England ticking along okay, thanks

I'm about to do something I generally loathe doing in this day and age. I'm going to defend the England football team - I can hear the courtroom drama style gasps already. Last night's 4-0 win in the Eastern reaches of Kazakhstan was perfect, result-wise, and not so perfect performance-wise. And it seems that certain people have chosen to leap upon the latter point.

For much of the first half, England resembled the kind of slipshod, uncoordinated unit they were under Steve McClaren and struggled to get it going against what can only be described as amateur opposition. So much so that the plucky Kazakhs almost scored after 30 seconds after a mistake from Glen Johnson and then had the temerity to have a goal ruled out.

For 45 minutes, coach Fabio Capello cut an increasingly infuriated figure on the sideline, bellowing at his side in his angry Italian twang and imploring them to stick to what he told them to do. Thank heavens, in the end, that Gareth Barry and Emile Heskey were able to grab a goal each just before half time to pretty much ensure England the victory and give them peace of mind going into the break. As a sidenote, that Steven Gerrard was heavily instrumental in both goals speaks volumes for the class display the Liverpool man put in (about bloody time).

Yes, the performance was a bit nervous and, yes, letting them score in 30 seconds would have been a bit of an discomfiture. But surely a 4-0 scoreline renders all that pretty much insignificant. I mean, they didn't score that goal. So what's the problem?

Phil McNulty, in his match report on the BBC Sport website, said that England had a 'brief encounter with embarrassment' in Almaty. McNulty is generally an excellent writer; his blogs coming from the Kazakh capital thus far have been superb. But I cannot, for the life of me, see how England were embarrassed, even only briefly.

Let's be frank, had the home side scored, England would have likely come back to win the game. Conceding to minnow teams is nothing to be ashamed of - losing to them is. Lest we all forget Kazakhstan grabbed a goal at Wembley in the reverse fixture. Besides, it was made common knowledge that Kazakhstan start their games with pace, energy and vigour before dying out as the match wears on. I'm not at all saying that England used this as their game plan and let the Kazakhs on to them early but it does explain the fast-out-of-the-blocks start from the home side, to an extent.

England didn't play at their best, that much is obvious. But they got the three points, which is exactly what they came for. Was 4-0 a flattering score? Perhaps, but it does reflect the vast gap between the two sides and it's entirely for good teams to play poorly and still score goals.

There, I said it.

England are a good team.

The Three Lions have taken a hell of a beating from fans and the media since that nightmare night against Croatia at Wembley in 2007. Maybe, after all this progress, it's time we get off their backs a little.