Steve McClaren’s star studded England side were held to a goal less draw in the Euro 2008 qualifier against Israel and the travelling England support voiced their discontent, singing ‘what a load of rubbish’ toward the end of the dismal performance.

There has been much debate as to the best possible England side and what might be possible if Michael Owen was available and scoring goals. However the fact remains, England have some of the games greatest talents at their disposal and Steve McClaren fails to get the best out of them. There is a massive disparity between the players club form and that when they play for England.

On paper England should easily be able to over come opposition like Israel, both in terms of technical ability and in good old British passion. Sides like Scotland and Northern Ireland seem to generate results against all kinds of opposition even though they don’t have the greatest players in the world. Each player knows their job and they want to play well and win, International football is their shop window. Nearly all the England players have the shop window of European football in which to advertise themselves.

There are many pundits making excuses that the England side do not get enough time to prepare and ‘gel’. But there is no excuse, the players are all professional and they all play similar systems (4-4-2) and should know their job. The bulk of the team have been involved in the England setup for years. They need to stand up and be counted if England are to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland next year.