England fans: let off some steam here

It hurts. It hurts so much. Humiliation, depression, anger - you name it, we at TheGame feel it. So this is the place to let it all out.

He has been sacked, but tell us where Steve McClaren went wrong. Tell us who you think is ultimately to blame: McClaren? Brian Barwick? The players? Sven Goran-Eriksson?

Vent your spleen and let us know what you'll be doing next summer while the likes of Turkey and Romania are competing in the European Championships.

Maybe you even want to congratulate Croatia and Russia? Nah, didn't think so.

Whatever you want to say, spread yourself out on TheGame's slightly frayed leather couch and indulge in a bit of football therapy.

Just one rule: keep it clean.

Comments

[Raymond]

Reading all the comments about England's demise has been a real eye opener. The usual chippy Scots and Aussie comments are just as predictable, but there has also been so many nice comments from Italians and Germans. Yes Germans, our great footballing rivals! So refreshing. CU in 2010, hopefully.

In the long run this 'disaster' is the best thing that could have happened to the England team. This was a long-overdue wake-up call we needed. We had become fat and mentally indolent, gorging ourselves on our self-importance. JM for manager.

[Lello]

Sure it would have been more fun with England at the Euros but they just didn't perform well enough to qualify, and that is the stark truth so the media and fans need to get over it. Too bad England's elimination boosted the spirit of hundreds of croatian fascist peasants as seen on this forum

[JMather]

i say Tony Pulis for manager. that should sort out this second rate long ball we produced for 45 against croatia.
top marks to gerrard for his hoofs to crouchy
and as for the hoofs provided by Joleon Slowscott and Sol - top class.
and what can we say about crouchys knock downs that havent already beend said?
errr... they dont go to anyone and are only succesfful at under 10 level.

great game lads, anyone remember euro04 when we killed them?

[Steve Vickers]

A childrens game, played by overpaid morons and watched, it seems, by thugs.

Last wednesday made me smile no end, bring back Steve McLaren, more of the same please.

[Steve]

If the England fans want to make a difference, why not boycott Premiership matches? Changes would soon be afoot if Chelsea played Arsenal in front of the stewards.

[craig smith & tom walker]

we think scotland are the best and the englans players should take more pride and responsibility for their football and managers downfall. they should be more like the scottish team who are proud to wear the dark blue shirt

[Mick Hopkin]

Our game isnt technically upto scratch with croatia's. They out played us. Overated England players, partly due to an over-estimated price-tag, lack the ability when bunched in together. Quick passings great when there is the foreign talent to take on the rest of the game. How many English players fit into to the aresnal team? - Overpriced and lacking the skill?? i reckon

[eric Lyon]

england will never be at the front of major compatitions until they start to play football.
By this i mean attacking football. The game is won by scoring goals, nothing else. When england were two nil down to croatia we started to attack. low and behold we managed to claw back, with the help of the ref to 2 all. My next sentance reveals all about english football, I saw McClaren shouting and waveing to Joe Cole to get back and defend. Why?.When we had just pulled back level by attacking. Alex Furgason Manchester utd manager picks attacking teams. Win or lose they attack.
I know this is a simplistic approach but football is simple. What do the brazilians do other than play attacking football. Germany..the same. You might win you might lose but at least you gave it a go. I remember 66 . We attacked, then germany attacked...To end this ramble I would say this...Any english player who cannot pass a ball forward..should not be there. Joe cole will be a lonley figure.

[David, southampton]

I can't help but think that our long line of incompetent, knuckleheaded managers are all appointed by the same panel of businessmen. I know it's an often stated fact but Brian Clough's autobiography included a paragraph entitled, "what chairmen know about football"...it was a blank page.

I would like to know the statistics that show who was on the selection panel when each of the last ten managers were appointed and which teams they were connected to as I would very much doubt they ever appoint a manager currently in employment at any of their respective clubs.

These people are responsible for making the decision which, to all intents and purposes, moulds the product their company sells for the following four (hopefully) years and yet they can't seem to make the right decision, ever.

The problem, as i see it, is that they have no vested interest in the success of their product other than their own personal aspect of being England supporters. They have never been held responsible for the failure of the national team although you can bet everything you own that they would want more than a degree of kudos if we ever actually managed to win anything.

The sport of horse racing saw fit to relieve the jockey club of a large proportion of their responsibilities and move forward with the British Horseracing Board when the aforementioned organisation's inadequacies became ever more apparent, so why can't football follow suit?

[scott carson´s fan club in berlin]

Get a keeper my fellow blokes from the island! Can´t be that difficult, can it? Just take any mediocre german 3rd league keeper and drown him with money so he´ll get an english passport...

[brian cooper]

Players were jeered on Saturday because the whole scenario stinks. For example: To get through on Wednesday we simply had to let NO goals in. Thus the goalkeeper was crucial - so we appointed an untried goalie??? Then we had to have a good defence. John Terry, English captain and the mainstay in any defence, was available to play but was not even on the bench??? How about attack? Why not put Crouch up front on his own with no-one to play with???? If England had wanted to lose this game then the way it happened on Wednesday was a perfect blueprint for such a result. Surprised we booed? the whole thing stinks!!!

[Michel]

scolari is the only one that can help you

[Michel]

England team is a bench of losers.
you maybe invented all the beutiful sports, but you suck in every one of them.Its all about genetics!
your splendid isolation created looser cromosoms. so don´t blame McClaren and accept that you are ugly loser till the end of time

Love Michel from Germany

[anjon]

Ours is a simple, beautiful game.

But to be successful at it, above all skill, fitness, and form considerations it requires the force of WILL.
It starts with the players-do they have the WILL? Those who select the players require different skillsets but to command the players' respect they must also have the WILL!

Our problem is not the state of the pitch; the number of foreign players, or the paucity of english talent in the club nursery systems-it is the Old Boys Club who select scapegoats to 'command' but for themselves require NO qualification for their positions other than a self appointing mutually acceptable social standing. It is clear that if there is to be any public housecleaning at all the axe must fall first on this OBC. But this level of social upheaval is never allowed to happen. In the face of any public outcry the politics of a backroom operating Old Boys' Club requires that they never acknowledge failure and certainly never ever resign. They pass that buck by quickly selecting a new goat so that their 'terms in office' continue essentially in charge and untroubled by any winds of change.

Our beautiful game must be returned to its public! The present system must be scrapped!

We must now control it as a public charter at the top and run by a panel of strongwilled but fairminded retired players who only want to give something back to their game-such men we have always had in abundance! They should deliberate and vote in full public view and serve without compensation for non-consecutive, five-year terms, staggered to offset such drastic change in the future as seems necessary now.

They shall pick the best candidate regardless of country of birth or other requirement except WILL and that person in turn shall pick the best 2010 team for England!

[Graham Dale]

Let us not vote for a new England manager,

Let us vote for a new English premier League that actually contains home grown talent through and through instead of names that you have to pronounce with a mouth full of water and start at the root of the problem.

[Adrian]

Over paid, ungrateful, spoilt individuals are our football players. Zero passion any more for wearing their country's shirt.

FA need root and branch review of the game top down, bottom up as the game has never been in a worse state.

[john]

Nina, you shouldn't comment on Croatian football with such little knowledge about the side. This is not the same side as in the WC2004, the fact that we now have Modric, DeSilva, Corluka and Petric makes this side at least 50% better. Tudor, Leko....were a major shackle around the legs.

As far as the game on Wednesday, the fact is that English players are technically sub standard, it's so obvious when you see players continually misdirecting simple passes, have lead feet on first touch and running around but never ending up where they should be. The problem is not bad strategy, bad coach, no passion and the rest of it, but goes deeper than that, it is the way your kids are coached (or over coached) with this skill sapping mentality of "get rid of it" football. Let them play, let them get familiar with the ball instead of giving them 2 seconds with it, and maybe then you would have players that don't end up looking so amatuerish when up against classy opposition who look like they were born with a football at their feet.

[besnysvist]

1,Blame Eriksson??he was one of the best coaches you could imagine.Look at Man City..but the thing is that he brought about 7 players you didn't even hear abut them in with himself.And how many of them were English??So,do you still think you have the best players??Coaches??

