Chris Thompson   Chris Thompson on the internet

John Carlin in The Sunday Times today has written a fantastic piece that perfectly highlights England’s shortcomings as a football team.

He interviewed Spanish ace Xabi Alonso about why England failed so miserably at the World Cup, who said, very eloquently, that the 11 best does not make the best 11.

Yes, we can litter our team with world-beaters and Champions League heroes, Premiership champions and footballers of the year; but ultimately, it is not a team.

To make a team, you design it, and design it with specific players and their specific skills in mind. You do not get the 11 best players and force them into a position and a system that they’re not used to. You don’t force them to play in these unfamiliar ways, because, as we have seen, they will play like strangers.

England have played like strangers for so long that it has become the norm – to get better, to make it into a further stage of the World Cup than the last 16, we need to break the mould.

When Germany were thrashing England the other day, the commentator said: how many of these German players would you swap for the England team? He was talking, of course, about the supposed brilliance of our individual players.

But Germany are a brilliant team. They play with the fearlessness of youth, and they play like they are enjoying themselves. And they are now in the semi-finals after destroying Argentina in a similar fashion to the way they dismantled England.

It is not about the individuals: it is about how they co-exist, how they play together, how they string passes and think and work as a unit out on the field.

I just hope that England learn their lesson, and learn it quickly.

Well, England crashed miserably out of the World Cup today, and it will be another four years before we can build up the snowball of hype, hope, and expectations again.

Is it really a surprise to see them go out? They played so terribly bad in the group stages, and failed to come in first place – which inevitably means playing tough opposition in the first knockout game. This time it was Germany. Last time it was Portugal.

The simple fact is, England seems to be a team of individuals – great individuals, there is no doubt about that; they are world-beaters and Champions League standouts, most of them – but they are not a team.

Argentina are a team. Brazil are a team; passing in a blur of brilliant speed, and attacking, moving forwards rather than sitting back, ponderous and slow.

England looked a pedestrian side today, and, really, even if they had got through, they would probably get picked apart by Argentina, who play like the team they are, and not like strangers.

I think there is a lot to be learned from Spain, here. Fabregas doesn’t make the Spanish starting 11 for a reason: it doesn’t suit the team. He may be a fantastic player, but it is not about amassing an army of fantastic players, it is about putting together a team.

And until England remembers that, or an England manager is brave enough to remember that, we will still be stuck playing pedestrian football.

There is not much longer to wait before the England game. I say “the” England game, because now there is just one; just one game – win or go home. And I can feel the excitement building, feel the tension rippling in the air.

So much for the group being easy, eh? The group was supposed to be a breeze; and yet, the squad found a way to struggle, playing like strangers against Algeria, and letting in a tame goal against the USA.

The players don’t even seem to be having fun out there, and this is the World Cup – the pinnacle of their careers.

Just as there is much we can learn from Brazil and Argentina – moving forwards with the ball, not backwards; passing to ourselves, not the opponents – there is much we can learn from South Africa, enjoying themselves on the pitch. Having fun.

There has been a trend brewing in the competition recently, though, and thankfully it favours England and it favours Wayne Rooney, our talisman.

Everyone started off badly. The good teams, the good players – they all struggled, at least in their first game. But now Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Lionel Messi – three of the “big four” – are getting involved, having fun, taking crisp, brilliant shots.

Wayne Rooney is the fourth member of that club. Surely, surely, it’s time for him to step up, too?

This is the World Cup, after all. The great players – the truly great players – rise to the big occasions, rather than wilting in the spotlight.

There are more brown bears than professional footballers in Slovenia – this is not just a game we must win; it is a game we surely should win. I can see Rooney stepping up and having a big influence on the match. And I can see England winning fairly comfortably.

And then, I suppose, all this terrible performance nonsense will be forgotten, and all will be right with the world again!