By Saj Chowdhury

McClaren did not have anything to smile about on Saturday

Steve McClaren probably decided against reading the Sunday newspapers this week.

Until Saturday, the England coach's relationship with the back-page press had been strangely cosy.

Strange, because his predecessor Sven-Goran Eriksson was never afforded such a luxury - even when he was winning.

Prior to the game against Macedonia at Old Trafford, McClaren had won all three of his competitive games as England boss.

His trademark grin was getting broader by the day.

But after England's insipid performance against their Group E rivals, that smile all but disappeared.

Last month, there was a hint of what was to come in Manchester, when England struggled to a 1-0 victory over Macedonia in Skopje.

That day, McClaren's blushes were spared by Peter Crouch, whose strike plastered over the cracks in the performance.

But at Old Trafford there were no acts of England heroism. Frankly, if there had been it would have been an unfair reflection on the game.

Apart from a bright opening 10 minutes, the home side were on the back foot throughout.

Macedonia played well, harrying and hustling England with no respite, but McClaren's men looked decidedly stale and devoid of ideas.

Wayne Rooney and Crouch did their best to ignite attacks, but that was not their job.

Their role was to feed off the midfield quartet of Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Stewart Downing and Steven Gerrard.

But apart from the impressive Gerrard, the contribution from the men in the middle was pitiful, especially from the central midfield pair of Carrick and Lampard.

Carrick was too cautious in his play and played safe, short passes, which, against a side of Macedonia's ilk, was not good enough.

Gerrard will miss Wednesday's game against Croatia because of suspension

Lampard's communication with his fellow midfielders was poor, too.

Instead of making those well-timed surging runs we see for Chelsea, Jose Mourinho's star pupil was content to sit at the back of the class.

What was more disconcerting was that Carrick and Lampard consistently failed to win the first ball.

Against Croatia on Wednesday, when Gerrard will be missing because of suspension, that lack of bite will be all the more evident.

So what does McLaren do?

Central defender Rio Ferdinand should have recovered from his back problem and is likely to return, pushing Ledley King aside.

But perhaps King should not be discarded entirely.

Maybe he should replace former Spurs team-mate Carrick, a move that would allow Lampard to roam and dictate.

The ploy has worked to good effect before, most notably against Poland last year.

And how about Shaun Wright-Phillips on the right and Kieran Richardson on the left?

Too much of a radical shake-up or perhaps the England people want to see?

It is down to McClaren to come up with a winning solution.

But if England fail to deliver a noteworthy performance in Zagreb, he may be wise to avoid reading the back pages for a little while longer.