by Jonte Rhodes

Created on: June 12, 2009

The England national side has been one of the most underachieving in the world, despite often having very good squads on paper. There are many reasons why this has happened, from the media glare to unsound managerial decisions, although either way England are overdue for a trophy. When it comes to actually achieving this feat however, there are many different opinions on the matter, but there are quite a few areas that fans and pundits alike universally agree on.

Often in the past England managers have tended to be of a poor quality, and haven't lived up to expectations. One of the main reasons for this is that they usually don't have any experience with national sides, and people tend to forget that club and national management is very different. Picking managers in the future who have international pedigree and experience should always be a priority over whatever they have achieved at club level.

In the past picking English managers over foreign managers despite their track records has also been a problem, with the English managers always being given priority. This trend has seemingly changed of late, after the appointments of Sven Goran Erikson and Fabio Capello, although before this the trend was still in place. Anyone who remembers the Steve Mclaren debacle will testify to the fact that picking an English manager over a good manager isn't the best choice.

Tactics have often been an area that England could improve on, mainly due to the fact that fielding a balanced team isn't always easy. Weaknesses in certain areas of the pitch has lead to certain players being played out of their natural positions, which has limited their impact on the game. Accepting a weaker player and playing a better player in their natural position is one way of solving this, although this does leave a weaker area. The main problem is that there isn't enough talent coming through from a grass roots level, although this is something that every team has to contend with.

Many of England's players have become premadonnas, and are often more in charge of the team than the managers are. Managers need to be able to have the courage to leave out disruptive players and take command of the team themselves, not be overawed by pampered millionaires. Part of the problem is that the players are coddled at their clubs, and the press tends to blame the managers rather than the players after a poor performance.

Related to this problem is the fact that many managers are afraid to pick players not from

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