Agreed, but still not good enough to win a major championship. For that a good manager and coaching set-up is also a must.
...but no real blance in the defence. The centre is taken care of and each of the 3 main defenders bring slightly different strengths to the squad. The problem is the lack of balance with the full-backs and the way they interact with the player in front. Cole is a quality LB but th reason he does better at Arsenal is because they don't have problem position in LM. The two Coles on the left do not compliment each other very well because they are both very attacking minded. Ashley's defensive abilities have obviously been worked on in the last few years and Joe's is still a work in progress but when you're up against the best right-sided players in the world come summer then there can be no weaknesses. Most international teams have this sorted in one way or another but Enlgalnd do not yet.
He never has been really. Only now is Sven realising this with the help of Rooney and the Heskey replacement in Crouch. It is a problem that Defoe is overlooked though and Bent may get his chance too late to make a real impact on the squad selection.
The two have started to show that they can work well together but that shackles thier natural game. The thing is they are so good that when the fish get put out of water then they still are able to look like quality but are really a wasted resource because their club forms show how much more they are capable of.
...but is that down to a lack of real contenders for the title? Thuram is getting over the hill now and so is Carlos now. Maldini is not the force he was either. Sorin doesn't play there anymore and Hienze is staking a rapid claim as is Del Horno as a serious competitor but both have yet to play in a big tournament. The next serious competitor that I can think of Van-Bronckhorst and he was an Arsenal reject anyway and is fighting for first-team football at Barca as it is.
He does his job well but when you compare him to what the Englands opposition has between the sticks then you understand the quality. Buffon? Dida? Casillias? Khan? Cech? I would put Robinson in the same clbutt has Coupet and we all know how that is working out for France. They both need to take the next step up to become true world-clbutt keepers and hopefully Germany will be the place for them to do that.
The single glaring stumbling block that I can see though is the manager. He has his qualities (they are hard to find and rather inadequate when analysed properly) but he just doesn't have the balls to be an international manager. Imagine if Gus Hiddink was given the England job. He is the international equivalent of Sam Allardyce but the difference is that he has done the business consistently at all his previous clubs at all levels of the game. Those that bleat on like sheep about Allardyce, Curbishley et co should remember that they need experience with other clubs. If they went to another club, preferably a big club (not necessarily in England) and performed well then they could be considered as contenders for the the national team. The England job is too important to be handed over to largely unproven talent again, especially at £4 million per annum.
But why do they under-achieve given their undoubted talent? Why did France self-destruct so spectacularly from the force that they once were? What is stopping Italy from taking that final step to greatness that they have been promising so often? Why do Brazil dominate so well (apart from the obvious)? Why did Greece win a major competition with inferior players?
The answer to these and many more pertinent questions is: The Management. I don't just mean the man at the top of the pyramid either, but the whole management and coaching structure.
The trick is knowing how to translate from the paper to the pitch.
