Glenn Hoddle was annoyed but the booing with which Wembley greeted England's neutral performance in Saturday's scoreless draw against Saudi Arabia should have been music to his ears. There is surely no danger now of Hoddle's team entering the World Cup amid unreasonable public optimism about their chances of winning it.
Twenty years ago Scotland set off for Argentina as the massed tartan choirs sang "We're on the road with Ally's army . . ." Ally MacLeod's side swiftly wound up in a South American ditch. Given the spiritual undertones of England's preparations the Hod squad might have left Wembley behind a Sally Army band. As it is, the last of their warm-up games at home has lent a healthy air of scepticism to expectations.
After the Saudi result, following the revealing 2-0 home defeat by Chile, the pedestrian 1-1 draw in Switzerland and last month's patchy 3-0 victory over Portugal, there should be no illusions left about England's position on the World Cup starting grid. As potential winners they are possibles rather than probables.
Yet Hoddle's squad have the ability to reach the quarter-finals and, if Michael Owen is ready to take on the world, they could go all the way to Saint-Denis on July 12th. Equally they could suffer the fate of the Norwegians in the United States four years ago and be on their way home before most people realised they had arrived.
The present England coach likes to keep everyone guessing about his team and his tactics, which is fine if you have something worth keeping under wraps. Owen could be the ace up Hoddle's sleeve but, failing that, he does not have much else to spring upon the world.
Saturday's game, far from revealing anything new, merely deepened existing fears about England's defence and midfield. Saudi Arabia, who reached the second round in 1994 after running Holland close and beating Morocco and Belgium (England's opponents in Casablanca this week), have clearly benefited from the Brazilian coaching of Carlos Alberto Parreira. With better finishing they might have won at Wembley through the speed and technique of counter-attacks made from a solid defensive base.
This morning Hoddle will take his squad to La Manga more convinced than before of the need to use Paul Ince, unfit on Saturday, and David Batty in midfield to win possession and protect England's back three. Under Hoddle, away from Wembley, England have unarguably been at their best when the prime need has been to contain the opposition and deny them attacking space.
If the exercise is successfully repeated in the opening phase of the World Cup then the match-winning qualities of Shearer or Teddy Sheringham, Owen or Paul Scholes, could see them through to the next stage.
If, however, England find themselves behind against Romania or Colombia, always assuming they have beaten Tunisia, then little was seen at Wembley on Saturday to inspire confidence in their capacity to turn either of these matches around.
Hoddle was encouraged by the fact that Darren Anderton stayed on the field for 90 minutes and the Tottenham player's performance did not warrant the crowd's jeers, but he is still some way off his form of Euro 96.
Anderton's presence saw David Beckham switched to central midfield, where he passed the ball perceptively for half-an-hour but then faded. Beating opponents is not Beckham's style. As Hoddle pointed out: "He is a purveyor of the ball, he's not somebody who takes people on." Far better, surely, to retain Beckham's consistent quality of centres on the right. But where would that leave Anderton?
The crowd at Saturday's game ended up clamouring for English football's answer to Sir John Falstaff, who duly appeared for the last 30 minutes.
Again Paul Gascoigne was a mixture of the marvellous and the mundane. His running at defenders worried the Saudis more than anything they had experienced earlier but he was too easily dispossessed. He tried to take on too many opponents, yet could have won the match five minutes from the end with a shot that curled past a post.
Ibrahim Al-Shahrani wasted an easier chance for Saudi Arabia in stoppage time after Sami Al-Jaber had taken on an England defence increasingly susceptible to the ballplaying skills of Parreira's attack. Earlier opportunities had been squandered by Al-Jaber and Sayeed Al-Owairan.
During the opening half-hour Gareth Southgate and Sheringham were denied goals by the feet of Mohammed Al-Daye. The sharpness of Ian Wright, who replaced the sluggish Sheringham on the hour, probably ended the World Cup hopes of Les Ferdinand, who was given a token 15 minutes.
England: Seaman, G. Neville, Hinchcliffe (P. Neville 74), Batty, Adams, Southgate, Beckham (Gascoigne 60), Anderton, Shearer (Ferdinand 74), Sheringham (Wright 60), Scholes. Subs Not Used: Campbell, Flowers, Merson.
Saudi arabia: Al-Daye, Al-Jahni, Al-Khlaiwi, Zebramawi, Amin (Al-Dosary 78), Al-Shahrani, AlJaber, S. Al-Owairan (Al-Temiyat 78), Solaimani, AlMuwalid, K. Al-Owairan. Subs Not Used: Madani, Al-Thyniyan, Saleh, Al-Sadiq, Al-Dossary. Booked: S. Al-Owairan, Al-Jahni. Attendance: 63,733.
Referee: D Z G Jol (Netherlands).
