It appears that Steve McClaren has continued to do what Sven Goran Eriksson did whilst at the helm - absolutely nothing. The new England boss managed to keep Stuart Downing and Gareth Barry on the bench against Spain while having Frank Lampard and Phil Neville fill the left-side positions. Why?

In the first half, everything England created came from the right-hand side, as usual. Lampard very rarely went wide left to hug the touchline. Instead, he cut in behind Steven Gerrard to do the job Gerrard was already doing. And if England lost the ball and were hit with a Spanish counter-attack, they were exposed on the left, leaving the right-footed Phil Neville to deal with the attack himself.

But, in all the confusion, McClaren at least knew that the drifting Lampard would go for a wander because it seemed that every time Lampard cut in to sit in Gerrard's pocket, Keiron Dyer pulled himself out to the left. He did this many times so it was obvious that McClaren had told him to do it. So if McClaren knew Lampard would drift, why did he still put him there, knowing we were going to be exposed?

It was fair enough that Dyer was covering for Lampard, but, with all due respect, the Newcastle man is not in the same league as Lampard when getting back and making possession-winning tackles. So the decision for Dyer to fill in the left-hand side role was another risky choice from the gaffer.

As for Barry and Downing, both left-footed, surely they would have been disappointed to see Phil Neville and Lampard in their place - especially Barry. The game was only a friendly and surely the idea of international friendlies is to try out new players and new techniques. What more McClaren could have learnt by seeing Lampard and Phil Neville play, I don't know. And it's not like Lampard hasn't been seen playing on the left before.

Many Sportingo readers may not agree that Downing warrants a place in the England squad, but at least he's left-footed, a winger and is desperate to prove himself. He is also still new to the England set-up so McClaren must give him more chances. The manager has seen Lampard in a World Cup and doesn't need to find out anything more about him. But in England's starting line-up he does need to see Downing play more reguarly. This goes the same for Barry; he needs to be seen, Phil Neville doesn't.

You can understand that McClaren may have been nervous coming up against a good Spanish squad. But he was probably more concerned with the fact that Luis Aragones was on the brink of losing his job and needed a win. McClaren probably got a bit scared and played it safe - which clearly didn't work.

The England fans booed the team off the pitch after the final whistle. If Downing, Joey Barton and Barry had started and we'd still lost, would the team have been booed? At least the England faithful would have been able to see McClaren was at least 'trying' to give new talent a run, and trying something new on the left side of the field like playing a left-footed player!

So it appears that the crux of the problem lies with two players - Lampard and Gerrard. When both play, the left-hand side suffers. They both play the exact same role for their clubs which clashes on the international field. But will McClaren eventually have the guts to drop one of them or will he keep finding excuses for both to play?

During the World Cup and up to the present day people have always asked why Gerrard and Lampard never bring their quality to the international stage. It's most probably because they get in each other's way.

Where is Steve McClaren going wrong - or does he just need time to get the England set-up right? Sportingo would love to hear your views.