McClaren "disappointed and frustrated" at England performance
الأحد، 08 أكتوبر 2006 - 15:23
كتب : Megan Detrie
"I am disappointed and frustrated, and so are the players in the changing room," McClaren told Sky Sports News. "Looking at the performance it has got to be better.''
England, who throughout the match failed to impress with their attacks and had no real authority in the midfield, were booed off Old Trafford by their fans at halftime.
All of this was not lost on the national coach.
"It's a reality check for everybody," McClaren said as reported by England Football Association's official website.
"We were not good enough going forward, our passing, our final ball and our final finish. It wasn't clinical. "
While McClaren was quick to pinpoint mistakes, he did not feel the end result was unfair. The England boss admitted the team should have played better at home.
"If you look at the game overall a draw was probably a fair result but we are very disappointed," he said
"We know that that was not good enough. We are playing Macedonia at home and we expect to score in our home games.
"We did well to keep a clean sheet and get the point but we have to do better," he added.
Steve Gerrard was booked during the game and will miss the upcoming match against Croatia, leading many to wonder if David Beckham will earn a recall.
Still, McClaren has said he has no intention of recalling former England captain.
"Not at the present moment. I haven't even given it a thought," he told BBC Sport in regards to Beckham.
"We'll reflect on the game, look at what we've got and see the injuries."
The draw is turning out to be just another challenge for England, who travel to face Croatia in their next group E qualifier on Wednesday.
"We'll get the squad together on Sunday evening and go through it and make sure that in Croatia we are better."
England currently share the summit of their Group E on 7 points with Israel while Croatia, who beat Andorra 7-0 on Saturday, have 4 points.