2,next thing is that all European and South American countries with with good national football team have at least two or three other ballgames teams among the world top class.EXCEPT ENGLAND!..I am not counting rugby...but volleyball,handball,basketball,water polo...and I think there must be some reason...skills,passion..
3,Give credit to Croatia. Country with 5 milion people can't produce Suker,Boban or Bilic every year,but ecept Holland 2000 tey have qualified for every single tournament.

[Hammer585]

I am English, and accept fully that we are not at Euro 2008. We are not there due to lack of heart, hunger, quality, intelligence. We do not deserve to be there. On the night against Croatia, the England team were shameful and the Croats taught us a lesson that we'd do well to learn from. Picture Slaven Bilic, on the touchline, animated, focussed and marshalling his troops. Picture McLaren.....sat 'lost' under an umbrella!!!!! Says it all for me. As for the foreign hordes bleating about our arrogance, then maybe they should meet normal English people and not judge us on the rantings of a mainly immoral headline-hungry press. Not so hard to see where the rest of the world are coming from is it?

[Bruce]

I think everyone needs to calm down. All those fans from other countries need to bogg off and be greatefull that the English shared the game with them in the first place and that they are now able to enjoy the game. It seems strange that everyone wants to run down the English football game yet they all want to play in the English Prem League. I live in New Zealand and if you think the press are arrogant in the UK then you wake and smell the English Roses because you don't know a thing. Yes the English failed to qualify but so did a lot of other countries. So to all those football fans from around the world I say, worry about your team and we will worry about ours or are you all upset because you are really England fans!
To the English football team I say, Look at the way the New Zealand Rugby team prepared for the world cup and never take anything for granted. Look at the English Rugby team who were ridiculled a waste of time prior the RWC and yet they rose above and got to the final.
To the FA bosses I have two words: GO HOME.

[Paul from Canada]

This is not a new thing. It goes back fifty years. With the exception of 1966
England has never been able to win the big game. They do not have the mental preparation.

[Alex Cresswell]

I love the fact that the croatians think they are all of a sudden the best team in the world because of victory over mediocre england side. It was our poor level of playing that gave Croatia victory, Croatia didn't play that well. Certainly I would not be overjoyed at englands performance if it had been the other way around. Let's face it the all the goals were gifted to you by england, if I were you Bilic I would be looking at croatian performance and thinking that it simply won't be good enough to beat the likes of france and germany.

[J. Cassels]

"Everybody hates us" so the chant from English supporters goes. No we don't. What the world hates is the media hype and especially Motson and co. who, as soon as the draw for competitions is made adopt a "who will we meet in the finals" attitude. For the past few years it was obvious to the outsiders looking on that this English team were a side of overpaid no hopers.

[alex]

may be if you guys had a UK team - this could halp :)))

[Nina]

Hi,

i've been reading fans' comments about the game since wednesday and i just want to console the english fans: the ball is round, you are at the top, then the rainy days come...it's always like that for everybody. we (croatia) felt it last WC when we didn't pass the group and lost to australia. it was terrible feeling, the coach was to blame, the players, the game... true, most of our team now are the same guys that played in WC, but now they believe they can do it. since bilic came, it is a whole new team, spirit and belief that we have the talent, knowledge, and heart to win the game, any game. before the game with england, there were some people who said we would win, but most of us, even bilic and the team, said we only have to do our best and see what happens, after all it's england and wembley.
looking back at some of croatia's best sportsmen and sportswomen, i can tell you that only when they played with heart and belief that they could do it, they did... ivanisevic, janica kostelic, handball team, waterpool team, basketball team (in the past)... we are small country, and nowhere near so many professional sportsmen as in bigger countries, but it was always the heart and beliefe that brought us to the top. all the money in the world, arrogance and putting-down your opponents will not bring you the joy of winning, just bitter disappointment. it all comes down to basics - you have to love it, live it, breathe it, and it will come. our team has it now, and i hope they keep it for EC next summer, and don't get too cocky, otherwise the same thing will happen as it did to england. but, on the other hand, we have bilic now who has that specail flare and managed to get the whole of croatia on his side (which is quite a success, as we are not that easy..), but is also very down-to-earth kind of guy who knows that the heads have to be cool, but the hearts fired up - he is quite unique in our football circle.

anyway, just get that spirit back in your team and i'm sure we and the rest of the world will be again cautious when it comes playing against you...

[happyolaf]

The England side we have today is a poor subsitute, a fraud and a joke.
Nothing here like what we had in years gone by.
Ego's got in the way, why on earth are these people writing autobiographies? Who are they kidding?
Must say though, the FA are to blame. They appointed the McClaren and Sven. Another flash foreign manager is in the frame so they will do it again.
Unless we stop them....get the message across,sack the guys at the top - greed and arrogance is killing the english game.

[FAlonso]

Calm English fans the FIA and Mr. Ecclestone estan studying the case and it is very probable that they declare to inglaterra champion of Euro 2008, already directly without the drawing be celebrating

[Bernie Vincent]

Appoint Frank Warren!

Boxers don't back-off or 'consolidate' when they land a good punch. Yes - they are always aware of the risk of the counter punch but they carry on going forward.

[Andrei]

The reason you lost the qualification to Euro 2008 its stated in your comment above : ARROGANCE . How can u judge Romania for being at Euro2008 and you`re not ? Romania beat Holland and finished 1st . And talking about stars u wish u had an "Adrian Mutu" in your team that gives his soul just for Romania to win . And last , this may seem harsh but we romanians are sad that you didn`t qualify cause now we dont have a favourite team to draw against so we can have 3 points for sure. Remember CM 98` ? Remember euro 2000

[Dante]

What Croatia accomplished in London is not that impressive. I have never considered England to be world class football nation. They are a second or third rate team at best.

Honestly, i can not think of one sport they excell in. If arrogance were a sport...now here, they would be world champions year in year out.

Euro 2008 will not miss them at all...except maybe their incessant tabloids that are nothing more then
self serving gossip rags. The blame game is perpetually displayed. It's everyones fault...except their total lack of skill and acumen on the pitch.

[Shannon]

What has happened to England is the same thing that has happened to USA basketball. Having the best individual players blessed with talent and skill does not mean that you can merely show up on the pitch and win. Everyone has caught up. Competing against the powerhouse England team is a motivation for eveyone and it elevates their national pride to bring a victory home. USA basketball has learned that assembling the best team is different than assembling the best players.

[Gary II of Brighton and Amsterdam]

As an Englishman, I am delighted to see the goading from the other European states (and worldwide), particularly on a thread entitled 'England fans: let off some steam here'. It implies England is embarassingly important to the European/World footballing psyche.

I have noted a number of posters refer to English 'arrogance' based on what they read in the English media. Relating a few journalist's expressions (to make a headline and a bit of cash) to the English themselves is niaive. If you take everything our press writes on face value, you are likely a fool and do not understand us, and/or have never been here for any length of time amongst people who actually work for a living.

These quotes that England players/managers/'the press' put any other country down will have been used in a way to create a nice spin your newspapers can sell - please think about it hard before coming on this or any site and slagging us off as a whole.

Coule of points for a fairly standard Englishman -

1. English people would like to win the World Cup/European Cup/50 golds at the Olympics/Rugby World Cup and Skateboarding/Surfing Championships.

2. We know we won't, but hope is what life is about.

3. We'd like to qualify but on this occasion we didn't and are a bit cheesed off but will get over it.

4. We are a proud country, being English has a meaning to most English people.

5. We were well beaten over many games, and accept Croatia and Russia fully deserved to go through.

6. Best of luck to Croatia and Russia - you are there on merit - you are probably our new 'got to win' targets for national footballing pride.

7. Why on earth are Australians joining in this - decent side I wouldn't want to bet on in a 1v1, guess pommie slapping will never go away. Best of luck to you anyway you sun living gits.

