Promised land still some way off

Gerrard: Shaky start but found his feet when it mattered

BBC Sport Online's Claire Stocks assesses England's nervy 2-1 win over Finland.

This was a schizophrenic display that contained the worst of the bad old days and glimpses of the best of Sven Goran Eriksson's new England.

The loss of bottle that allowed Finland to take a shock lead at Anfield was matched only by their bravery at coming back from the dead.

Skipper David Beckham lived up to his promise to lead by example and showed he can grow into the captain's role.

When England were all at sea and sinking fast, Beckham held his nerve, chasing and snapping and passing his way around the pitch.

Even Beckham was not immune to the jitters which permeated Anfield.

Captain marvellous: Beckham made one goal and scored the other

But the tenacity he showed to set up England's first goal, and the nerves of steel he showed in burying the second, shows he relishes leading from the front.

Not so Andy Cole.

When the Manchester United striker sent a rifled shot millimetres wide within the first 30 seconds, it seemed that maybe Eriksson had found a way to unravel the great England enigma.

But rather than galvanise Cole and his team-mates, the miss apparently served only to demonstrate the narrow margin for error facing England.

Like rabbits caught in the headlights, England seemed paralysed in the face of their task.

The inevitable Finland goal arrived after mistakes by the normally unflappable Gary Neville.

Gerrard: Mature display for a 20-year-old

But it was Chris Powell who was the real culprit.

The Charlton left-back sent pass after pass straight back to the Finns.

If things don't improve on Wednesday he should be thanked for his effort and sent back to The Valley never to be seen again.

The centre-back pairing of Sol Campbell and Rio Ferdinand was largely solid but at times showed worrying frailties.

Ferdinand was nowhere to be seen when Aki Rihilahti headed the ball off Neville for the opening goal.

Powell was probably Eriksson's only wrong decision. The rest was down to his players.

Hindsight shows he was right to keep faith with the starting 11 who choked so badly early on.

But sticking with Cole instead of bringing in Emile Heskey, meant England lacked enough muscle to trouble Finland's giant centre-backs.

Ferdinand: At fault for Finland's goal

Cole did set up Owen for the equaliser.

But by and large he failed to cut it and fluffed the usual hatful of chances, including one sitter which would have given England a comfortable two-goal cushion.

Instead it was a nailbiting finish.

Eriksson will presumably keep faith for Albania but had Finland equalised as they threatened to do in the final minutes, Cole's tattered confidence surely would have been finally shot through.

Paul Scholes, who teed up his easiest miss, didn't really put a foot wrong but failed to have his usual impact in the middle.

Instead it was Steven Gerrard who showed what a midfield force he can be.

He was as guilty as anyone in England's error-strewn opening half, but he found his feet earlier than most and grew in stature with every minute after the interval.

His raking passes equalled Beckham's in vision and accuracy and he gave England vital bite in the face of Finland's muscular challenge.

Tension in Tirana

This was a nerve-jangling affair and it is difficult to make tactical assessments from a roller-coaster ride.

But there are several causes for concern:

England's failure in the first 35 minutes to create more than a half-chance against a side rated 57th in the world;

their inability to counter the threat of Jari Litmanen;

the worrying degree of vulnerability at corners;

and their lack of cohesion for long spells.

This display proves the outpouring of optimism that followed victory over Spain was nothing but another false dawn.

That Eriksson's team managed where others failed - to grind out a result when it really mattered - means he now has the one thing all new managers need - time.

Another four days to be precise.

For come Wednesday, England must secure another three points in Tirana to avoid more do-or-die stuff on the way to World Cup 2002.

The best that can be hoped is that having stared over the edge of the abyss and lived to tell the tale, these players now possess extra depths of belief they will surely need.