I KNOW everyone will be disappointed after Sunday's performance against Sweden -- too direct in the first half, not compact in width or length in the second.

But on the positive side David Beckham played for an hour and that can only be good for the next two games. You can't not play a game for seven weeks and hope to come back and last the pace in a World Cup game.

Talking about the top level, as I said last week, if you don't play in the position for your club side, how on earth can you do it for your country, and it showed in Emile Heskey's performance.

Anyway, back to the opening weekend. The one thing that you need in your team is pace. It is so important in the modern game.

Let's take the opening game -- France against Senegal. It was a massive shock, the World and European champions losing to a small African country, but all the African nations have forwards with pace.

Cameroon had it against Ireland, but the difference between France and Ireland defensively lies with their two central midfield players.

Both France and Ireland have centre halves who lack pace -- Desailly and especially Leboeuf, Breen and Staunton for the Irish.

But what about the performance from Holland and Kinsella? They protected their defence and denied the Cameroon midfield time on the ball by closing them down and stopping them playing balls over the top to their quick forwards.

The fullbacks Kelly and Harte made sure they did not get caught out too far forward, allowing balls to be played down the flanks, forcing the one thing slow centre halves don't like, to come out of the middle. And I should know.

Whereas for France, Thuram and Lizarazu bombed on and Petit and Vieira did not really protect the French carthorses and in the end it cost France the game.

Senegal played a ball down the left side, Leboeuf could not, or would not, come out to the ball.

To be fair Petit had tracked back but got into a mix up with Barthez and France had lost the game.

Pace can also work against you. Take England, Owen and Vassel are quick but our tactic of the long ball did not work. It can only get better, it has to.