I have spend the past 18 months in amongst our Northern neighbours, ensconced as it were amongst the tartan brethren who – for the time being at least call themselves fellow Brits.

You can imagine the past two weeks have been, well entertaining to say the least! I was fortunate to have spent the entire 2006 World Cup in Paris, when the French qualified for the final it was amazing to see cars out on the streets horns blaring and fireworks in the sky. That though was nothing compared to the sounds outside my small rented flat in Aberdeen when Louis Suarez put the ball in the net for the second time.

Car horns were blaring yes, but with the loud guttural cheer of drunken Scotsmen (and women) along with breaking glass as a wheelie bin was pushed through a shop window I got the impression that this defeat for England meant considerably more to these simple folk than anyone south of the border.

For a short time I considered flying the Welsh flag from the window to avoid any untoward mishaps as I imagined the rumours were already flying about the rogue Englishman in flat 28!

All was calm though until I arrived at the office the next morning, the Scots were unbelievably smug, the French nonplussed, our one resident Indian – intent only on discussing the forthcoming Test series - but the English were like rabid dogs.

Possibly expecting the worst when they arrived in the office they instantly went onto the offensive, but there was pain in those eyes and I instantly took pity on them as they hurled abuse at anyone who would listen ‘well at least we qualified’ was the chant of the morning.

Once the smug Jocks disappeared, Uruguay flags in tow – came the autopsy: ‘Roy has to go’, ‘Rooney was crap’ and ‘Gerrard did nothing’ appeared to be the crux of the discussion. I tried to add my tuppence worth but it was no good – after the smug Scotsmen (and women), the last thing they needed was solace from the office Welshman!

And so it was across England as fans young and old tried to come to terms with what on paper at least was the worst World Cup performance since, well, since Wales last qualified.

But is it as bad as the media would have everyone believe? Well, of course it isn’t great, going home with one game still to play is as bad as it gets but is it all doom and gloom, and if not what can be done to fix the problem?

All of the European teams have struggled to some extent, Spain – well we won’t go there! The Italians lost to Costa Rica whose previous claim to fame was to beat Scotland, the Portuguese were thumped by the Germans and then scraped a draw against the mighty USA. The Germans after thumping the Portuguese then scraped a draw against Ghana, the Dutch after putting the Spanish to the sword struggled against Australia.

The only team to have put a marker down is France, who toppled the might of Honduras and thumped the Swiss who are so out of their depth they would have been better playing in lederhosen just to give the crowd something to cheer about.

What about Belgium I hear you ask? They’ve progressed! Yes, but I challenge anyone to watch one of their games without falling into a coma. I spent the entire Belgium v Russia match counting how many Maltesers I had in my bag before flicking them at an equally bored Mrs Taff.

So why have the European teams have struggled? Heat? Well, the Belgium v Russia match was played in conditions that would be familiar in Brussels, and just as boring and when England played Uruguay you would be mistaken to imagine they were in Manchester.

I have a much more realistic ‘excuse’ and it is borne out in the reactions of the English players and management over the last week – fear.

Call it pressure, call it expectation you can call it whatever you want but these major European teams are playing in a climate of fear, terrified of losing and terrified of the reaction at home if they don’t reach at least the quarter-final stage.

There is no fluidity to their play; they are often too aggressive (the Netherlands) as they fight for each goal and point. But you have all seen Chile, Costa Rica and Colombia – they are playing with verve, style and flair but above all – without any fear at all. Yes, they play with passion (thank you Chile!) but it’s controlled and fluid. They use similar formations and tactics but they use them effectively.

The trendy new formation is 4-2-3-1; previously it was 4-3-3, before that it was 4-4-2. It goes on and on and for every exponent of a well-developed system there are those that claim it does absolutely nothing for the team.

I watched England play a couple of warm-up games using 4-2-3-1, and they rigidly stayed within this system. The players simply didn’t move! When Ecuador pushed for their equaliser, watch it back – the two midfielders were standing three feet in front of the back four, it was almost as if the ref had blown his whistle and anyone out of formation would be shot from the stands!

When Rooney was picked to be on the left against Italy the press were up in arms. ‘He’s not a left winger!’ they cried in unison – well that’s right but he wasn’t picked as a left winger, he was picked out there because he is the most versatile of the England front line. Roy knows this.

Roy stated time and again that the front four need to move between themselves, the fact that they didn’t identifies to me that individually they don’t fully understand what is required of them and that, I’m afraid comes from their clubs and their upbringing.

I’ve mentioned before my admiration of the European coaching techniques and disdain at the British ones. At Ajax, the youngsters would rotate amongst themselves between positions as they progressed through the age groups until they found the positions they were most suited to – Dennis Bergkamp spent a considerable amount of time at right-back before finding he was a tad better at the other end of the pitch.

Roy understands the European mentality, the players – do not.

That position, behind Sturridge, should really go to Gerrard and he should be asked nothing other than to distribute the ball. That though leaves a quandary – what to do with Rooney? Well you can’t leave him out, the cross for Sturridge was exquisite and he was a nuisance to Uruguay (in fact he as the only nuisance to Uruguay) throughout the game.

How about alongside Sturridge and instead of 4-2-3-1, try 4-1-3-2 with Henderson in front of the defence?

But most importantly, they need to move, to be fluid and Roy needs leaders who understand that changing the formation and style on the pitch is not only permitted but that they understand what they need to change it to in order to be effective. Push the full-backs forward to create a 3-5-2, drop players back to create a 1-4-2-1-2 – it doesn’t matter as long as you don’t see the same formation moving rigidly around the pitch for 90 minutes. They need to enjoy playing again, to play without any fear.

This squad needs work, it doesn’t need to be taken apart. To stop now and start again would be a travesty. Roy knows what works, English football does not – if he has the character to hold it together then English football will ultimately follow, unfortunately English football will not change first.

But he does need help, he needs that winter break that has for so long been mooted, he needs a couple of weeks in the middle of the season to take his squad of 30 away to train and work through his tactics and he needs greater cooperation between the Premier League and the national team to release the players when he needs them.

Above all he needs patience, a long lost virtue amongst English fans and above all – the media, because if he doesn’t get time to do this and you start again then the future isn’t bright.

Wales are light years behind England, as are Northern Ireland, however, I’ve seen what is happening in Scotland - football is developing and the national team is in the midst of changes, which could see a much stronger and competitive Scotland than has been seen for years.

And if you thought the Scots were bad when you lost, imagine them if you were losin, and they were winning!

cvillageblue added 09:07 - Jun 24 Oh Bluetaff you have little faith. It seems our club loyalty is the same but to claim Wales are light years behind England is nonsensical. Considering the population of both countries and South Wales's obsession with rugby our current crop of players show a country that has in its place a very good coaching structure that is just waiting for that great leap forward. I doubt England could field a midfield technically as good as Bale, Ramsay, Huws, Allen and of course Joniesta. Wales has limited resources but we are not 'miles behind'!!

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Blue041273 added 11:22 - Jun 24 We just need to understand that in comparison to players of nations outside Europe who ply their trades in the major European Leagues, England's players are mentally flabby. They have been cosseted and pampered from a young age and will never know the deprivations of players from outside Europe. It doesn't matter who the manager is or how good the pre-tournament preparations may be, England players do not play with that edge that can make a difference. It won't be long before England joins the other home nations struggling to get through qualifying for the major competitions let alone earning any expectations of success in them.

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