Is England good enough?

Here's the question I believe hundreds of thousands of fans would like to ask. Is England good enough to qualify for Euro 2008?

My personal view on this is - England is good enough, but the coach/manager isn't. Why? First because Steve McLaren doesn't possess enough experience in international football. Secondly he choose players that get along with him and he likes. Third International football is a whole lot different from club football. Forth he plays who he thinks best for him, not the team ........ and a lot more.

No disrespect to Steve McLaren, he is a good football coach but he is not a good manager. A manager not only need to be good in coaching, but also in man-management and every aspects in football terms. He certainly has a good track record as a coach, but doesn't as a Manager. When he coach Man Utd under Sir Alex Ferguson, he can maximised and fully utilised his ability to the maximum, but when coaching Middlesbrough, he's unable to produce the same kind of results and team that made him famous for.

Like a lot of people said, 11 good players not neccessary make a good team, but a good team certainly have 11 good players. Team play is far more important than individuals. Like England team, they certainly have more than 2 sets of 11 good players, but these players just don't click in big matches. On paper they are good enough to beating any team in the world, including Italy, Brazil, Argentina, Holland etc. Yet they always failed at the moments mattered most. Why? Because they don't work for each other, but individuals.

Also English players nowadays are more like superstars than footballers. They earn big money at club levels, through commercial deals, TV appearances etc, and they may feel it's risky that they fought for their country in expense of the risk of losing personal interests. There aren't many players that's patriotic like Stevie G, Beckham, Owen Joe Cole and some lesser known players. It is felt that players like Frank Lampard, John Terry, Ashley Cole and others just follow the team for matches treating it as a short vacation. With such kind of attitude, England will just not progress no matter how many good or top class player they have, it just won't gel.

Conclusion, England can only progress further if they can find a proper and be counted coach/manager to properly, carefully choose and build the team. Good teams alwayshave contunuity and have heart for their nations.

In saying so, I just don't think England deserve to qualify for Euro 2008, and hopefully they are able to find a proper replacement for Steve McLaren and bringing the boys and men forward and achieve something for their nations.