England's 1-1 draw with Holland in Amsterdam is a result that alleviates a bit of the pressure on Steve McClaren.
The game was awful and the Dutch were awful until they scored in the 86th minute.
If you are looking for positives the young full-back Micah Richards was tremendous, the two central defenders were absolutely cruising and provided a solid foundation - and that man Wayne Rooney did well at times.
What a great future Richards has got.
He is strong, quick and he showed against a very good player in Arjen Robben that he can defend as well.
I'm just not convinced with that 4-3-3 system.
I've not problem with the system - I just think the personnel was wrong for 4-3-3.
Andy Johnson was hung out to dry again as he was when he played against the Dutch at Villa Park under Sven-Goran Eriksson.
 | You have got to ask questions about the goalkeeper Paul Robinson |
The disappointing thing was that England were absolutely cruising until Holland scored.
They were playing some half decent stuff and getting the ball down.
For the Dutch goal you have got to ask questions about the goalkeeper Paul Robinson.
He comes and goes back. If he comes and clears everything then there is no problem. The two central defenders wanted him to come and take the ball.
If he has a weakness it is dealing with crosses.
Rooney played pretty impressively and it was good to see him get his goal - he has got so much strength and ability allied to a great touch.
Michael Carrick also went close with a powerful shot, but he has got to demand the ball more.
For the England goal, the ball from Joe Cole was perfection after Richards made a great run to open up the space for the Chelsea midfielder.
Steve McClaren matched the system Holland played and for 86 minutes England played it better than the Dutch.
| Five months away is a long time to wait to get rid of a bad result |
So it was very disappointing to concede such a late goal, but even then Steven Gerrard might have won the game for England. All in all it was an okay performance.
When we let other teams knock it across the pitch, I don't think that style suits England.
England have to go after teams and make things happen.
Holland were not causing them any problems and England looked comfortable and it was only in the last few minutes the team looked a bit upset.
For the goal it was a great run from Richards to open up the space, a superb cross from Cole, and Rooney got the final touch.
I agree with Alan Hansen that the real positive was Richards.
He started slowly, but as the game went on he got better and better.
In contrast, it was another frustrating game for Johnson.
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