England: is there hope?

This is the first blog I have written so I thought I'd start with something that many football fans in England can relate to, the national team. Its been 44 years since the triumph in 1966 and generations have gone through few highs and many lows since that historic day at Wembley which many of us in the country will not even remember. Tuesday nights lacklustre and dismal performance against Montenegro made me wonder is there any hope? we have talented players who perform to the best of their ability week in and out for their club but when it comes to pulling on the shirt of our country they crumble. I was once such an optimist, every World Cup and European Championship that's come round since 1996 iv got all my hopes up for nothing, at least the performances in Euro '96 and of France 98' were something to be fairly proud on but if we look back on recent times its disgraceful with the World Cup that just happened in South Africa being one of the all time lows in my time as an England fan. Fabio Capello was our "new Alf Ramsey" going into the tournament but based on everything i saw after that 4th minute Steven Gerrard goal against the United States up until the final whistle on Tuesday night I'm starting to wonder if hes any better than Steve McClaren. Ok that may be slightly harsh seeing as he is way above him in most peoples eyes following Capello's achievements in club football but nothing has really changed since McClarens dismal era, we still play an out of date 4-4-2 system with the wrong players in the side and until Capello changes his ways or we get a new manager, Stuart Pearce would be a great choice following his wonders with the under 21s side and would actually have no problem telling any of the money grabbing superstars where to go, who is actually going to bring in some young blood to freshen up the side and actually play them I really feel that any hope is false hope.