So here
we are again and at the risk of being premature, let the recriminations begin, let
a thousand fulminations of manufactured anger spring forth from the pens of the
press pack and the FA arse-sheathing commence. England are useless once more
and we can engage in our real national sport- debating why we're rubbish at football.
There is
something fitting in the fact that the final act of the ‘golden generation’ against Uruguay has
been to comprehensively instruct the next on the mechanics of failure. That
hope was ignited by an all too brief glimpse of Rooney’s talents before an
avoidable error by Gerard was a delicious end to the era that began with David
Beckham’s appointment as captain at the start of the Millennium.
Now we
look to the future - we’ll see the FA argue that this is why their ‘League 3’
scheme is necessary, despite the fact that young English players already play
at a higher level than the one it suggests.
One man
got his criticisms in early, a ‘disappointed not angry’ Chris Waddle, who said:
“I’ll
tell you what the biggest problem is when you think about it all – the Premier
League. They have a product which they sell around the world. It’s entertaining
but it’s doing our players no good whatsoever.