England fans get the chance this week to assess if progress is being made under new manager Fabio Capello, or whether the team will exhibit the same weaknesses that stopped them reaching the Euro 2008 finals.
Capello's squad start the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign with away fixtures against Andorra and Croatia - opponents familiar from their last campaign under Steve McClaren. And fans will expect much better performances this time.
McClaren's England lost 2-0 in Croatia in October 2006 - an early defeat that left them playing catch-up in their Euro 2008 qualifying group - and the following March they were booed off the field after a goalless first half in the away fixture against Andorra.
They won that game 3-0 in the end, but the sour taste lingered until the end of McClaren's reign. The jury is still out on Capello, who has made few changes to the regular starting XI that failed so abjectly under McClaren, and the Italian's record of three wins, one draw and one defeat has given little hint of progress so far.
The defeat and the draw were against the best two teams England have faced under Capello - France and the Czech Republic respectively - and the only victory of any note was the 2-1 home win over Switzerland in Capello's first game. That leaves plenty of room for improvement.
Victory against Andorra tonight is all but assured, but the style will be important, as will a more dynamic performance when they return to Croatia on Wednesday night. McClaren tinkered with his formation in Croatia and the players never got to grip with the changes.