[Steve R]

This result is not the problem - the whole blame lies with poor management at the FA. Barwick mismanaged the original appointment and has now promised a root and branch review - he should do the honourable thing and resign taking the FA team with him and lets appoint a new top team who can put the house in order before they appoint a new manager

[CroatianCreation]

NO, England did not DESERVE to be at the next year's finals in Austria and Switzerland! You had several chances to do quallify but blew them all. Godess Fortuna was on England's side when Israel won the game against Russia, but even then you didn't make it. And to have the courage to say that Romania, Turkey and Greece will play at EURO2008 with such a scornful tone is really arrogant. What does that say about your country? They've made it and you didn't so that makes you even worse then they are. Somebody posted that we only had a small number of professionals: we have only 4,000,000 inhabitants which is one third of the entire population of London!!! And I don't think that we came to this site to rub it in your noses, but to say that you got what you deserved behaving in such a terrible way. You of all should know that respecting the 'weaker' is that what is making you stronger since you couldn't beat Macedonia...
You have a strong team, full of brilliant individuals. You'll make it to the next one, but please, stop being so arrogant...
Oh yes, one more thing: I read somewhere that not a single player from the Croatian team could ever fight his way into England's first eleven! I'm sure that at least Pletikosa, the goalkeeper, could make his way through!
Hopefully, we'll meet again and teach you a thing or two more about football...

[ipem]

England needs a couple of good players. A midfielder and a striker. But good players. I mean really good. It can't be that difficult or can it? Well if you come to think about it it could. I mean the only time England did win it was at home in extreamly contreversial circumstances. Since then, nothing. Not even a semi-final. So ... but don't give up.... there's still time to breed 2 players... maybe for the worldcup 2014. I mean someone must learn how to play by then.

[Biondo Orlando]

Hello my English friends. If I can give you an italian perspective on this. If England did squeek through then what? I don't think anything would have changed and most likely you would have been out quickly (like Italy 2004). But as of today, they did not qualify. Good I say. This team will regroup and the sting of the embarrasment will be there. This may now give them the incentive to play strong like I know they should have. When you are starving you will fight to eat and that day England was full but Croatia was still hungry. It does not matter how much money a player makes. Look at Italy. These players are all wealthy but they have never lost the hunger. Each team they play they respect. This was not the case a few years back for sure. They sort of went through the same process when they bowed out early in Euro 2004 and look at them now World Champions! You have the talent but you need a good coach. Capello as much as I would hate to see him there would make a perfect fit. He took a bunch of very wealthy players and won the premiership in Spain didn't he? And Italy too yes? He's tough but expects nothing less but the best. Get him and he will do what Scolari did for Portugal and then some. I wish you guys the best of luck for 2010.

[Horatio]

That's right, England suck...and have done for years. Just look at the last World Cup, looking average in an average group. They have got what they deserved. They think because they invented the game that they have some sort of claim to the top ten, it's ridiculous. School boy tactics and schoolboy pyschology.

[chorche]

My dear brits englishmen are the world champions of hype, and good at nothing else. Just see your performances in footie, cricket, rugby, athletics... you name it. But of course you will always have Henman!!!

Now seriously, your media's arrogance blinds your better judgement; if you knew how everybody out of England laughs at the histerical hype you engage in about Henman, Murray, beckham or even Hamilton...

[Marrano]

You guys sound like you don't think of anything else but football. Is it where you get your sexual satisfaction? Saying these are good, the other are arrogant, we are the best, you're the worst. After all it's all about money which comes out of your pockets, exactly as when one visits a brothel.
Have fun and many orgasms.
Marrano - Lisbon - Portugal

[CROgirl]

I just want to say, that, for me , it is sad that England won't be a participant of Euro2008. But they had it coming, because, they did not learn their lesson in Zagreb last year, and they persisted in making that Croatian victory one of pure luck. For days before this final match, the English press claimed that we are not a better team, just more lucky, and that we will be easily beaten, although, Bilic warned them of his intention of winning the game for sheer pleasure. Yet again, they persisted in arrogance and underestimated Croatia! Well, I guess, this has been a nasty wake up call! In modern football, everbody can be beaten by anyone! And as for Croatia is concearned, our boys did a nice job, a well deserved victory!
I hope we'll do well in Austria and Switzerland.

[Grga]

Greetings from Croatia,
i really think that you have a team which is one of the best in the world right now...every player you got, is a god on the field..but you have some problems...first,you don't have a heart, a soul..your players are over payed,and your FA is bunch of rich idiots which care only about money and the power..only that would kill you against team like Croatia...The second problem is that you are so arrogant that it makes me sick...you can't ackt like this...why do you think our players where so fired up for the game???...yes,there is a little bit of honour,respect against russia and etc,but you fired them up with your arrogancy...third thing,you let your newspepers to much...people like mclaren don't have a personal life...c'mon people,let the person breathe...from the beginig your newspepers put mclaren on a cross like Jesus Christ and pointed fingers on him...how do you suposse that a person will work in conditions like that...fourth thing,you can't molest people like that...our fans and players where litteraly molested on airport and all around London...we are not terorists...we just play good football...I wan't even speak what you did to our FA secretary...Fifth thing, your fans are my idols as fans from the hearth...hearing "you'll never walk alone" at the finals of the Champions league after liverpool lost almost made me cry..your stadiums are alway filed up...you can always hear the songs...but you dissapointed me in wensday...our fans where louder...hello,there where only 7.000 Croats...you can't leave your team because they are losing...they came back withouth you...that's a miracle...you could be shamed about that...and the last thing, don't try to find who's guilty for this that happened...try to raise from the ashes and I hope we'll se each other on the next big competition...

[little guy]

I say Steve Mc Claren shouldn't hav put an inexperienced young goalkeeper, evn scott carson, in goal. Why not some experience, like david james or robinson?
He souldn't have used the technique of permanently crossing balls on Crouch's head. If you see the way croatia played, their passes were great.
Also, many of the experienced were missing, sure, but why unexperienced players like lescott in defence and bridge ? Ashley Cole was on the bench, so were beckham, hargreaves and a few other good players. Gerrard just wasn't there. Hargreaves was a fine sub, why not pop him on?
2.5m? come on that's completely reasonable. Completely reasonable...

[Glenn]

Im English and loved watching the downfall of the English team. For so long the English team has struggled and just got through by the skin of their teeth. English football players are paid way too much and to be honest are selfish. they have no national pride and really love to complain. Like oh its raining etc, so what get on with it. So now why am i glad, because we now can clear the decks and start all over again. I have to say though Croatia WELL DONE, u did good and i beleive you will win the whole thing.

As far as the comments about the English being arrogant, trust me they are not, its just what u see from our media.

[simmy]

Hey Everyone,

Dont keep harping on,come too Old Trafford, we`ve be telling you for years where to stick your`e England.
Its a corrupt to the core institution,lets all wake up and smell the coffee.Wembley, F.A cup final in May,half the stadium empty,socialites in the bar couldnt care what sport was being played on the pitch.Villa park, semi final half the stadium empty,Wtford given same number tickets as M.U,10,000+Man Utd fans cant get tickets.The loyal club supporters should boycott all F.A cup matches and England games until they(the F.A) realise that the genuine football fan who has been funding this lavish waste of Football investment,has had enough.Clear out the lot.

[AMon]

My condolences to England. The Euro will not be the same without you. However, by skimming through these comments I can clearly identify the mentality of arrogance that got you in this position in the first place. There is only one commenter that I trully agree with: whoever stated that a major championship qualification is not for England to lose but for England to win. In general, others are bashing management and questioning players' enthusiasm in leading their national team. Truth is, you did not lose that last game because your players didn't want to go through to the Euro.. you lost it because there was no way you could have won it. It was not one or two things that brought the great English team down. It is simply that there is no great English team at the moment. The same thing happens to most legendary teams at some level. Just be thankful that when it happened to England, the final wake up call came from Croatia.. not the U.S.A. I refer to Portugal vs. U.S.A, WC 2002... true, at least we made it there, but it was an embarassment beyond words. The Portuguese did not bash right and left, or spit the team shirt... we supported the team, analyzed, re-grouped and made the final at the next Euro (knocking out England on our way). So, I think this loss was a huge positive for England.

[col]

The world cup is just over 2 years away so mark my words.England WILL be there, better,stronger, and with so much passion and pride.why? because of the last result.The mighty lions will roar with hunger.every game will be a grudge match.BE afraid,BE VERRY AFRAID.

