Tom Lappin: Wembley win lifts the gloom, but scoreline flatters a team still well short of greatness

Published on Friday 3 September 2010 23:35

THE advertising hoardings at Wembley were proclaiming "the new fabric of England". After a very encouraging win anything is possible, but there remains a suspicion that England is still a rough and ready patchwork that might fall apart at the seams under any concerted pressure.

The mending process began with a comfortable victory in England's first competitive match since the horror-show in Bloemfontein. A European Championship qualifier this early in the season was a welcome opportunity for the England team to pull itself together and work its way out of the slough of despond that had descended on 27 June. Capello would like it to signify a fresh start after the World Cup, but it's apparent that the ghosts of South Africa will be hanging around this squad for a while yet.

There were several sources of satisfaction for the England manager. Wayne Rooney has clawed back some vestiges of form, his three precise passes setting up three excellent finishes from Jermain Defoe, and an audacious chip nearly bringing a memorable individual goal. A makeshift defence kept a clean sheet. The win wasn't as comfortable as the scoreline suggested though. Joe Hart, at 23, now unchallenged as England's No 1, had to preserve England's advantage with a couple of crucial saves. Nevertheless it lifted the gloom, and that took some doing.

England's depressed status before the match could be gauged by the level of excitement and relief that greeted the news that Phil Jagielka was fit. "Phil Who?" would have been the sane response just a few months ago. Now England fans, and the manager, are understandably eager to highlight any player not carrying the taint of England's most embarrassing performance at a World Cup since 1950, and Jagielka's performance was assured enough to encourage the manager to look at a few more fresh names for future matches.

There was also an intemperate degree of excitement about the supposed reinvention of Theo Walcott. The star of the qualification for the World Cup, Walcott had a relatively satisfactory finals, by dint of being left out of the squad, and watching the resulting debacle from the beach. Received wisdom in May was that Walcott was the football equivalent of the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz, his natural exuberance betrayed by the lack of a brain. Given the collective dearth of rudimentary intelligence from the England team in South Africa, that judgment proved prematurely harsh. A few straightforward finishes at the start of the season for Arsenal, and suddenly Walcott's cerebral monitors were showing activity. He threatened sporadically last night without ever looking like recapturing the verve of Zagreb 2008, and was immediately overshadowed when Adam Johnson scored within minutes of replacing him.The novelty value of Jagielka and Walcott was amplified by the fact that Capello had otherwise resorted to the failures from South Africa, familiar faces retained because Capello lacked the inclination or ruthlessness to overhaul his personnel (and his attempts to recruit a ginger pensioner and a Spanish midfielder had foundered). Seven of last night's starting line-up had done the opposite of distinguish themselves against Germany in South Africa and had to prove themselves worthy of international recognition all over again.

A possible exception was the captain, Steven Gerrard, who had already saved England's blushes with his individual interventions in last month's friendly against Hungary. The concern, hardly assuaged against Bulgaria, is that Gerrard remains a captain without portfolio, craving a position in the hole behind his troubled fellow Scouser Wayne Rooney, but mostly wandering erratically across the midfield chasing the action.

The callow centre-back pairing of Jagielka and Michael Dawson might have been a source of concern, had not John Terry and Matthew Upson's performances against Germany shown that experience is no guarantee of basic competence. Dawson's miserable run of ill-luck continued with his second-half knee injury.

If the players deserved most of the considerable ignominy from the World Cup, Capello was apportioned his share, mainly for clinging to a stodgy 4-4-2 formation, when everybody who is anybody in world football has decided that 4-2-3-1 is the way forward. Capello wasn't for turning. His players shuffled instinctively into their three lines whenever they lost the ball, although their energy in winning it back was conspicuously greater than in the summer.

In selecting the familiar names in the same positions Capello's message was that he was not to blame for the World Cup. That his selection and systems were fine, the players simply under-performed. He was vindicated partly by the performance, considerably by the scoreline, although this is still a long way from a slick, well-orchestrated outfit.

Rooney and Defoe have the seed of a fruitful partnership, Jagielka looks an able deputy and Hart a capable goalkeeper. Ashley Cole remains excellent and Gerrard at least energetic.

Otherwise Capello still has plenty to perplex him. He may like to appreciate how much England improved with the loss of John Terry and Frank Lampard, that nobody is indispensable.

England's return to competitive football was helped by compliant opposition. Bulgaria lie 43rd in Fifa's world rankings, two players lower than Scotland. England were given considerable freedom and space in the last 20 minutes from tired and dispirited opponents. England face the Swiss on Tuesday, which might be a tougher test. Switzerland used to be recommended for recovery and rehabilitation. Capello must hope it will allow this England to salve a few more wounds.