England lost 1-0 to France in a game more suited to a chessboard than a football pitch.

England started the game brightly and seemed full of confidence. They were passing the ball around, back and forth, looking for an opening while keeping possession instead of hoofing it up field and hoping to get a knock down.

The game itself was a pretty dull affair as the two teams cancelled each other out. That was until an exceptional through ball by Francois Clerc was met by a perfectly well timed blistering run from Chelsea’s Nicolas Anelka that left the England defence motionless, that was except for a charging David James who was beaten to the ball and in the process collided with Anelka to give away a penalty kick.

Franck Ribery scored a convincing penalty in the 32nd minute and it was at that stage that the England performance began to show signs of a wobble.

There were few shots on goal throughout the whole game. Florent Malouda, Nicolas Anelka and Franck Ribery went close, while England’s best attempts were two wasted headers by Steven Gerrard.

A bit of panic and possibly shock set in after the goal, and the half time whistle appeared to give England time to regroup. Capello made changes at half time, including a change to the formation from a 4-4-1-1 to 4-4-2 with the non-effective partnership of Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard being replaced by little and large - Michael Owen and Peter Crouch.

Joe Cole and John Terry were also replaced at half-time by the left-footed Stewart Downing and Jolien Lescott.

Though England continued to try and pass the ball more than under recent England managers, they soon reverted to a longer ball searching out the big man upfront. This didn’t work, and the second half lacked invention and even less penetration than the first half. This was true of both England and France.

The six England substitutions were completed by the introduction Of David Bentley and Glenn Johnson for David Beckham and Wes Brown on 63 minutes.

In the post-match interview Fabio Capello said he was happy and praised the performance and England’s ‘personality’.

“I’m actually quite happy because I have seen improvements.” Fabio Capello told Sky Sports.

So what have we learnt as England fans?

After the Switzerland game Fabio Capello said he had learnt Wayne Rooney could not play as the loan striker. Against France he tried a 4-3-1-1 using Steven Gerrard playing just behind Rooney, similar to the latest role he has adopted with Liverpool. The difference with Liverpool is he is playing with one of the best strikers in the world, in Spain’s Fernando Torres.

It was a shame that England reverted to a 4-4-2 as it might have been more useful to see Rooney or Gerrard play behind Peter Crouch. But that I think is the main problem, England didn’t have enough fire power, and a 4-4-1-1 is more fluid than a flat 4-4-2 but only with a striker like Torres or Nicolas Anelka, who had a great game for France.

My conclusion to the game is that it has probably helped Fabio Capello and England to lose a tight game against top class opposition. They looked pretty comfortable, if not penetrating with the 4-4-1-1 formation, but Capello now knows there is no simple remedy as to why England players can’t play as well as they do for their club teams.

Frank Lampard went home not feeling well. I wonder if that was before or after Fabio Capello told him he wasn’t playing!