[C.A. Coelho - U.S.A.]

England - The most overrated team in football/soccer.

One World Cup Title played over 40 years ago in England.
Zero European Finals (not just winning but also runner-up).

Needing only a tie at home against a team (Croatia) that had already qualified ... pitiful, gutless.

Give credit to Croatia/Hrvatska !!! They have what England surely lacks - PRIDE.

To blame foreigners in the Premiership for the National team's failure is typical British thinking. The "foreigners" make your league relevant. If not for Ronaldo, Drogba, Fabregas and others, the Premiership would have a dozen Derby County squads. The Premiership would be what the Championship is today.

Next summer, you can root for Henman as he crashes out of Wimbledon. That's right, he retired ... you can always cheer on Scotland's Andy Murray.

God Save your Team !!!

[Jay McDonald]

Is it me only just me that feels some slight sympathy for Steve McLaren?

I don't believe that the position should have been given to an "average club manager". Everyone is trying to blame the guys who lacks the skills/talent/experience or whatever you call it, however the FA/Brian Barwick or whomever must be accountable for the decision made.

Lets look at the root source not just at the problem. Everyone could see this was the wrong appointment, so why was this made in the first place?

There is no bad teams, just bad leaders.

[Francisco Mello]

I think what England needs is a Manager who is tough on discipline to create real team spirit and passion for the national shirt and team. A manager with a successful track record at International and world Cup level.As a Brazilian and a fan of beautiful football, I think Big Phil(Luiz Felipe Scolari) could be the ideal manager to replace McClaren.Apart from winning the world cup for Brazil in 2002,he has also won the Libertadores Cup twice, and was manager of Portugal at the last Euro Championship, reaching the final with an average team.

[Andre]

Hey,
this is Andy from Germany & I just wanted to say that i still can´t believe it. Without any sarcasm/ irony. We will really miss u at the Euros. There are some nations that just have to take part in the big tournaments like Italy, France, England, Germany, Spain otherwise its not the same.

In 2000/01 when german football reached its deepest point we made 3 relevant cuts: New philosophy, new generation, strong & brave coaches with new and modern systems.

So first get rid off Beckham, this old man playin in a very weak league in america, just for cash.
Second, start to convey your own young talents. have you ever asked yourself why the expectations are so high for ur national team?
its not hard for lampard to look like one of the best players when he has people like essien or drogba besides him. same with ronaldo, tevez & rooney or kuyt, torres & crouch. but in the national team lampard, rooney and crouch have to do it on their own, without any help from the currently best players in the world.
third and last: get klinsmann as manager. he knows how to tear down old structures and start refreshed from the beginning. have you seen germany in 2006? This was heart, passion, discipline, endurance and even technique.
good luck and hopefully we´ll see u in 2010.

[Norbert]

England has good players but they really seem to lack passion and courage. And they always underperform under pressure. It's nothing but psychology. They pee in their pants whenever the stakes are high. There are indivudually very gifted players, but when they have to take penalty-kicks they fail miserably. The goalkeeper is a particular problem, it is such a crucial position in football and you just can't afford to have second-class there.

Moreover, even if it seems unfair to say it, the England fans aren't the best either. When England wins, they scream and chant the loudest (not very friendly words...), but when they lose, it's all shaming and blaming. Real fans support their team precisely when their team is down, which didn't happen at Wembley on Wednesday. It's a luxury problem: if only comparably rich people can afford to go to the stadium, then you won't have a good athmosphere.

Back to basics, I'd say, is the only way for English football to unleash its full potential.

[Roy]

The English game needs leaders at every level. People who are going to develop brain and technique instead of brawn. Will it happen? I hope so but I'm not optimistic. Brawn is over represented at every level of football in England, from fans to players to managers and trainers to commentaters and reporters, it's depessing!

[A Scotsman who would like to see our Southern Neighbours do well]

Charalampos Mouratidis

Australia and the USA are not good at football because it's about the number 4 sport in both countries after rugby, gridiron, rules etc. nothing to do with poverty.

Australia still qualified for the q-finals of WC 2006, and put in a better performance against Croatia than England managed in the process (2 all).

Believe me if Australia, and especially the USA, took football seriously they would both be good at it.

England should be better than they are, I don't buy the assertion they don't have good players. They lack

1) Mental strength
2) A good manager (Sven was the only good one I can ever remember you having)
3) Decent selection (Crouch a lone striker? Pffff...)

[Torsten]

Hi England !

As a football fan, I’m sorry for the english team (I like their fair play and would always prefer the failure of the damned spaghettis or the dutch team !!!). I can imagine the pain of having a humiliating championship only as a spectator, what a lousy summer for U !

But as a german football fan, I enjoy your pain !!! All my dutifully compatriots in this forum are a..e-crawlers ! I know your smouldering hatred against the german team ! If we were in the same situation, we would get the whole scorn and derision of the english fans and in particular the press for weeks…like you did in the last decades. The envious and frustrated scorn of supporters of an overrated national team that stagnates for 40 years, of a league, which was bought by foreign tycoons ! I hope, this smack in the puss takes off your arrogance and gives U more humility !

Nevertheless, good luck for the future ! Hope see U in south africa !!!!!!!!

[ContinentalOp]

As part of the healing process after this debacle, it is worth recognising that had England held on 2-2 against Croatia, it would have been one of the great sporting injustices. I don't agree with Bilic that England were in a difficult group - they ended up with the same points total as Israel for goodness sake! Look at the top teams in the other groups: Germany/Czech, It/Fra, Spain/Swe, etc. Croatia and Russia were England's opponents and, given that Russia conspired to lose in Tel Aviv, England had a simple route to Euro 2008 by finishing about the Russkis.

Having watched Scotland come so close to qualifying, I can take heart that our manager has worked out a system that works for our players and has a first 11 that are actually competitive at the top level and can score goals. To think that players like McFadden, Gordon, Barry Ferguson and Lee McCulloch have been besting the French and Ukraine raises an intersting point. None of these players have been the cream of the english premiership. At club level, you would take english players ahead of them. But they revel in playing for their country and pull together.

For whatever reason, English players do not look comfortable or passionate playing for their country. The next manager needs to resolve this and I think Mourinho would be the best man to do it..

[TSK]

First - not sure that comments from certain people here will stop some fans acting as they do in major tournamaent. Comments like that will just increase the tension.

Anyway, sad to see England missing Euro 08 but maybe this will have same effect as France had when they missed, was it -96 tournament?? After that they have won Euro & WC. Now it's time for you to concentrate on the team, ethcis etc...and firstly finding the right manager be it Brittish or from somewhere else. Roy Hodgson maybe, look what he did to us Finns. Made us believe that there is a chance. Yes we missed, once again, but we were closer than we've been for ages. We will one day get there. Having said that I hope that he stays in charge of our national team. Cheers and good luck for WC -10 qualification.

[josef koller]

Greetings from Germany !

Unlike England our team made it for the Euro 2008, but it`s pretty sad that England will not be there.To my opinion there are too many foreign players in the top teams pf the premiere league, so it`s very hard for talented english players to play.The international sucess of english teams depends most on foreign top players ( Drogba,Fabregas,Christiano Ronaldo,... ).Change this and you`ll be sucessfull again!
Best wishes for 2010 !

[Sanj]

Lets spin this talk of quotas on foreign players on its head.

Surely the fact that there are many talented foreign players playing in the Premier League means that our boys have the opportunity to face world class competition day in day out.

This surely makes the Premiership one of the best training arenas for our footballers and the fact that they play so poorly when donning an England shirt suggests that either:

i) They are simply not good enough
ii) They lack passion and pride when playing for their national side
iii) The manager is not up to scratch

I think the players are good enough but do lack pride and passion and fail completely to gel as a team which I believe is the fault of the manager.

Find a manager who has a track record of successfully building teams that reach great heights and that's the person we need.

[Maxim]

People of England need to get real. It is time to look at yourself and realise that England is JUST a country of football origin. It has nothing in common with being great in actually playing it. Your national team plays football that reminds me of Bobby Charlton and of the days that are long gone.

