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I had meant to tone down the criticism of Steve McClaren after Croatia coach, Steve Bilic, had his two cents about the difficulties in managing a national team. He said: “As a club manager you need a couple of years to make or build a team. In a national team you need three or four years because you do not have the players every day. It’s not McClaren’s fault. I feel for him and hope he is going to continue.”

Watching the match against Austria, I concur with Bilic. Of course, we should let McClaren carry on. England will be the shining beacon of mediocrity and any national coach just need to hold up his report card against McClaren’s and chances are, he will be exonerated. Now that Israel has defeated Russia 2-1, the stage is set for McClaren to win over his critics but I have a nagging suspicion he will falter.

The exhibition match against Austria (co-host of Euro 08) ended with a 1-0 win for England. From David Beckham’s corner kick, Peter Crouch headed in the goal in the 44th minute but they lost Michael Owen to a thigh strain - the last thing England needs from a meaningless match.

Owen, who left in the 34th minute, appears likely to miss England’s final European Championship qualifier, at home against Croatia on Wednesday. The team is already without the talismanic Wayne Rooney, sidelined with an ankle injury. Emile Heskey, Dean Ashton, and Andrew Johnson are also incapacitated.

Before this game, England has only four strikers to deploy: Michael Owen, Peter Crouch, Jermaine Defoe and Alan Smith. To illustrate the striker malaise facing a beleaguered England, the quartet managed only a measly two Premier League goals in this season. And the two goals came from Owen, the others have either not found their scoring boots, are warming the bench or played out of position.

In fact, defender Joleon Lescott has outdone Owen in the league with three goals; that should be something for McClaren to chew on. On paper, fielding these strikers doesn’t inspire confidence. Has McClaren exhausted his options or he has not looked hard enough?

Granted there are very few candidates who can shoulder the weight of the nation’s expectations in a match of such gravity, but if Alan Smith is playing, then I am sure there are better choices around.

Why is Smith still in the squad? His technical abilities are limited and his game consists of aimless running, reckless tackles and fouls (under the pretext of winning the ball), interrupting the flow of the game and arguing with match officials. Manchester United made a mistake and couldn’t be faster in offloading him.

In his new club, he is cast as a defensive midfielder. For good reason too, because he cannot score unless the entire opponent’s defense and goalkeeper are malfunctioning. Yet, for England, he still plies his trade as a striker.

The other options like Marcus Bent, Michael Chopra, Kevin Davies and Dave Kitson have never featured in an England call-up before and it is unlikely McClaren will take such a gamble now. Darius Vassell has regressed dramatically since earning his final cap in Euro 2004.

Carlton Cole, once billed as the “most exciting talent” while in the Under-21 team, had an uneasy transition into the senior squad. This season’s sole Englishman in the Premier League’s top scorers, Gabriel Agbonlahor, doesn’t even warrant a cameo appearance in this friendly. As for Arsenal’s raw diamond, Theo Walcott, who was magnificent in the 7-0 drubbing of Prague, he is still behind Smith in the pecking order.

It seems that McClaren is scared of his senior players and he may have linked his job security to their presence on the pitch. He has to understand that only the best man plays. Every team has to make difficult and unpopular choices between players - that is the job of a manager. If a player is so full of himself and believes he has a divine right to be in the team, and the manager indulges him, then what good is a manager who is not his own man? He should be axed, followed by the player.

The midfield partnership of Lampard and Gerrard is another frustrating aspect. For those who advocated time for this combination to work out, I suggest give it up. Both are attacking midfielders but the natural order of a game dictates that one has to play in a holding role, and that usually means Gerrard is doing it because Lamps does not know how to win a ball or retain possession.

Lampard can make splitting passes and score fantastic long-range goals but his game is flawed. If both are in the team, it doesn’t work in England’s favor as Gerrard possesses a knack of turning a match around on its head when it counted most (Liverpool being the beneficiary of this driving force in countless close shaves) but playing so deep in midfield restricts the chances of that happening.

Gareth Barry and Micah Richards should be included too if England is selecting the best players and not best-paid players. Barry has a stable influence on the team, while allowing Gerrard to venture forward, but it is a wonder that McClaren omitted him so that he can have another look at Lampard and Gerrard in action.

Trying the same recipe for disaster, in a bid to see different results, may not be looked at kindly on Wednesday. There is no room for error against Croatia; if McClaren is still undecided on the right players, and England are dumped out of Euro 08, the FA will have to decide if England deserve someone better to lead them in the World Cup.

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