A place at the 2006 World Cup was all but assured for Sven-Goran Eriksson's side when they were placed in a qualification group that is more like a comfort zone. For that reason, complaints and recriminations have been relocated and are now found at friendlies. The disgruntlement springs from the fact that, with no pressure to warp the performance, we ought to be watching an ideal England.
The 0-0 draw with Holland confirmed, however, that such games bring us the team at their very worst. They were vapid rather than calamitous at Villa Park, but under-achievement is woven into these rehearsal games. It is Eriksson who has been treading the loom. His own indifference to entertainment value is a thread that runs through all the friendlies.
It need not be like that, as anyone could confirm by looking around Europe on Wednesday evening. In Dublin an unrestrained Damien Duff tore into Portugal during Ireland's 1-0 win. Over in Dusseldorf, Germany, and Argentina engrossed the crowd by trading goals in a 2-2 draw. Jurgen Klinsmann's players can commit themselves fully since, as hosts of next summer's World Cup, these are the only kind of matches they have, but Germany dealt in gripping friendlies even before Euro 2004.
England pay a price for treating such games so lightly. Eriksson cared enough about the 4-3-3 formation he introduced against Holland to replace only the weary Frank Lampard at the interval so that the rest of the starting line-up would have a little longer to get the hang of it. Had England adopted an intense approach, though, a competitive atmosphere would have helped them concentrate more strongly on the task.
It is, in reality, too soon to write off the system when the squad has barely begun to test it. The preparations at England's Leicester base comprised one segment of a single training session on Tuesday evening.
"We tried something new which suits a lot of players and I think it works," said Eriksson. "It was the first time (we had used the formation) and we practised it for half an hour."
Were it not for the cash generated by crowds, such as the 40,705 people at Villa Park, who yearn to be in the presence of an England squad, Eriksson might be allowed just to hold training camps on the scheduled friendly dates. Exasperating as it might have been to see a regular goalscorer such as Andy Johnson introduced on the right wing for his first England cap, the manager had never really been intrigued to learn how he would do against Holland. The squad get-together was the priority.
"There were two new faces I had never talked to before in my life," said the Swede of Johnson and Middlesbrough's Stewart Downing. "I know them much better today than I did four days ago. I saw them practise and I talked to them. I know it is difficult to make an impact in half an hour but just because they are new names it is not necessary that they start the game."
Luckily England friendlies under Eriksson have never been much of a guide to future performance, but it is clear that the side has some way to go before it masters 4-3-3. He has used a trio of forwards recently, but with Wayne Rooney operating behind Jermain Defoe and Michael Owen in the qualifier with Wales there were plenty of forces in the middle of the attack.
On Wednesday, by contrast, an isolated Owen kept himself busy but lacked the explosiveness to burst beyond defenders on a solo run. Rooney, a close ally when working through the middle at Euro 2004, was generally on the left against Holland and the connection between them was so stretched that it snapped.
Rooney wants to be restored to a central attacking role for the World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland but accepts he will have to take part in experimental line-ups in friendlies, even Eriksson admits he still does not know the teenager's best position.
Asked if he would choose to play more centrally, he said: "I think I would. Obviously I'm just proud to play for England and I'll play wherever I'm picked."
Crystal Palace manager Iain Dowie also expressed his frustration at Eriksson's decision to play Johnson, the most prolific English striker in the Premiership, out of position on his England debut.
"Andrew does work that right channel very well and maybe Sven has seen that but there is no doubt his strengths are in a central area," said Dowie
It would be hasty, all the same, to declare an end to the experiment.
Ashley Cole was pinned down by Romeo Castelen, but when he is able to overlap Rooney should find it simpler to ease closer to the centre. In general, the support strikers have yet to learn how to abet the centre-forward as, say, Damien Duff and Arjen Robben do at Chelsea.
The energetic Shaun Wright-Phillips, with the flair and energy to bear down on defenders, ought to be equipped to do that. Had he not been so nervous, he would have converted two easy chances against the Dutch. It will not, however, calm Sean Wright-Phillips to drop him and he should be retained, perhaps on the left in a traditional 4-4-2, against Northern Ireland next month.
The FA should bear it in mind that once every home match is staged back in London and the fascination with a new Wembley wears off it will be a challenge to entice jaded Londoners to friendlies. Not that Eriksson will worry. With the Swede off to his next job by then, it will be someone else's problem.
