Dismal as the summer of 2010 was, everyone now seems to have forgotten about the bad times had by England's World Cup players. Although, most people haven't forgiven. The proof of this is seen in the slightly below average attendances at England's last two Euro 2012 qualifiers. People are still down on their luck when it comes to our national squad. Whatever the cause of the problem, it is now clear to most that England are no longer the world power in football that its fans claimed them to be.
There is no bigger example of this than the shortlist for this years FIFA Ballon D'Or nominations, or to the rest of the world, the FIFA player of the year award. The likes of Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerard have been overlooked by the almost giants of Spanish and German football.
Although like most people, I think FIFA have based their decision of the best players solely on World Cup performances alone. For example, Miroslave Klose is one of the nominations for the award and, apart from an amazing World Cup, he did absolutely nothing in terms of league football at the back end of last season. Most others in the nominations are worthy based on their combined performances, such as Lionel Messi, who had an excellent season with Barca last season, but had a slightly underwhelming World Cup.
Bottom line is simple. English players were not good enough to make the list of the years best. Hopefully now, those soles who believe England have the cream of the crop in terms of players may finally realise that we have fallen behind the likes of the world beaters Spain and Holland, and maybe now, its time for a change in guard.
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