Trust me, I'm as big an England fan as anyone, but Russ has got a point. While I don't think that we've got a rubbish team, you have to take into account the fact that we just don't seem to perform - look at the recent (appalling) match against Sweden
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One of the problems that England has is that, unfortunately, since Shearer retired, we haven't had anybody who scores enough - Owen is a great player but, unless you team him with another goal scorer, it just doesn't happen (and apologies to Heskey fans but, until Sven decides where to play him, either up front or on the wing, he won't get any better).
As it stands, I would say that England have maybe 3 world class players in Beckham, Gerrard and Owen and, particularly until we sort out the left wing (Gareth Barry anyone?), teams like France and Italy will continue to beat us (although, to be honest, I wouldn't fear the Germans right now).
By contrast, the Welsh national team has some fantastically gifted players (Giggs, Savage (although I hate him), Bellamy, Speed etc) and actually seem to play more like a team - let's face it, it's almost universally accepted that Wales are one of the best teams who haven 't qualified for the tournaments for decades.