WITH over £100m worth of talent on the field, England fans are wondering why they feel so short-changed just now.

Coach Steve McClaren's denial of a rift with Wayne Rooney after the 0-0 draw with Israel won't cut much ice among the Three Lions brigade, who know qualification for Euro 2008 is paramount.

They are entitled to ask: Why do players who perform so creditably in the Premiership play so ineptly when they pull on an England shirt?

There is no one reason. Much more likely is a combination of factors.

One is the management style of McClaren. The senior players have been listening to McClaren for five years. There is nothing new, nothing dynamic or inventive to fuel their imagination. The players have become cosy in his company and few difficult battles were ever won in a comfort zone.

Another reason is that international football and the Premiership blend like oil and water.

England's players are not comfortable playing a patient game. Their instinct is gung-ho attack as demanded by English crowds.

When Spanish or Italian teams play the ball across the back four there is a sense of sparring, a frisson of anticipation that one darting run and one precisely-delivered pass might apply the coup de grace.

It is football akin to the bullring.

When England do so it inevitably culminates in an aimless ball whacked up the channel for the strikers to chase. Football of the stone age.

But perhaps the main reason comes down to the players themselves and simple desire.

It is a terrible indictment but England players, their wealth huge and lifestyles pampered, no longer give the impression that pulling on the white shirt is the pinnacle of their ambition.