Maybe it is time to make up a tuornament that you guys can feel great again.

[Eliott]

There are 2 men to blame for this failure. McLaren and Barwick. We all know why McLaren failed, he was simply not good enough. However Barwick must take equal repsonsibility and offer his resignation. He has proved to be completely incompetent and the process and manner of
McLaren's appointment was a farce...and all down to him. Now we expect him to the find the "right man". I'm sad to say my money is on Chris Hutchings.

[Joe]

Too much protesting, not enough forward planning. England needs the best man for the job and Barwick must do whatever it takes to get him. Whatever it takes. If it means Harry, the Queen Mother or Gordon Brown have to petition him.

IMHO, it's Wenger. It would be hard to prise him out of Arsenal, but I would even offer guaranteed pension for his family, even after he quits or retires. I would pay the £100m that Arsenal would demand as compensation.

Knee-jerk, myopic thinking (2010/2014) is not enough. England needs someone to assist driving uniformity of play from U9 to U21,the Olympic and senior teams.

The results may not always be there in the short term, but there would be a future of positive and stylish football.

So what the English start playing like continental Europe? There wasn't any guts and glory play on Wednesday.

[Finn/Engl_fan]

And to you Swedish people: Though you're the only one of the Nordic countries qualifying it doesn't mean we all are going to support you. No way! I would support anyone else but Swedish team! Just so you know this. Don't act like you're 'the big hero'!
When we're talking about England, remember to keep supporting them no matter how bad it now may feel... I'm on your side.:)

[P.Thornton]

So it's down to two people Jose Mourinho and Martin O'Neill already and Barwicks favourite is O'Neill. So much for the root and branch investigation into what went wrong.

Get rid of the Sir such and such and the Lord whoever in the FA first, before anybody can appoint a new manager. They should not be allowed to get away with this.

[BG]

Dear english fan, if you want support now a new team, who is alwais in final, and you will can happy to win : Think French team.

You will see, nice tactic, great players, that you know well : Henry, Viera, Gallas, and new one that you must know (!!) : Nasri and Ben Harfa :2 new Zidane... and Benzema ( new Henry ?)

[olympian]

First, let's forget the idea that the Premier League is the best in the world. Most expensive: yes. Most self-praising: yes. Now, just answer the following simple questions:

1) in the last 15 years, how many English managers of topflight quality has the Premier League produced? (By topflight, I mean proven winners at the highest level who would be asked to coach in other major leagues).

2) How many truly elite international English stars has the Premier League produced?

3) How many current successful Premier League teams have more than 4 English players regularly holding down a first team place?

Now, if you get the same depressing answers as I do (0, 2 or 3 (?perhaps), (2 (?perhaps), what conclusion would you reach? I suggest that the Premier League is an enormously expensive showcase for foreign money and expensive foreign stars, and is, in general, a negative factor in English soccer.
Where are the technically sophisticated, reasonably educated managers who actually know the history of the game, can analyze it coherently and precisely? Where are the technically superior players who have the discipline to work as a unit, combined with moments of individual flair?
So then, what should we do? Hunt for the latest foreign manager to "save" English football - or begin a real root-and-branch reform of the whole failed, corrupt, repulsive system? Before people start yapping about how good things really are, and how everything is the fault of Steve McClaren - just try answering my three questions.

[Ze German Fritz]

I think not qualifying was the best thing that can happen to England. If they would have gone through I can imagine the headlines before the Euro: No need to play. Mail the trophy to England straight away. But now they can clean up their act. Get a good manager (how about Juergen?) and throw out the Bentley-driving wannabes.

Now you can have all the Majorca sunbeds to yourselves next summer! Cause WE are going to ze EURO!

I admire your league and your supporters' passion for the game. Nothing better than watching a really big game in one of your great football grounds.

But your national side sucks. You were thrown a lifeline by Israel last week and it was all served on a silver platter. They blew it.

Can't believe the manager was holding an umbrella standing on the sidelines. Was he worried his lipstick or hair gel would come off?

[Jane W]

The manager gets the blame every time but We have got to be honest and accept that despite all the myriad of teams that play football in England, we cannot find sufficient quality in depth compared to the main teams in Europe. It is a damning inditement of the whole management and development of our football. Sure find a foreign coach who can perform miracles with an average set of players but it will be just papering over the cracks. This is going to take years and decades to put right and some of us may just lose interest in football without a performing national team. Do we really want to go and watch premership football where 11 foreign players play against 11 other foreign players. I for one cannot bring myself to watch Arsenal when they play in europe. I even supported Real Madrid when they played them because they had more english players!

[Daniele]

Do not blame the manager only; England players are simply very poor
Gerrard, Lampard, Bekham and Rooney are just good players, not stars, the other players are not only poor but pathetic
Blame also the press, that always think that England is a powerhouse when they did not get even close to win something in the last 41 years
Be humble and hire Lippi or Capello, than you will begin to learn football
We play a World Cup final every 3 editions and we win it at average every 4/5 editions, we know how to be winners

Cheers

[leeyiankun]

Well, it's too late to say sorry to Sven now isn't it?

[Mwanga]

England in Europe sounds like Nigeria in Africa: Loud noises and little results.
You can not live on some big names or the past. Football has improved dramatically in all countries since the 1990s and 2000s. If you look at FIFA and many other rankings, three to five nations emerge as the leaders followed by a peloton of more than 30 countries that are almost equally good. No nation is going to win any continental or world cup more than three times in this century.

[martin]

Pathetic brown nosing from german and italian fans. What an inferority complez they have, in spite of being much better in football.

I´m a spaniard, and honestly I think the hype over the English team reminds me of everything written about Spain´s history from the English perspective:

A combination of vanity and hype over ones imagined "virtues", and ignorance and prejudice, in the perception of the virtues of the "others" (in this case, the Croatian National team, prior to the game).

End the here just a case of Poetic Justice: England´s football is of very low quality.

[Some guy]

Is there noone in England who is willing to recognize that the team tried as hard as they could and failed to qualify simply because the other the teams did better? It's not a question of "underperforming", "not trying hard enough" or this or that manager failing the country. No player or manager would take sort of task lightly. Two teams, and two teams only qualify from each group, and Croatia and Russia happened to be the better teams this time. Absolutely no shame there. Europe simply has a lot of good teams, and a place in the finals is not England's to lose, it has to be won.

[Charalampos Mouratidis]

I am a Greek and want to cite three observations;
1. Failure simply do not exist for english football. "Gentlemen" who receive 2,5m in compensation almost equall to Otto Rehaggel's annual remuneration, cannot be classified as failled.Failure means consequences and no implication applied for McClaren or FA, just for Umbro and the Pubs.
2. Poverty is closely associated with the game and unlike Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Italy (13 world cups aggregate) England is a wealthy and "softened" nation alike USA, Australia and Canada which are not great football nations. Why England must considered as such without winning anything the last 40 years? Equall to Portugal? Probably but not entertaining to watch.
3. The greek recipe: Get an experienced (and eccentric) manager, create a cohesive team, inspire solidarity and adapt tactics to the personnel: play 3-5-2 when you have relatively slow central defenders (Dellas, Kapsis, Terry, Cambell)

[Arzmi Yaacob]

I was in England for a total of seven years doing my degree and PhD. While there I realised the English are a bunch of arrogant people who think they have a right to every prestigious event and a say in everything. They think qualification is only a formality rather than a route. Please wake up. The Industrial Revolution has been taken over by other nations. The academia has been transferred elsewhere. And football has been learned and applied better by others. Look who made the English clubs good? Busby, Shankly, Ferguson, Dalglish, Wenger, and the list goes on, are not English. I support an EPL team in red, but I am not a supporter of England in sport especially football.

[chris]

It's a pity, but not more.
England's tactic is not to need a tactic. "We will never surrender!" was not a tactic. England's football is the last manifestation of will. Do not sell your will for show, for profit, even not for success. Remain the last knights on the ground, be proud of your wounds and drink one more!

