After a very satisfactory nine days, Fabio Capello sent his England players back to their clubs and warned there is still plenty of work ahead before they can claim a place at Euro 2012.
Weekend results in Group G now make it virtually certain the battle for an automatic slot is between England and Montenegro. Tuesday night's superb friendly with Ghana indicated Capello will have far more options at his disposal at the finals than he had in South Africa last year, but the Italian is not getting carried away.
Capello said: "At this moment I am relaxed. I like being here and we are in a good position."
England's next commitment is against Switzerland at Wembley on June 4, with the final three qualifiers to follow next term, culminating in that potentially make-or-break trip to Montenegro in October.
And Capello is looking no further than that.
"We still need to play four games," he said. "That is a lot of points. I don't know what will happen in the future. It is a long way to arrive at Euro 2012."
There were some negatives for Capello but they are mainly centred around a testy relationship with the media, which reached a crescendo in the build-up to the weekend win over Wales.
Even now, there has still not been a satisfactory answer given as to why Rio Ferdinand has not had the courtesy of a personal conversation with the Italian about the decision to remove him as skipper. However, as Ferdinand has clearly moved on judging by his Twitter postings urging England on, it is probably time for everyone else to.
And that allows a very positive assessment of Capello's squad, with Aston Villa's Ashley Young once again showing he is one of the most improved players around.
"All the players played well," observed the England coach. "But Ashley Young is one of the most interesting players this season."
Source: PA
