sport

What The Papers Say About England's Latest Calamity

The honeymoon is definitely over. Fleet Street has savaged Fabio Capello and his misfiring team after their woeful performance against the Czech Republic...

'Our £5m-a-year boss is clueless' - Back-page headline of The Sun.

'Same Old Shambles' - Back-page headline of The Daily Mirror.

'Last night England were shapeless, aimless and hopeless, tactically chaotic and technically stunted, a mess from start to finish.

'Capello must take responsibility. You do not have to be a genius to realise a midfield of David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry and Steven Gerrard on the left cannot, will not work. For £6.5million a year we need more than a hope that everything will be all right on the night - maybe getting Wayne Rooney to play like, well, Wayne Rooney...

'One-winged birds do not tend to fly, nor lop-sided teams play, and while Gerrard stepped inside to sting Petr Cech's hands from 25 yards, the limitations of England's formation were soon exposed' - Martin Lipton, The Daily Mirror.

'FABIO CAPELLO lost the plot, lost an ally and almost lost the game on another wretched night for English football. While Britain's brave Olympians were pulling in more medals in Beijing, Capello's millionaire footballers were pulling in the jeers - Charlie Wyatt, The Sun.

'THINKING of booking up early for the World Cup finals? Best keep your money in your pocket.

It looks like being another long, winding and tortuous qualifying road.

Nothing here suggested England are in any better shape for 2010 than they were when they failed to qualify for Euro 2008. We may not be going backwards but nor are we going forwards. There is no invention, precious little pace and the best chance of scoring remains the same - set-pieces from David Beckham or hoofed long balls - Shaun Custis, The Sun.

'Just in case we were in any danger of getting carried away by Team GB's heroics, Team Fabio reminded us last night what English sport looks like when the wheels really do come off. It could have been a Steve McClaren tribute night at Wembley: a wretched performance in the rain and booing on the final whistle from an England support who have had a gutful of insipid football.

'Fabio Capello applauded in delight when Joe Cole stole an undeserved equaliser for England in injury-time and the Italian's reaction showed just how far his expectations have fallen in only five games. In less than a month, England will face Croatia in Zagreb in their second 2010 World Cup qualifier and on this evidence the manager is not just short of a winning formula - he does not even know his best team' - Sam Wallace, The Independent.

'If Capello was convinced his team were now 'ready to beat Croatia' he might be forced to re-assess the situation.

'They look about as ready as that Chinese sprinter was to clear 10 flights of hurdles in Beijing, having performed here last night with all the finesse of Joe Cole's 92nd-minute equaliser.

'What was England's manager thinking when he said only Spain impressed him at the European Championship? What was he thinking when he then declared his side were every bit as gifted as Fernando Torres and his international colleagues?

What was he thinking when he celebrated wildly at the sight of the ball bouncing first off Petr Cech's left foot and a Czech defender's face before bouncing over the line? Skin saved? Embarrassment avoided? Not quite, Fabio, because for all the apparent optimism expressed by both the manager and his players, England remain very much the team who failed to reach Euro 2008 and a team still searching for some much-needed confidence' - Matt Lawton, The Daily Mail.

'The single achievement for England last night was the eradication of any complacency about the campaign ahead. A stoppage-time equaliser by the substitute Joe Cole, from the muddle ensuing at a corner kick, was little comfort. Indeed, it emphasised a dependence on set-pieces as the first equaliser had come from the same source. The side never flowed.

'If a plebiscite had been conducted the verdict of the crowd would have been certain. The mood was dyspeptic as they booed Frank Lampard when he was being substituted, but the midfield as a whole deserved catcalls. There is nothing new about dysfunction in that area.

'Steve McClaren might be compelled to suppress a smile at the confirmation that certain dilemmas are still around to bedevil his successor. Steven Gerrard was on the left, as he was against the US in May, but it does not suit him and Lampard was incapable of flourishing in the centre' - Kevin McCarra, The Guardian.

'England were so poor here that their sponsors took the unprecedented step of voting an opponent, Jan Polak, as man of the match.

'Fabio Capello's players scrambled a late equaliser, Joe Cole forcing the ball in, but it could not mask a myriad failings and a flurry of boos accompanied England from the field.

'England's restored captain, John Terry, will not have taken happy memories from this draw. The Chelsea defender was caught out badly for the Czechs' opener, easily eluded by Milan Baros. If there were question marks over Terry's performance, more hung over another England stalwart.

'David Beckham produced one good moment, a trademark corner that Wes Brown headed in, but the LA Galaxy midfielder, a wonderful servant to his country down the years, patently lacks the athleticism to survive at international level, particularly against such organised and technically adept opponents like the Czechs. Capello has had five chances to bed in David Bentley and wasted them' - Henry Winter, The Daily Telegraph.

'Whatever his protestations, the England manager is finding it difficult to impose his beliefs and his philosophy on a group of players who lost their way under Sven-Göran Eriksson and lost the plot under McClaren.

'Capello will, one suspects, bring about an improvement - and even last night he talked of having seen England play "without fear" at Wembley for the first time - but so far the process is proving slow. Five friendly matches into his reign, the team does not yet bear anything like the hall-marks of a Capello team: strong, unified, disciplined and effective' - Oliver Kay, The Times.

'Timing is everything, of course. Just ask Stewart Downing, days after he memorably - and quite rightly - pointed out that the England team had been picked long before he made the 500-mile trip to join up with the squad under Steve McClaren. Groundhog Day for Middlesbrough's left winger.

'What more does he have to do to get in this England team? He was majestic in Middlesbrough's 8-1 victory over Manchester City on the final day of last season and masterful during England's 3-0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago on June 1.

'From Magic Touch to Out of Touch in the space of a couple of months? Come on. Perhaps Gerrard's goal against the USA at Wembley last May did for him - Neil Ashton, The Daily Mail.