This felt like one of England's Euro 2012 performances. There was poor possession play, men behind the ball in two banks of four, and Steven Gerrard's devilish dead-ball delivery cancelled out by set-piece concessions at the other end. There has been little sign of progression from Roy Hodgson's side in the last four months.

In a contest between two negative, counterattacking teams, the first half was something of a standoff; both waited for the other to make the first move, in order to exploit spaces on the break.

In stark contrast to Tom Cleverley and James Milner's tendency to drift into the centre of the pitch, Poland's wingers were direct and purposeful, making England look more susceptible to quick attacks.

The lateral movement of Poland's front two contributed to the problems in the channels – Robert Lewandowski, a poacher for Borussia Dortmund, played more of an all-round role here, running the channels and dropping deep to supply others. Ludovic Obraniak, the No10, drifted into wider positions to create triangles with the wide midfielder and full-back on either side, outnumbering England on the flanks.

That was evident throughout the game but particularly when Poland counterattacked, and there were three primary reasons for England's fragility when high up the pitch. First, with Poland sitting deep and narrow, England's full-backs advanced high up the pitch in order to stretch the opposition out of shape – this was rarely effective, and left Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka exposed when the ball was lost.

Second, there was no true ball-winner – Michael Carrick is good in a positional sense and is clever at reading the game, but was helpless when Poland ran past him on the break. It meant Jagielka was forced into a very proactive role high up the pitch, which looked impressive when he intercepted the ball cleanly a couple of times, but when less successful he left Lescott isolated – notably on one occasion shortly before half-time.

Third, there was the same old problem – the ball retention was dreadful. Simple midfield passes went astray and gifted possession to Poland, who efficiently transferred the ball forward. Although Hodgson predictably complained about the state of the pitch, it was probably more detrimental to Poland's approach than England's.

Wayne Rooney's fortunate opener forced Poland to take the initiative and dominate possession, and although this meant their counterattacking was less obvious, England now had a problem with Lukasz Piszczek's forward runs. Hodgson's tinkering in the second half illustrated how concerned he was in that zone, although this was a harsh reflection upon Tom Cleverley's decent defensive shift – it wasn't that Cleverley was neglecting his responsibilities without the ball, simply that Piszczek is a fine attacking right-back.

Hodgson's initial decision to move Rooney to the left had little effect – his defensive work was no better than Cleverley's, and it gave England one less striking option, which invited more pressure. The decision to introduce Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was better – he forced Piszczek into a more defensive role, and England were less troubled in the final 15 minutes.

In all, it was an underwhelming England performance in a poor contest. Tuesday's lengthy rain delay and subsequent postponement at least provided some kind of a story – if it wasn't for that, you'd be hard-pressed to recall anything about this fixture by the time of England's next game.