A row of dark-suited men watching from a row of seats behind the England dug‑out exerted more of an influence on Tuesday night's performance than most of the players on the pitch. What Fabio Capello's side lacked against Mexico was the composed decisiveness of John Terry, the dynamism of Ashley Cole, the connectivity of Frank Lampard and the imagination of Joe Cole. Even in a 3-1 victory Chelsea's Double-winners were badly missed.
Not too many conclusions should be drawn from a pre-World Cup friendly, particularly one in which England were without several key figures. But it would have been nice to see, along with the energy and the eagerness to please their coach, just a little bit of joined-up football, something to suggest that they had spent a week on the training pitch. Most of that sort of thing came from Mexico, a reminder of the times without number when even England's most ardent admirers have despaired of seeing the white shirts pass the ball with the intelligence and accuracy shown by their opponents.
While Mexico seldom distinguishes themselves at the World Cup, neither do they go home in humiliation. That made them useful opponents on Tuesday night, a good yardstick by which Capello could judge certain elements of England's progress. When it came to coherent defending and incisive attacking, he would not have seen much to encourage optimism.
He did not join his players' post-match stroll around the pitch, in which they accepted the good wishes of the impressive crowd. Instead he headed quickly towards the dressing room. There he and his coaches would have much to talk about, such as the identity of the seven players to be left at home next week. At the moment the leading candidates appear to be Michael Carrick, Gareth Barry or Tom Huddlestone, Darren Bent, Scott Parker, Michael Dawson or Matthew Upson, Shaun Wright-Phillips, and Leighton Baines or Stephen Warnock, who may get an outing against Japan on Sunday.
The goal that gave England a thoroughly undeserved lead in the 17th minute made a big point for Peter Crouch as he headed Steven Gerrard's corner back across goal for Ledley King to nod home. The Tottenham Hotspur striker had got his wish. This was his 14th appearance under Capello but only his fourth start. With just two auditions to go before the meeting with the United States on 12 June, Crouch was being given the chance to claim a role alongside Wayne Rooney as England's best supporting forward.
However much Capello talks about tactical flexibility, the odds must be on the manager sticking to the 4-4-2 formation with which England reached the finals. The identity of Rooney's principal assistant, however, remains a matter of speculation.
On the face of it the record of 21 goals in 38 internationals that accompanied Crouch out of Wembley on Tuesday night trumps Emile Heskey's seven in 57 every time. But although Crouch scores the goals, Heskey leads the line in the old-fashioned way, using his experience to guide others into position while using his strength to absorb pressure in a way that his rival is ill-equipped to match. At international level Michael Owen and Rooney have been the beneficiaries of Heskey's unselfishness.
Neither man has been able to establish himself as a first-choice centre-forward in domestic football this season, Heskey supplanted at Aston Villa by John Carew while Crouch lost out to Harry Redknapp's preference for Roman Pavlyuchenko in the second half of the season – not the vote of confidence a World Cup candidate would be hoping for.
Crouch's goals are seldom scored against opposition of the highest class. Before Tuesday night they had come against Uruguay, Hungary, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Greece, Andorra, Macedonia, Estonia, Austria, Croatia, Ukraine, Belarus and Egypt. Now he can add Mexico to the list. No Brazil or Germany there, although no doubt he would plead a lack of opportunity.
He cuts an angular figure on the pitch, which offends purists and aesthetes. His last goal in Tottenham's recent league campaign, and perhaps his most important of the season, came in the 1-0 defeat of Manchester City at Eastlands, when Marton Fulop pushed the ball on to his head and virtually all Crouch had to do was be in the right place and watch it hit the net. But, of course, he had needed to get himself into that place in order to take advantage of the gift.
When he scored on Tuesday night, after 34 minutes, it was with an even more unprepossessing effort. Rooney's header was brilliantly tipped on to the bar by Oscar Pérez, only for the goalkeeper to turn and watch the ball fall in front of Crouch, who hardly had to move in order to nudge it across the goal line with a combination of chest and upper arm.
He had been in an illegal position as Rooney's head struck the ball and in a world with a proper offside law it would not have been allowed to stand. But Crouch is a lucky player – albeit one who, most diligently and admirably, makes his own luck, and that is something Capello's England are definitely going to need.
