Having once again been shown to be below the standard required to join Europe's international elite, I feel we must now deal with the issue, by providing the best possible opportunity for the younger guys to come through. We should now recognise the difference in technical quality between our current best players, and the best players from the rest of Europe. What we need to do is to pick a side which will lose with flair while they learn the realities of footy at international level. We may as well lose with the flair players on the pitch, as lose with them off the pitch. What we seem to do, is try to pick a team which will do the best for us right now, and not a team who we are investing in, to deliver at the next tournament, or the next or following tournament. Let the best England youngsters know, that if they play well enough in the league then they'll get a chance at international level. Thanks go out to all the guys who tried so hard last night, but the important thing now is lets get some positives out of it, and use it as a platform to develop. Oh and one more point, a big big thanks to Jermaine Defoe, who despite his personal loss, was still able to make himself available to play. All the upset, travelling, and time away from the squad, yet still keen to show up and register his application if required to do so. I reckon a least a sub appearance would have no only given him some reward for all of his efforts if we could have got him onto the pitch, but also I reckon that he would have been a good bet to try his utmost to mark the occasion for his family. Pity Roy didn't consider the commitment shown by JD, travelling all over in difficult times, with no promise of a game. Italy were better than us, but I reckon we encouraged them to be. Good luck to the Azzuri, their gonna need it against the Germans. Bloodnut.