[Derek]

English players need to play abroad.
Two reasons:
First is that it will make them more durable as people, so that when they face adversity they have the character to respond in a positive way.(There is a reason that Owen Heargreaves was arguably England's best player in Germany '06. Certainly in the gut check game against Portugal. Born outside the U.K., not the product of the usual British clubs talent machines. Not molly coddled from the age of 8 and virtually guaranteed evolution into the big time.

Secondly it will expose and teach them different styles and techniques, which they may be able to draw upon when plan A does not work.

Other postings have talked about Croatian national team players playing abroad. Why do Brazil and Germany consistently produce world beaters?

Where do there elite players play?

Ab____!

Once our players start playing abroad, then hire a foreign coach for 15 or 20 years until some of the playersretire and become capable of coaching, then we may again find an English born coach who has had the exposure and fortitude to succeed.

Gary Neville is a perfect example I always like to use. At 20 he had the Man. U. and England right back spots sewn up for the forseeable next ten years. At twenty six he was no more technically accomplished than he was when he was 20. Had he gone to Italy or Spain and struggled for a few years he would have returned a different man and a better player, far more valuable in an England team. (Look at Beckham as an example, he just should have done it sooner).

[Simon]

Sven Goran was the best!

[Rogelio Keijser]

I blame the Media.

This might seem strange. But if you look good at the way they sell the game and make players and teams better and more important than they really are, you can not help it than to believe the hype.

You guys could have had a better manager. But most of the foreign experienced managers such as Mr. Hiddink are afraid of the British press and tabloids. It is too difficult for a manager to function under such a pressure.

I'm quite sure that it will be much easier to get a good manager now. This new manager has got nothing to lose and can start from scratch. And it can be done in a short amount time. Just take a look at Russia and Polen. But the media has got to give him the space and time to create a good team. Stay away from his personal live and judge the manager on his performances.

Football is a strange sport. Although we Dutch have qualified it will be hard to find a happy Dutchman. Our national manager has got a perfect track record for a starting coach. But we miss the passion of the football that we used to play. The strangest thing is that I'm not looking forward to this tournament because I do not have a good feeling about our team. I will miss the passion of the English.

Rogélio Keijser from the Netherlands.

[marco]

I am so sad after yesterday game as any other world football fan might be, because england national team has that certain carisma that is so attractive to fans all over the world that we all want to see it reflected on the pitch with good results but it just does not happen;a sad sad Mexican fan.

[Peter May]

We have foreign supporters paid by our government, foreign players paid by our premiership and a pitch wrecked by a foreign game.

No wonder we don't have the money to invest in our young players or a UK future manager.

It is a micro version of our country.

We are fools.

[teesween]

If football was not owned and hyped by the media it would very likely, in it's present British form, have died a death by now. Rules are only there to be broken,cheating is the order of the day, and the more you see of the games it looks like the referees are in the pay of the top four clubs.
McLaren listened to the bleating of the Times writers and, stupid man, picked a team he thought would please them. The team went out and for the first ten minutes hurtled about like bluebottles on speed in search of a goal, quite forgetting that the important thing was to stop Croatia scoring. Thick-headed instuctions to thick-headed players? Who knows?
If the game is taken out of the hands of people like Rupert Murdoch some sanity might just return.

[doudelle]

The dumbest thing about the England vs. Croatia match?
No roof over Wembley Stadium.

[DINO CROATIA]

Your comment on Turkey and Romania says it all...So arogant and without any lessons learned from the game against Croatia...Yes, we did not need to win this one, no, we did not play for Russia. The only truth is that we wanted to show you that you are not so good, and do not deserve a place in the finals. Your attitude towards other teams is disgusting and without any sense of reality. I am astonished that even yet your press looks down on some other teams who qualified. Shame on you! And you deserved it!

[Pumita]

Football is a game of eleven men versus eleven men, and anything can happen. And thank God it is that way. In my opinion England team is good enough to be at the Euro, but sometimes these things happen. Holland (2002 WC), Portugal (1990, 1994 and 1998 WC) , Spain (1992 Euro) even France (1990 and 1994 WC) are teams that failed to qualify to major tournaments some times. It hurts, all right, but it is not the end of the world.

The end of the world is using a sacred place like Wembley for playing an american football game. What the hell were they thinking on?
Oh, I see, it's just money.
Ok, but Bent failed that last shot because of the grass... WHAT COSTS MORE?

[Aussie Croat]

STOP CRYING ENGLAND!!!
I’m sick of reading about ‘Poor England’, ‘Devastating loss for England’!
GET OVER IT and give CROATIA the credit and respect they deserve!!!
Pointing the finger and blaming someone wont change the result or the fact that Croatia was the better team who played with heart and passion!!
Never underestimate the underdogs!

[Ben, Holland]

The problems with English football start at the bottom, with grassroots and youth football. Players are taught from the first time they kick a ball that long balls up to big strikers and 'graft' will win them games and this outdated, negative mindset sticks like glue. Brazilian youngsters hone their skills in calcio, a version of the game where the ball is weighted to keep it on the ground, placing the onus on improving technique. When was the last time you saw England keep the ball confidently against a major nation? We need to take off our rose tinted spectacles and realise that some so called 'lesser lights' of world football such as Croatia, Greece and Turkey have surpassed us, and if we don't make wholesale changes from top to bottom, we risk a situation where qualifying for a tournament becomes a major success.

[Mike Blake]

Much good constructive comment here, proving the fans know best. Forget the mandarins in the plush seats, put the whole thing over to myfootballclub.com and let the nation run the team ! Let the paying supporters get involved and make the decisions. 10,000,000 fans can't all be wrong but if we are, then we sure know who to blame

[Geoff McDonnell]

Once again England showed all their own failings. Squander possession, can't pass, sit back and let the opposition play. Gerrard said before the game that we needed a big performance so where was it? The players are over paid, overated, and over indulged. McLaren was always a poor choice for coach and failed to give the players any clear guidance or any motivation .

[DrDödel]

You´re staying home You´re staying home You´re staying
England´s staying home
You´re staying home You´re staying home You´re staying
England´s staying home

[Lisa Riv]

Beckham should never have been dropped over a year ago, Steve Mc just trying to make a name for himself. Jose for the job, Beckham back as a permanent No. 7!!!!!!!!!
We went to Wembley, got soaked, got home at 2.30 at someone fell into the tracks at Wembley Park!! & I wanted to have a Euro 2008 party next year. What am I gonna do with my flags???

[Tom NYC]

ENGLAND SIMPLY IS NOT ONE OF THE GREAT FOOTBALL NATIONS

Let me first point out that I truly love England, but when it comes to football, your attitude and expectations always surprise me.

In the last 100 years of football history you made it to one final. Since 1966 (i.e. in the last 40 years) you didn’t reach anything.

In the same period of time Germany has made it to 11 World or European Cup finals and won 5 championships. Do you think this is a coincidence?

I wonder why you are constantly so frustrated about your team. Get used to it. You never belonged to the club of the truly great football nations Brazil, Italy, and Germany - and you never will.

[Paeter]

What I found amazing about last nights game was that the only time someone (Beckham) thought of putting the ball at Crouch's feet we score. Why did we continue to play the long ball when it clearly wasn't working - No plan B! Why can't we have someone who get the ball and runs at the defence, terrorising them??

[Ab]

All you foreigners gloating about how glad you are England are out, do you think it makes you look good? It doesn’t.

[Big Croat]

english players should start to play for their nation with hart, like our boys did it. Than you can call yourself a great team. You are way behid us in this facts, so put them back in the first class to learn from the begining. We Croat s realy have a big hart and we are proud to be CROAT!!!
You can watch us on tv.
Torcida, Hajduk Split

[Ann Henderson]

So, England has lost- let's blame the Manager! Just for a change, wouldn't it be an idea to get to the root of the problem? I think it's about time we looked at the players, and their performance- or lack of it! Wake up Britain- let's start paying the players on their performance, and things might improve. If not, I think a few players would starve, and the WAGS might have a few less handbags! You have done a good job Steve!!!

[Mathew]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGH!

I live and work in Germany. Lots of gloating colleagues were all more than happy to pop past my office this morning to express sincere words of comiseration and support.

Why?

I left the only pub in Hamburg screening the game at half-time because the atmosphere turned rather tense. I shall not wear my (expensive) England shirt until they qualify for the next major tournament.

