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A competent display by England saw the Three Lions return to winning ways against Wales with a 2-0 success at the Millennium Stadium. The victory took Fabio Capello's side level on points with Montenegro and firmly on course (1.18) to top UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying Group G - but, in the words of Barry Davies, frankly, who cares?

It wasn't just that England, 110 places higher than Gary Speed's men in the FIFA world rankings, were odds-on to win a complete mismatch, or that the 'should John Terry be England captain?' debate might rear its ugly head for the 12,000th time this week; it was the fact that this viewer, at least, was indifferent to the result. The only thing duller than international qualifiers are international friendlies, but don't worry, we've got one of those coming up on Tuesday when England take on Ghana.

There are a number of reasons that explain why the international game has lost its lustre. Firstly, the creation of myriad European states - mainly in Eastern Europe - has spawned a plethora of small, fledgling countries that are still finding their feet on the footballing stage. The likes of Kazakhstan, Estonia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) are fiercely proud nations who have rightly sought independence but, from a footballing perspective, quantity has replaced quality. These national sides have an ever-smaller pool of players upon which to draw - and drawing is about the best they can hope for in 90% of their fixtures. Their tactics, understandably, have to depend on parking the bus in front of goal and hoping for the best, which makes for increasingly unattractive encounters.

Secondly, the allure of the Premier League and the Champions League is so great now that international football has been forced to take a back seat. While Gary Speed can only pick players who are Welsh (or whose great grandfather's second cousin's niece once knew a Welshman), Sir Alex Ferguson, Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho can pick - or rather buy - whoever they feel like, regardless of their nationality. As Arsene Wenger said recently, "When I buy a player I don't look at the passport" (he also doesn't bother looking at their defensive or goalkeeping records, but that's another story). But the point is that we, the punter, have been spoiled by witnessing the cream of world football on a regular basis.

Whether or not the Premier League or the Champions League is more exciting than a World Cup or the Euros is open to debate. The World Cup and Europan championship remain uniquely exciting tournaments (it's the qualifying that wears the patience) but in terms of quality there is no contest because the likes of Gareth Bale, Mohamed Zidan or Edin Dzeko may never grace these major tournaments.

Another reason international football has lost its swagger, from a purely English perspective - is because of Fabio Capello; the unsmiling, uncommunicative, po-faced figurehead. Notwithstanding the limitations of Don Fabio's talent pool, the Italian fielded - or rather misfielded - the most unadventurous, bleak and panic-riven England side in living memory at the last World Cup. Worse still, his aloof and disaffected approach to his side's fortunes and dogged insistence on a predictable and rigid 4-4-2 formation in South Africa made Englandalmost impossible to watch.

Despite the gloom and doom, though, there is hope on the horizon. It may have only been Wales, and it may have come 12 months too late, but Capello does deserve credit for deploying a 4-3-3 formation yesterday. Not only was this a tactical sea change, which enabled the visitors to press high up the pitch and outplay Wales in midfield, but England's more creative and impactful players - Ashley Young, Jack Wilshere and Scott Parker - were given a chance to shine instead of the usual suspects Gareth Barry, James Milner and Peter Crouch.

It is too early to tell whether Capello has finally decided to let England off the leash or whether he just took a calculated risk against international minnows. Wales were so poor that their defeat cannot really be used a reliable barometer, but one can only hope that when his side faces Switzerland in June, the Italian doesn't revert to type. With Wilshere emerging as England's great white hope, Young and Stewart Downing pressing claims for a regular place and Adam Johnson and Theo Walcott set to soon return, a rare, exciting England could be germinating and, at 9.6, could be worth backing to win EURO 2012.

We have been here before, however. England spanked Croatia in World Cup qualifying only to freeze at the big show and the only way to really inject new enthusiasm into this England side would to replace Capello with Harry Redknapp. The Tottenham manager has worked wonders at White Hart Lane, guiding a side that were rooted to the foot of the Premier League into a Champions League quarter-finals showdown with Real Madrid in less than two-and-a-half years. Spurs are 30.0 to win the competition to Real's 5.7.

The fact that he has done so by espousing a free-flowing brand of attractive football suggests that at the very worst England would play expansive football under an infectiously enthusiastic, funny, and patriotically English tactician. But then again, England's gain would be the Premier League's loss and I'm not sure that would be a price worth paying.

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