our national team has been in a steady decline since about 1946 . The reasons are many but the major problem was caused by our arrogance. We were so certain we were the best that our game stagnated while other countries developed new methods and systems. We still believed in a physical game with most teams looking for no more than skilled ball players . As a country we were late enterring the World cup ... our clubs late in joining European competitions . We were late in realising the importance of Academies and specia;ised coaching .... Even now I often question the standard of coaching in our academies .. Much has been made recently of new coaching ideas for the very young ...ROCKET science ,,,they have finally realised that small number games will give children more time on the ball ,, so smaller pitches and smaller goals ... I notice however children as youing as 6 or 7 being coached using a ball far too large for them ,,,in the 30s and 40s they played with a tennis ball and that was something that developed ball skills . 1966 was a one off ,,,we were at home ,,and lucky as well . English International football depresses and infuriates me ,,the hype ,, the belief we are a world ranking side ,,the FIFA rankings are a bigger joke than Blatter. I take far more interest in our National teams in other sports than football