Gutted from Hamburg, Mat

[BARBA]

Just a remark:
English players are too comfortable to play in their local clubs. OK!
Italians do the same, so what's the difference between 4 times world champion and 40 years old world champion?
Tradition, coaches or money?
I would summarize this on Pele's case: He was the best player, because he played for glory.
Last night, it was the same: Croatia was qualified, so why not to play for glory and beat opponent at his home.
That's the difference between rest of the world and England, because beating the inventors of football at his own stadium is a part of -GLORY!!!

[stipe]

you english have to admit that you are a very arrogant nation. we croats showed you this wednesday at wembely how to play football. our team was much better although you don t admit that.

[Sanja]

Don`t cry England, take a cup of croatian tea!
Best greetings from Croatia!
See you on the croatian coast nex summer.

[Dinesh Narayan]

To continue a post I made earlier - still somewhat depressed at 9:52pm:

If England fail to make it to the final of the World Cup in 2010 the top brass at the FA must be fired. Semi-final or quarter-final is unacceptable. Sounds harsh but consider this: we will have 3 years to find the right the manager, make changes and prepare the team for South Africa. And this country has waited long enough and paid enough in tickets.

The RFU have got it right: two World Cups and the England rugby team qualified and made it to the final. From the evidence of last night the fat cats at the FA have much to learn and accomplish.

[richard]

Appoint Clive Woodward as manager. He would bring character, commitment and his TCUP game management (thinking correctly under pressure). Then again, Clive must by now have had second thoughts about the entire ethos of the so-called beautiful game, not least its low-calibre and self-serving officials and its pampered brats of players.

Move over football, the age of rugby is upon us!

[simmy]

Yeah,
But what about the W.A.G.S,spare a thought for their missed shopping, partying excursion.What will the press be writing about.Maybe someone will get kicked out before the competion starts,and we will get an invitation(aka Denmark),gonna be a long summer.

[P.Thornton]

The best two team sides in my recollection have been the Brazil 1970 side and the Dutch/Cruyff 74/78 side.

The Brazilian side was blessed with the best player in the world and a few others of a similar ilke; the Dutch side could hold the ball for 10 minutes without an opposing player getting near the ball, and they introduced total football.

The total football concept though was evidently run by the team - Cruyff et al.

It has been said that you can't manage the international side unless you have played international football and there would seem a fair degree of logic in that.

McClaren never played international football and neither have any of the FA.

So, on what basis and looking at what were, in my opinion, the best two teams ever produced, particularly the Cruyff/Dutch team of the 70's which was run by the players - on what basis are we entrusting our national team to the bunch of footballing nobodies from the FA.

There lies the problem.

[Hajduk1911]

modric, kranjcar, eduardo, srna, corluka are great players...modric is better than a half of your 'stars' like lampard or barry...common lads...we have some players to come in future kalinic, mandzukic, ipsa, rakitic....be awere

[Maggie]

Having watched the English team for some time, why do we play walking football? Our idea seems to be to receive the ball from our goalie (hopefully ) then kick it around to each other sideways for a bit at the back, then have a think about who we are going to pass it to (for a few seconds) and then tentatively edge forwards towards the opponents half and by this time the opponents have had time to write their CV'S. By then, an English player (if he is lucky to be in possession ) boots forward a long ball hoping to hit to or connect with whoever is in an England shirt, to receive it (most seem surprised to get it.)
Normally it is intercepted by a busy RUNNING opponent. This is a game of FOOTBALL ie passing balls to the feet with possibly the odd well directed short header along the way. Technically we can't do this and take the easy option by offloading it ASAP to another England player who gets rid of it ASAP ( even if its to an opponent !)
Possession is 9 tenths of the law, if you haven't got the ball the chances of you scoring is drastically reduced unless YOU intercept (rare)
Regarding the bigger picture. When some "so called" English fans are booing the opponents National anthems BEFORE the game has started it's just another example of NO RESPECT it's shocking.
The body language of the England players in recent matches has said it all, inspiration starts at the top and
they did not perform against Croatia but then how many of us lived in hope ? we have been the eternal optimists for too long.
What do I know ? being a 68 yr old gran.

[The Swede]

Guess this is the only way for English journalists not being able to pronounce Engand as the winner of each cup every single time PRIOR to the tournament being played....

The same journalists can ask Man C fans if Sven was that bad afterall, at least he qualified and took England to the playoffs.

[Richard Ferguson]

I think the lack of English players in the Premiership has some bearing in regard to the state of the national team. In Scotland there has been an improvement since home grown players have been given a chance once again at the top level. Unless young players are given a chance to develop you can't do well at the international level.
I think the writing was on the wall for England at the last World Cup with the use of the high speculative ball from the halfway line aimed at Crouch showed no imagination, more of the same was on view last night. I thought that England looked better in the 3-0 win at home against Russia. They played on the carpet passes into open space. However they have fallen back into the same old tactic of the long ball to Crouch with no one to support him when he passes the ball with his head.

[Nick]

Let's bring back Sven. He brought us to the quarter finals where he got the blame for the players' missed penalties.

Now he is making a brilliant job at Man C.

[matt ernshaw]

the FA must be forced to stand down. not just barwick, the whole inept, bungling, unaccountable bunch of cretins.

the campaign starts here.

sack the FA.

[Finn/Engl_fan]

Well what can I say that isn't already been said? Not only I'm an English fan but also my own country's fan (Finland). Not a great night yesterday, both lost and didn't qualify. Yes, Finland is probably nothing compared to England but we were so close... and for the first time, too...
We must all learn from our mistakes and look into the future. Though I'm a Finn, a part of my heart belongs to you England.
In the end it's all about money. Money here, money there. Everyone agrees they pay too much to the players. Playing isn't about getting good pay but giving your heart to it, from the beginning to the end.
So, who to blame? The coaches, the players...? Everyone? Yes, sacking McClaren was the right thing to do, at least I think so. But, he isn't/wasn't the one playing in the field is/was he?
I love both countries, Finland and England. It's sad when things always don't go as we would hope. But now let's hope for it to come better and keep supporting with all our hearts.

[Tony Pegg]

McClaren asked for passion from the fans - a pity he didn't ask it from the players. Gerrard and Lampard especially should be ashamed of themselves, when the team were in trouble, they disappeared. Where was the leadership from the Captain? Gerrards philosophy of leadership - follow me I'm right behind you. Pathetic.

[goran]

guys, as some one from you said you have to admit, you are not a major force!! and the same guy told that "When is nation going to realise that we are not a major force, and that we have to play second fiddle to the likes of Croatia/Portugal and even Russia", Croatia is far bether team than eng and we prowe that 2 times, we had 3 place in world cup in 98, and we could get much more in other competitions, but ofcourse you don know anything about that, because you dont know who could and dident play 4 cro in last few yeras, from some strange reasons. Only reason why cro is not all the time beatwem top teams is that in some times the wrong peapol was leading the team, but thank you God it is not any more like that :)... as you could see... And ofcourse you arogance is way too big, and allways were, you should respect peapol, it is 4 sure one of main reasons why you are loosing!!!!
It is not shame too be beaten from Croatia, after all we are bether team! lot of bether wer beaten of cro to, like italy, first match after they won a world cup, they were playing agains croatia at home, ita-cro 1:3, and they are world chapions, and you are not close... sorry for bad eng. soon you will have to learn croatian ;) and bye from Zagreb.
ps. suport us on euro

[Bothroyd]

I absolutely agree with Felipe. We (the English) completely over-rate our players. We are blinded by our pride and patriotism. The truth is, our players are very, very ordinary footballers. It worries me to hear so many people say with total confidence and assurance that the likes of Lampard, Gerrard, Owen, Terry, Ferdinand, etc are "world class". We hear it everyday in the press and on the streets. By our own claims, we seem to have about 6 or 7 "world-class" players. When the truth is, even the greatest teams (Brazil & Argentina) only have a handful of "world class" talent. People like Gerrard are exceptional ATHLETES... they have speed, strenght, stamina, and aggression. But they are nothing more than AVERAGE FOOTBALLERS. The last time I checked, football was about technique and creativity - NOT just about being a good 'athlete'. With the exception of Rooney, none of our players are even remotely above average. We lost to croatia and Russia because we are not as talented as them. Simple. We dont deserve to be ranked any higher than them in the FIFA world rankings. Its laughable.

