a lot of promise in what a saw tonight, despite some clear areas for improvement. As they say, Rome was not built in a day (even by an Italian). We are simply going to have to trust for a while and be patient.

As Shakespeare said:

"How poor are they who have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees"