After struggling through the group stages of the 2010 World Cup the wheels well and truly came off after an abject performance and a 4-1 defeat against Germany. Yes, Frank Lampard's shot was well over the line and should have been our equaliser but England have no defence - literally!
The defending was truly shocking as we were pulled apart time after time. We were - to use an appropriate Mick McCarthy phrase - "Mullered" and we deserved to be.
Can anyone tell me why Stephen Gerrard is playing wide on the left? Or why when you finally bring a left footed player on (Joe Cole) you play him on the right wing? And no disrespect but when you're chasing a game and you need goals then why take off Jermaine Defoe and put on Emile Heskey? What has Peter Crouch got to do to get a game?
Oezil ran the midfield and we didn't seem to be set up to cope with that. Didn't anyone watch Germany's Group games and study how they played so that we could counteract that? Are we not flexible enough to adapt when it's obvious we are getting overrun in midfield.
And if anyone remembers "Where's Wally" - a bloke dressed in red and white that you had to pick out of a crowd - then there are few candidates for England players who disappeared into the crowd in this World Cup. "Where's Wayne?" perhaps...
This group of England players have long been touted as the "Golden Generation" but once again, for whatever reason, they have been found wanting on the interational stage.
After the failure to qualify for the European Championships in 2008 the F.A said that it would carry out a "Root and Branch" reform of the game. It didn't - it just got Fabio Capello in as the National Manager and papered over the cracks. It's no good having what the FA describe as "The Best League In The World" if you're stifling young British talent coming through and your national team suffers... but that's an argument for another day.
A woeful English performance. As bad as I've seen from our National team and that's saying something over the years. Three lions? Hardly.