[ryan]

hi,
i love english football, but croatia deserved to win last night, simply croatians have a bigger heart when it comes to playing for their country.croatia is a small land with only few million people, and few proffesionals,but proud to be croats and fight for their land when it is necessary....good luck england

[Dan]

SACK BARWICK

Barwick is quoted as saying the buck had to stop with McClaren. Why? The buck surely has to stop with the people who against the wishes of a nation appointed him. Barwick should resign, if not he should be fired. Why should we have the same person pick the next coach? Until Barwick has gone, English football will continue to drift.

[Boy Dakyns]

Not a morcel of sense in any of the comments so far but then I haven't read them all. When the heat has died down and passions have simmered fans should reflect that this was a wonderful game of football.

What a story. Team needs to draw. They go 2 down. After abject start, they make a heroic come back to 2-2. With fourteen minutes to go, they concede a third. In the last minute they have one final chance.

Sport is cruel, it is the best drama because the outcome is unknown. Sounds like guff Simon Barnes writes, apologies.

It's not like the movies. England should be proud to have taken part in such a wonderful contest. Bravo, Bravo England.

So ignore all the boring and dreadful cliches about structure, foreign players, bad managers etc.

One final point, everyone loves playing England because they are on show in the shop window of all shop windows: a place in richest league in the world.

England are victims of their own success. A brilliant, multi-cultural and universal jamboree: The premier league. Thankyou Blighty.

[CroatianClarets]

dear english people
i am an croat and you could thing i am happy but i am not because i like you english people,because i know that euro2008 is not just the same without your team...but life is like this,sometimes...YOUR ONLY PROBLEM;BIG BIG PROBLEM IS YOUR FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION;THOSE RICH FAT OLD PEOPLE WHO KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT MODERN FOOTBALL AND ALWAYS GAVE A COACHING JOB TO A WRONG PERSON...CLEAN YOUR FOOTBALL FROM THE TOP AND BRING ON SOME YOUNG PEOPLE WHO WILL KNOW WHO TO GIVE THE COACHING JOB...
NOW YOU ARE DOWN AND FROM THERE YOU CAN GO ONLY UP...SEE YOU SOON UP THERE ON THE TOP BECAUSE THERE IS WHERE YOU BELONG...

[oliver sellen]

I think it's time the fans took control; the FA have shown themselves to be incompetent when it comes to choosing the England manager: let's organize a democratic process, where each fan attending a league match on a certain date gets a vote. I think the manager should have a two year tenure and if he's doing well give him another two, and then, after four years, vote again.
And while I'm on fanpower, when are premier league fans going to realize that they are as important to the television product as the players. If all premier matches were boycotted for a month, Sky would be paying them to go to matches.

[Filipe]

I'm a portuguese who who has spent a long time in England. I am not sad at all to see England out. let's be honest, this has been a long qualifying campaign, and yes accidents do occur, but in the end, the best teams do emerge (all the big teams are through). England must get real, they are not the football force they once were and nowadays are far from being amongst the best sides in Europe. I do praise and respect the english fan's enthusiasm and passion for the game and for their side but you need to start living in the present time.
What strikes me the most is when I hear "world class players" according to whom? English press? Most of england's players would be far from being 1st choice transfers from top european clubs in Italy or Spain. They do play well for their clubs but they do need the technique and creativity shown by their foreign colleagues. England use to have a big heart when they played, the things I use to hear as a kid was, It's never finish with the english! they will fight till the end, they never give up. We did respect that. England was once feared and respected.It is not the case anymore, We see England just as a solid side but playing an average and boring football. England is all about hype, living with reputation, but this will not earn you the points you need to qualify. Don't get me wrong, I am not against england but it is time for this country to stop believing the papers, stop referring to english football when you talk about the top sides in the premiership. If England starts to look at itself as it really is and not as it thinks it ought to be, then and only then progress will be possible, and eventually England will rise again.

[chris]

slavan billic got it right yesterday. they just ain't good enough. how many bad games is it gonna take for us to realise that. even when we win we play bad football. we seen it in the last world cup and and it's carried on from there. i don't think you can blame it all on the manager. it's down to the players, they just can't compete with the technical ability of international teams. our passing is shocking sometimes, gerrard one of the best passers in the game couldn't pass a ball 3 yards lastnight. i know micah richards is young but he looked liked he didn't care. he was jogging round the pitch like he was going for a jog with his granny. going up for corners then taking all day to get back into position. we're bigging these players up and their starting to believe it. roy keane's right, these players think their bigtime. we need a manager to come in and shake things up. their over paid bigtime charleys. the captain needs to change as well. i'd give it back to beckham, he's got more passion then them all put together. ever since gerrards been captain he's played woeful. these players have took us for mugs for to long. my respect for these players is over till they start showing passion. how can the scotts die for their team but our players hardly break a sweat...

[Joe]

In a democratic country how can an elite group of men be so unaccountable to the people.
The FA have made some attrocious decisions over recent years and more importantly have mismanaged the national institution that drives the British male.
Wembley is a one word insult for the FA, as their management of its' selection and redevelopment was a joke.
Then came the second joke around McClaren's emergency drop in appointment. Again due to management failure they lurched to react to events they did not control.
McClaren was always Hobson's choice and the people knew it .. yet the FA continued blindly on their road to no where.

Since the F.A are having a root and branch review, then perhaps they aught to bring in some business consultants and have the makeup and construction of the FA itself reviewed, and (in my opinion) amended to ensure short tenures and nominated elections to posts.

Then perhaps we can hope that the replacements for the dinosaurs running the game at present might see the next Mike Bassett England manager heading their way and avoid giving him the job.

As of 45th minute against Croatia .. England (in the second half) will be play 4 - 4 - F'ing - 2 .. Does sum up McClaren's tactical efforts as England manager.

[juanperez]

And now UEFA should seriously consider allowing the best third-placed teams in the qualifying groups a place in the finals.
Seeing Scotland,England,former champions Denmark out of the finals proves how competitive and high-standard european football has become.
Having five groups of teams in the final rounds would be no problem to manage and would add to
the level of the competiton.

[Phil de Buquet]

Why should mr McLaren take all the blame. Aren't highly paid football players supposed to some sort of in built skill which should not require them to be given blow by blow instructions on how to get a ball into the space between two white posts.

If they require regular orders on how to do this their salaries should be reduced by 75%. Perhaps then, with huge cars and houses and expensive partners to pay for they would very quickly have the incentive to get the ball where it would make them some money, in the net !

[Holland online]

Holland is qualified and Russia's Steve Mc Claren, Guus Hiddink, is Dutch. Time for Dutch experience ?

[Hoodie]

Responsibility? Anyone remember that concept? Of course not - it died after not one but two Blairs (in a forum apart from football) refused to accept it and resign. Whoever appointed the luckless McClaren should join him in the dole queue, not be entrusted with yet another possibly disastrous choice.

Out of disaster, possibly a new dawn. Goodbye at last to Disneyland one trick ponies and overpaid club stars who can't produce for their country. Good organization and motivation can create winners from good players. Leave the celebs to count their money - let's build a winning TEAM.

[john pette]

The question has to be asked. If steve Mclaren is to be fired for not doing his job properly. How is Brian Barwick still in a job and more importantly how is he in charge of selecting the next manager?

[Ian B]

The simple truths are as follows:

1 - Our players are not as good as we (the fans, the media) hype them up to be. They may play in the best league in Europe, and get paid the highest salaries, but they are a long way from being as technically gifted as, for example, the best Dutch, German or Spanish players.

2 - McClaren was never the right man for the job. He was too much a key part of the former (failed) regime of Sven, why did the FA think he would succeed?

3- England's tactically knowledge is hopeless, embarrassing even. The long ball approach last night just wasn't going to work. There is no plan B when the rubbish plan A fails. The idea seems to be to put these good players on the pitch, and hope for them to gel together. Its not going to happen like that.