England produced their best performance in quite some time to beat Israel today and they now sit third in Group E, level on points with Croatia and just one point behind Russia in the second automatic qualification spot. In marked contrast to the rest of their Euro 2008 campaign they looked like a team playing coherent football.
The midfield - without Frank Lampard - looked impressive; is it time for Steve McClaren to choose between Lampard and Gerrard in midfield? Michael Owen also looked sharp and combined well with his old partner Emile Heskey. Should McClaren keep the two together for the Russia game? Micah Richards put in another assured performance in defence and capped it off with a goal, is this the end for Gary Neville's England career? And until David Bentley was roundly booed for preferring to take a break than join the England U-21 squad at the European Championships, the Wembley crowd laid off England. How much are they affected by the negativity that often revolves around the build-up to internationals?
Having said all that, Israel - despite their strong campaign so far - had all the potency of a eunuch. Was this a strong enough test to draw any conclusions? And while Joe Cole worked away to good effect on the left, will his tendency to go on to his right foot be exposed against Russia?
