Group E/England 3 Israel 0:By now Steve McClaren knows he ought to wince whenever he hears a compliment. The England manager has learned how fractured a reputation can get when you plummet from the heights of praise. There had, until Saturday, been barely a kind word since he was garlanded for the merry 4-0 win in the friendly against Greece with which his tenure began.
"We've done nothing," he said warily after this defeat of Israel. "We've just put ourselves in a slightly better position."
England, in third place, are still below the surface of Group E and their situation has been so dark that it has felt as if they were tunnelling towards Euro 2008.
This win may not be a guide to the meeting with Russia on Wednesday, but it should be appreciated nonetheless. It has, after all, been a long while since England were so clinical in exploiting weaknesses and the left-back Yoav Ziv, in particular, suffered terribly as a footballer realising that he had been singled out for persecution.
McClaren's strategy was well judged and ruthlessly executed. Israel are not used to this sort of treatment and their last away defeat in a qualifier had come as long ago as October 2003, when France beat them 3-0.
They made regrettable history against England by becoming the first visitors to seem scared stiff of an international at the new Wembley and McClaren's side feasted on that insecurity.
Managers long to put their own imprint on a team and that was achieved on this occasion. Micah Richards may have been the sole member of the starting line-up to have made his international debut under McClaren, but there was a revitalising effect in the presence of Gareth Barry, getting another outing in a competitive game for England after a seven-year wait.
The Aston Villa captain is one-paced, but has the knack of standing off the play and weighing up possibilities. A pass took out three Israel players in the 49th minute, even if Michael Owen still had to summon up virtuosity by turning and sending a sweet 20-yard shot past Dudu Aouate for England's second.
When they weren't being overpowered they were being run off their feet. Shaun Wright-Phillips, recovering the knack of finding his man now he has regained his confidence, broke the deadlock and laid on a series of opportunities for others.
Wright-Phillips put England ahead in the 20th minute. Joe Cole curled a ball behind poor Ziv and the Chelsea winger hit the net with a first-time finish.
The scoring was completed when Micah Richards recorded his first international goal, heading in a Barry corner after 66 minutes as the referee Peter Vink failed to see that Owen had taken a step to impede Aouate.
The teenager Richards is as precocious as he is powerful, winning converts, who may well include the manager, to his belief that he ought to keep his place even when Gary Neville is fit.
"From day one," McClaren recalled of the 19-year-old, "he breezed in. He was vocal, he was aggressive, he wanted the ball and he had no fear."
England could have piled up goals and Owen squandered two attempts following a lay-off from Joe Cole after 37 minutes. When the Newcastle striker rounded Aouate following a pass from the substitute Andrew Johnson in the 87th minute Zivintervened to block. England approach the Russian fixture in a happier frame of mind than they have known for almost a year.
ENGLAND: Robinson, Richards, Ferdinand, Terry, Ashley Cole, Wright-Phillips (Bentley 83), Gerrard (Neville 71), Barry, Joe Cole, Heskey (Johnson 71), Owen. Subs Not Used: Brown, James, Downing, Defoe. Booked: Terry. Goals: Wright-Phillips 20, Owen 49, Richards 66.
ISRAEL: Aouate, Spungin, Ben-Haim, Gershon, Ziv, Benayoun, Badir, Benado (Golan 57), Tal, Katan (Zandberg 73), Itzhaki (Tamuz 46). Subs Not Used: Antebi, Balili, Alberman, Davidovitch. Booked: Gershon, Benado, Ziv, Aouate.
Referee: Pieter Vink (Holland).
