Sam Allardyce praised Wayne Rooney's performance after he played in a deeper role in England's 1-0 World Cup qualifying win in Slovakia.
Rooney, 30, was expected to play as a No. 10 behind Harry Kane but spent much of the game in midfield. Allardyce admitted his surprise that Rooney had not played further forward, but insisted his captain was "brilliant."
"Today Wayne played wherever he wanted to," Allardyce said after his first match in charge. "He was brilliant and controlled midfield. I can't stop Wayne playing there.
"I think that he holds a lot more experience at international football than me as an international manager.
"Yes he played a bit deeper than he does at United, but Wayne's comfortable, when I talk to him, about the position.
"This is the most decorated outfield player in England. He's won everything at Man United, more or less, and at Champions League and domestic level.
"Using his experience with a team, and playing as a team member, it's not for me to say where he's going to play. It's up to me to ask whether he's doing well in that position, and contributing.
"If so, great. We'd like to get him into goalscoring positions more. He's been a goalscorer all his life and I want him to do that again, but he reads a game as he reads it. He read it very well, we won the game and dominated the game, outplaying the opposition.
"I must admit, he did play a little deeper than I thought he'd play today, but I was pleased with his performance."
England dominated the game throughout but didn't find a winner until the fifth minute of added time through Adam Lallana's first goal at senior international level.