And Now for Something Completely Different...

No, it's not going to be some Monty Python post!  It's going to be me venturing an opinion on the events of the last week and a half.  Regarding the World Cup, and England's dismal showing...

The way I see it, England are not BAD.  Yeah, despite their performances and results.  However, neither are we one of the best teams in the world.  We haven't been since 1970, in my opinion.  We had a very capable team in the late 80's and early 90's, but since then, well...

We keep hearing of "potential".  We keep hearing of "positives".  So, where has that got the team?  I know many of my fellow Englishman reckon that the players aren't good enough, but I honestly don't believe that.  We have some very experienced players, and we also have - what I consider to be - a few world-class players.  There are alo some good youngsters coming through.  The problem is that they aren't able to play as a team.

The last few times I have watched England, at the World Cup, and at Euro 2012, it's been a struggle to keep possession of the ball.  It's been difficult to string together more than two or three passes.  The players don't have a problem doing that at league level, and it certainly can't be the fault of any manager.  I just don't know why they have so much trouble with the basics at international level.

Everybody knew it wasn't going to be an easy group.  Italy aren't the team they used to be, but they are never a pushover.  Still, that was a game from which England SHOULD have salvaged a point.  Uruguay aren't a bad team, but England aren't either - or they shouldn't be, anyway.  Of course, the Costa Ricans provided the shocks with victories over both Italy and Uruguay, but if they can grab a couple of wins, why should a team like England end up pointless against those two?  Sure, we can say we were the only team to take a point off the group winners, but that is scant consolation.

It's not like it's the first disappointing tournament we've had in recent years.  Still, at least it wasn't another giveaway in a penalty shoot-out...