The No10 shirt has never meant as much in England as it does in Brazil, Argentina or Italy, which says something about the way football is played in the country of its birth, but last night there was a definite significance behind Roy Hodgson's decision to place it on the shoulders of Tom Cleverley, making only his second senior international appearance.
The magic number was worn in the 1966 World Cup by Geoff Hurst and in the heyday of the so-called golden generation by Michael Owen, both of them gifted and successful but neither possessing the attributes of a player in the classic mould. In the post-war era only Johnny Haynes, Glenn Hoddle, Paul Gascoigne and Joe Cole resembled a genuine No10 in England's colours, and every one of them suffered from managerial suspicion of their creativity.
Against Moldova, however, who are ranked 141st in the world, it seemed that Hodgson had decided to give Cleverley a chance to demonstrate his gifts as a playmaker, occupying the space in front of the defensive midfielders, between the wingers and behind the lone striker.
A bright young player, seen as a representative of a new generation, at 23 Cleverley is hardly a prodigy. He joined Manchester United as an 11-year-old and was allotted a first-team squad number four years ago. Sent away to gather experience on loan at Leicester City, Watford and Wigan Athletic, a year ago he appeared ready to take over Paul Scholes's role as the principal spark-plug in United's midfield. In a sudden rush of recognition, he had also been called up by Fabio Capello when injuries seriously disrupted his season, prompting Sir Alex Ferguson to coax Scholes out of retirement.
It took a further year and a change of England manager for Cleverley to make his senior debut, Capello's successor giving him a starting place in the friendly against Italy in Berne last month. For United he has started all three Premier League matches this season, although the arrival of Shinji Kagawa means that he plays in a more withdrawn position than the one he was asked to adopt last night.
If Cleverley is indeed a No10, he is not the sort whose imagination is likely to take your breath away. He is quick and neat and he has a good vision of the game, but last night he showed the sort of readiness to hustle his way into the game that would have pleased Alf Ramsey. When England lost the ball he did his share of pressing from the front.
His alertness was in evidence as early as the third minute, when he was lurking inside the Moldovan penalty area to meet James Milner's low cross from the right with a shot that hit Simeon Bulgaru's hand from close range. The penalty award was a little harsh but it gave Frank Lampard the chance to set England on their way.
There were other useful touches from Cleverley, notably a back-headed flick that almost sent Jermain Defoe in on goal, and on the half-hour, shortly after Lampard had doubled England's lead with a header from Glen Johnson's diagonal ball, he stabbed a low shot just wide of the post from 25 yards out.
Not surprisingly, Moldova were unable to provide England with much more than a reasonable work-out before Tuesday's more challenging encounter with Ukraine at Wembley. When Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain dismantled the entire left flank of the home defence by exchanging passes with Milner before moving forward and angling a short pass that invited Defoe to put England three up, the evening had the air of a training-ground exercise. With a little more coolness in front of goal from Defoe, and from Cleverley as he scooped a shot over the bar from Milner's pass, England might have doubled their score by half-time.
Cleverley was soon into the action after the restart, although Hodgson will not have enjoyed seeing him give the ball away with an over-ambitious long ball from the halfway line less than a minute into the second period. There had been enough of that from Steven Gerrard in the early stages of the first half, and even against the most modest opposition it is a dangerous habit. A few seconds later he could make only the sketchiest contact as he met a ball pulled back from the byline by Glen Johnson, although he did better midway through the half with an effort from Lampard's carefully guided low cross.
Until Milner scored his first senior goal from a move involving Cleverley and the two substitutes, Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck, England had laboured in the second half. But it was interesting to see Hodgson trying something other than 4-4-2, his players moving easily from their basic 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-1-1 when their opponents had the ball. The manager will no doubt have other ideas in mind when all his injured players are available for selection, but in Cleverley he seems to have one who can be trusted not to leave the best of himself in the dressing room.
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