The England national team's tactics were very similar to Nottingham Forest's. Other than that they did not insist on just playing defensive counterattacks, sudden attacks on the sidelines, having the two wingers in full strength, as well as simple and fast breakthroughs in the midfield, were still very consistent. The England team's ability for positional play was not very good, which neither Eriksson, McClaren, nor Capello had completely resolved.
After Capello came on, he had tried different means of enriching the England team's playing approach in positional play, but with limited success. Compared to Latin and European players from Italy, Portugal, Spain, and France, the England team's players had rough footwork skills. This aspect had not changed even though the English Premier League had flourished for so many years.
