This team are so poor I’d rather watch Scotland!

We are back to waiting for Wilshere to be fit again

AFEW minutes into England’s drab display against Slovenia on Thursday night, I found myself switching over to watch Scotland instead in their do- or- die match against Slovakia.

I felt sorry for those thousands of fans at Wembley who did not have the same luxury. Scotland were hungry, played at a high tempo and Hampden Park was rocking. Why can’t England do that too?

Until Harry Kane’s last-minute goal, the most excitement we saw from the fans at Wembley was when they started throwing paper planes. Is this the image we want for our national team?

England may have qualified but there is nothing to celebrate. It is the first time I can ever remember them heading into a World Cup with such an absence of belief.

There has been no improvement since the disastrous showing against Iceland at Euro 2016. Like our passing, we have gone sideways. Even Iceland, who can win their World Cup group tonight, have improved! England are ponderous and predictable. They cannot seem to open teams up in attack, look vulnerable at the back and everything is done at a snail’s pace.

Central midfield is a problem. The first choice pairing it seems are Eric Dier and Jordan Henderson and they are a far cry from the incisive passers England used to boast in Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.

It says a great deal that the next cab off the rank is Jake Livermore, who could not get into the West Bromwich team last weekend.

Harry Winks was given a chance yesterday after only four Premier League starts for Spurs and the back page of this newspaper on Saturday morning revealed that England are hoping to turn to Jack Wilshere.

Jack is a good player, but he couldn’t get in the Bournemouth team every week last season and he has gone backwards.

It was heartening to see Arsene Wenger talking positively about him yesterday, but this is another sign of where we are. We are waiting for Jack Wilshere again.

Still, he would be better than two defensive-minded players in a home game against Slovenia. Surely it would have been better to go with two up front and try to get the fans out of their seats.

It was no coincidence that when Gareth Southgate belatedly decided to go with two up top, England scored the winner and this has been the real problem in these qualifiers.

In such a straightforward group, this was a chance for England to flex their muscles and make a statement.

Instead they snuck past Slovakia twice, needed 180 minutes to score a goal against Slovenia and scrambled a point against Scotland.

Why was Marcus Rashford only given an hour of playing time in the first five qualifiers? Southgate may feel Rashford is a work in progress but he is England’s brightest spark. He was our most creative player and showed no fear in running at defenders.

Southgate needs his team to be more positive on the pitch but the manager must also start showing some optimism off it.

It was deeply concerning last week to hear him admitting that he had included players in his squad who he did not deem good enough. They sounded like the words of an under-pressure manager trying to get his excuses in early.

The friendlies between now and the World Cup are crucial. Harry Kane is the one player who does not seem weighed down by the burden of the England shirt. He and perhaps Kyle Walker are the only certain starters in this team.

With the pressure off, Southgate must pick the players who are in form and find a system that encourages them to play with freedom.

England need to use these games to win back the supporters and that is why I welcome the decision to take the team on tour once again.

Playing in front of swathes of empty seats at Wembley is never a good look.

We should be going to St James’ Park, Anfield and Old Trafford, and sparking the interest of supporters around the country.

This qualifying campaign has only papered over the cracks. As things stand, England have no chance in Russia.

If Roy Hodgson was still in charge, he’d be getting pummelled for how poorly England have played.

The England manager needs to assert his authority in the coming months and give supporters hope that the summer will not be yet another write-off.