The head coach demanded a much-improved performance from his squad following their 7-0 defeat against Holland in their opening match of the Algarve Tournament, and he got that as Kazaiah Sterling headed the Young Lions into a deserved lead against the host nation on Monday.
And despite being pegged back and held to an eventual 1-1, the character England showed impressed Peacock.
England v Germany
Algarve U17s Tournament
12pm, Tuesday 16 February
Estadio Algarve
"I was very pleased – that was more like ourselves," he told TheFA.com.
"Any England team that goes out there should be able to perform to a high level, and we didn’t do that against Holland, but against Portugal we went out in a real positive frame of mind.
"For the first 35 minutes we were in command of the game, we had good controlled possession, and we played the diamond very well.
"We knew we’d be under cosh after the break and we had to dig a little deeper [in the] second half, but their application to the task was performed very well."
Following their nightmare start against the Dutch, Peacock decided to switch formation to a midfield diamond, and he felt it worked well.
"We used it in the USA [Nike International Tournament], and sometimes you have to look at your personnel and the system that will suit them. We had to strengthen up the midfield area after the first game, and I wanted to give the two strikers a chance to play in their preferred positions.
"There were several factors of why we did it, but it suited us quite well."
Sterling and Lukas Nmecha were the preferred front two in the new-look line-up, and the former's headed finish on his debut left his boss particularly pleased.
"It was a good goal and a good delivery from a wide free kick," said Peacock. "I always complain about players not heading the ball correctly, but Andre Green did excellent to keep it alive with a very good header back across goal, and I have to say that Kaz rose very well to beat the goalkeeper and a defender to score.
"I’m delighted for him on his first international."
Peacock has won the Euros twice - but has never defeated Germany
Peacock is now preparing his side for the challenge of Germany, who sit top of the group after recording 1-0 wins over the Portuguese and the Dutch, in their final game on Tuesday – and he believes it is the perfect way to end the week.
"It’s a nice way to finish the tournament. I’ve just spoke to the players and said ‘well done’ for their performance against the Portuguese, but that’s to be expected really," he revealed.
"At this sort of standard of international football, we have to be at that level, and there is no bigger test than Germany.
"They’ve won both their games by the odd goal, without conceding, so it would be really nice for us to finish on a positive and defeat them."
And if the Young Lions were to defeat them, it would provide a first victory over Germany for the two-time European Championship winning coach.
"It’s probably the one nation I’ve had most difficulty with when we’ve come up against them," added Peacock.
"Saying that, England have had difficulties against them at every level. They are a very strong footballing nation.
"It would be nice to get a result against them and that first win, but the bottom line is, it’s not about me but all about the players.
"It’s more important that we get a performance that puts us on the right track for March’s qualifiers."
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