England's Caribbean PR stunt: brilliant or bonkers?

England duly completed a deeply disappointing season on Sunday night with an uplifting 3-0 victory over the might of Trinidad & Tobago, a side ranked 88th in the world, just behind China and ahead of powerhouses such as Ethiopia, Libya and Guatemala.

But should we have gone to Trinidad anyway at the end of a long, hard season for what was nothing more than a glorified public relations exercise?

What did it prove - that David Beckham is a PR man's dream? What would have happened if one of England's top players - Rio Ferdinand, perhaps - got injured?

Then again, all passed off without major catastrophe and the possibility of the World Cup coming to these shores in 2018 is still a possibility.

On the pitch, the job was done efficiently and effectively, as goals from Gareth Barry and Jermain Defoe in the first 16 minutes silenced the steelpans in the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.

Defoe later added a second, to take his international goals tally to five. His strikes, it must be said, were not the cleanest you will see - some might call them a pair of scuffers. But a goal is a goal - and the question needs to be asked, therefore: would you persist with the Portsmouth man and do you feel he has much to offer at this level?

Which England players caught your eye - did David Beckham do enough and who do you think should get the captaincy on a permanent basis?

Of course, the Three Lions will not be competing at Euro 2008, but have you seen enough under Fabio Capello to believe there is cause for optimism for the future?

Whatever your thoughts, please share them with us by leaving a comment in the panel below this post.

Comments

[Chris]

Jukebox is right, we swan around thinking we dont need to do some hard PR grafting. If you think this didnt achieve anything, you dont know how much we need to work on our public image.

[denton]

You know martin, friendlies can also be played away from home. other countries do it too and everybody gets on with it. What is the big deal?

What would have happened if englands top players had got injured? Nothing. they have bone fiddle to do in the summer anyway.

why is it that only the media seem to be bothered about it? Give the guys a break will ya!!

[Karl Chads]

I don't know why anyone would complain about the England vs Trinidad friendly.

Yeah, we knew we'd win but the fact is that now is the time to be playing friendly games to get match practice and try out different tactics.

[Steve]

Sorry but Brand Beckham has been around that long that England don't
know whether it's about sport or show business. Does he I wonder?
Steve

[Ed]

Was the trip to T&T worthwhile? How many players complained of a paid trip to the Caribbean? Did the crowd enjoy their evening? In fact, is anyone complaining apart from the media? A nice end-of-season get together and wind down in some very pleasant surroundings.

Was it suitable experience for the upcoming WC qualifiers? No, but then any game at this time of year wouldn't have answered many questions. Friendlies rarely do.

Would a friendly against a Euro2008 team have been more productive? England would have given 80-90% while the opposition push themselves into form for the tournament. Another defeat for England would have been another embarrassment.

[alex]

Defoe should be given another run next game. Nothing is more important for a striker to play continuous games when he scores. Should Owen continue his recent form for Newcastle into next season, then maybe deploy him as a secondary striker, playing deep in position of an attacking midfielder. Offering support to Defoe and Rooney. Such an additional high lying forward will give the room for Rooney that he gets when playing for Manchester, and we all know his link up play can create one on one situations for others.

England either need a true defensive mid with wide wingers or an AM in a supporting role behind the front two. 4-4-2 doesn't work. Our players are misfiring and we need tactics that will bring the best out of our best possible eleven.

[BlueBoy]

This game was always about the shameless wooing of Jack Warner, the Fifa vice-president and Concacaf president for his three votes in the 2018 World cup bidding process by the FA. As such it had little interest for the spectator in providing a run around for quite a few fringe players against a team which is ranked way below even England in world rankings. At the end of this what has the manager learnt about these England players? More importantly what has the FA gained from this day out in the sun?

[jukebox]

why can't we have an away friendly? after all..that is one of the method to test our English mind whether we can really live it up to the expectation outside England. say what you want, but i support Capello 100% right now! you English has never satisfied with anything and always criticizing even the positive things! in other words, the English people are the negative people, that's why England always lost in big tournaments coz they never have your support! and you have to change that attitude if you really want to see the England team fully motivated and high-spirited to win everything!