Rooney – It’s a Miracle

England’s performance against Poland at Old Trafford was a great improvement. No more and certainly no less. And what was particularly gratifying was the sight of good individual players looking at last as though they were capable of being a team.

Now the important thing is to retain (or in the case of some critics, obtain) a sense of perspective. What England did against Poland, impressive though it was, is no more a cause for euphoria than the previous three dismal performances were a justification for despair. On the strength of this game, England have not instantly been transformed into World Cup favourites and Sven has not suddenly become a great manager. After all, you don’t become a good manager after one game.

Among many plus points in England’s display, two stand out. To begin with, there was the performance of Ledley King, who provided his own splendid interpretation of the holding role which has become synonymous with Claude Makelele and in so doing created a future selection problem for the England management. Since the Spurs player owed his appearance in this game to the absence of others, it will be interesting to see what Sven does when everyone is available. Hopefully, he will be able to demonstrate that he has learned to be flexible, to pick the best players and to deploy them in a formation that exploits their strengths – individually and collectively.

And then there was Wayne Rooney. Restored to the team after suspension, he frightened the Poles with his pace, his power, his accuracy, his inventiveness, his maturity and his controlled aggression. Those last two words are important, because before this game too many experts had spent too many months insisting that Wayne’s natural aggression – the sort that had often got him into trouble – was an integral part of his game and without it he wouldn’t be the same player. Well, they were half right anyway – because against Poland, Rooney proved conclusively that he could control himself without any loss of aggression and as a result he was actually a better player. On at least two occasions, he courteously helped up opponents after fouls had been given against him, one of them unjustly. And remarkably he achieved all this in the most testing conditions - under the glare of the referee who last dismissed him, Kim Milton Neilson, the Dane with the tolerance level of Basil Fawlty.

Before the game Kenny Dalgleish had apparently suggested that in view of the appointed referee, Wayne ought not to have been selected. After all, England had already qualified and it wasn’t worth the risk. Well, Wayne conducted himself impeccably and in doing so demonstrated to himself and, hopefully, everybody else that he can control himself without in any way prejudicing the expression of his extraordinary talents. Of course he is young and he may, under severe provocation, offend again – but make no mistake, this was a triumph.