To the FA’s wide-reaching “Vision” for the next four years can be added another specific challenge: to find a way to optimise the talents of England’s finest players. Lord Triesman, the FA’s new independent chairman, can talk all he likes of “establishing a winning mentality”, but Fabio Capello also has to strike upon a winning formula, presumably one that allows Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney to fulfil their potential in an England shirt.

Both players have had their moments for the national side, Rooney most notably during the European Championship finals in Portugal in 2004, but not nearly enough. This was Gerrard’s 66th international appearance and Rooney’s 43rd, but still they report for England duty with little idea what is in store for them.

Yes, there has been a lack of continuity in the England set-up, with Sven- Göran Eriksson replaced in quick succession by Steve McClaren and Capello, but there is also a distinct lack of structure with regards to the deployment of Gerrard and Rooney, one that forces them to prove themselves in a different role just about every time they play.

This was Capello’s third match in charge and his third different formation. Three distinct systems have required three different roles for the two Merseysiders. Rooney has at least played through the middle in all three games — a luxury he is not always granted by Manchester United — but for Gerrard last night brought an unwelcome return to the left wing, a position he has previously described as “the graveyard shift”.

Lack of sick notes underlines respect for manager

A full strength England side proved that Capello has won his first battle in gaining the support of his players

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First things first: Gerrard walked away with the sponsors’ man-of-the-match award, having played intelligently and scored an extremely well-taken goal. But for much of the game, at least until his goal, he wore a troubled look. Nothing new in that, you might say, but Gerrard is capable of enjoying himself on a football field — just not, it sometimes seems, in an England shirt, where he is often passed around the pitch in order to accommodate others.

This morning, Capello might feel that he is closer to that winning formula, but does he really feel that operating with David Beckham on the right wing and Gerrard on the left is the key to success in the 2010 World Cup finals? Did it really work with Gerrard last night or did he, a world-class player, merely make the best of a bad hand? Did he enjoy it? If not, does it matter?

What is clear is that, if Gerrard is to be an integral part of Capello’s plans, it will not be at the heart of midfield. That is the position he craves — just as Rooney yearns to play as a frontline striker even though most see him as a deep-lying forward — but it is one in which he is rarely trusted by Rafael Benítez at Liverpool, never mind by Capello.

Benítez has sought to redefine him, playing him in a more advanced role just behind Fernando Torres, the Spain forward, but while it looks great in games that Liverpool dominate, there have been times when it has not, as in England’s friendly away to France in March, when he played behind Rooney.

It will be interesting to see what Gerrard makes of last night. The goal might shape his perception of the evening — and will certainly increase his desire to have Gareth Barry, the Aston Villa midfield player and the architect of his goal, alongside him at Liverpool next season — but it is unlikely to persuade him that his future with England is on the left-hand side of midfield.

Paul Scholes, after a successful start to his international career, endured a similar situation under Eriksson and eventually tired of it, turning his back on England at the age of 29. Gerrard, who will turn 28 tomorrow, is a different personality to Scholes — more intense, more driven, more overtly ambitious — but he is prey to the same kind of insecurities. He needs to feel wanted and he needs a role he can call his own. And that, one suspects, will never apply to the graveyard shift.