[shakermaker]

There's no excuse for a performance like that. As soon as these prima donna football players go up against a team with something to prove or any hunger to win whatsoever, they buckle.

There's a definite lack of leadership on the field. The best at leading by example (David Beckham) is out injured. Steven Gerrard isn't at his best after a lacklustre domestic season.

To me, the starting eleven doesn't look balanced at all. The two most technically gifted defenders in the England squad (Ledley King and Rio Ferdinand) are out injured, and have been replaced by a traditionally bit-part utility player in Jamie Carragher. The brightest spark going forward (Joe Cole) hasn't yet had a look in, while one of England's most effective players in international games over the last five years (Peter Crouch) has only seen a few minutes off the bench. Aaron Lennon is notorious for offering a severe lack in end product, I've no idea why he's in ahead of Shaun Wright-Phillips. Emile Heskey, God love him, is a player low on confidence, poor in front of goal and increasingly ineffective as a target man as the games wear on.

And as I type this, Glen Johnson has been skinned ten more times...

It's certainly not over, but it's going to take something very special for England to get anywhere near the standard that they should be at, as World Cup contenders.