Johnny Phillips: This is England 2017 (and it's a repeat)

After a good start, where the visitors took an early lead, they were unable to capitalise on the goal and were pegged back.

Eventually, struggling to keep the ball long enough to assert any control over the game and riddled with self-doubt and an inability to adapt to the circumstances they conceded a winner to the hosts and were left to rue another missed opportunity.

Tuesday night in Paris? No, this was exactly a quarter of a century ago today in Solna, Sweden. On June 17, 1992, Graham Taylor’s England were dumped out of the European Championships in the group stages by the host nation. It was an insipid England performance, coming on the back of a pair of 0-0 draws against France and Denmark. David Platt’s early opening goal should have provided the platform for victory but, from the moment Sweden equalised early in the second half, England became paralysed with fear and angst. There was no creative thinking or flair, instead that was characterised by Sweden’s winning goal, a lovely piece of combination play between Tomas Brolin and Martin Dahlin.

The game heralded the end of the Italia 90 feel-good times for England.

Gone from that night in Turin were Paul Gascoigne, Chris Waddle and Peter Beardsley and in came Carlton Palmer, Tony Daley and David Batty. The decision to substitute record goalscorer Gary Lineker for Alan Smith with the game poised at 1-1 was the first time Taylor’s management credentials were seriously questioned at international level.

It would be fair to say not much has changed in the intervening years. Last weekend Harry Kane got England out of jail against a Scotland side that would struggle to finish half way up The Championship table before a midweek defeat against elite opposition. Kane provided the early platform in France but it wasn’t seized upon and instead Gareth Southgate was explaining to the media that “there is no magic wand” to wave around which will bring to an end the same old problems.

It wasn’t quite as bad as Theresa May’s attempts at a Mexican wave but there is no evidence that England look strong or stable against top international football teams. But this is nothing new, the exception in the last 25 years being that brief summer on home soil in 1996 when Terry Venables got the best out of his group of players before Southgate’s penalty miss against Germany in the semi-finals of the Euros brought an end to all the hope once again.

That was perhaps the last time England’s players thrived in the environment. How many players return from England duty today with their reputations enhanced? Kane from the current crop is perhaps the only one, but the pattern is almost always one of a promising and talented Premier League player failing to live up to expectations.

Dele Alli looks like he could be the latest to have his natural ability and instincts stifled on the international stage, which would be a great shame as he is the most gifted player we have.

Venables appeared to have the wonderful knack of cajoling players to perform better for England than they did for their clubs; Steve McManaman, Darren Anderton, Teddy Sheringham and Southgate all proved doubters wrong when pulling on an England shirt at Euro 96.

For today’s players it can seem like a chore. Here we are in the middle of June and they’re seeing their uncapped mates at club level sunning themselves on exotic beaches and at pool parties around the world.

That’s a stark contrast to putting on an England tracksuit, being handed an itinerary for training and being marshalled in and out of bland hotels for a week.

There are plenty of England players, rightly or wrongly, who don’t enjoy the task of representing their country. They can never admit as much but it translates itself to the pitch, where players will operate only to instruction, frozen in thought and unable to display the creativity and imagination they bring to their club games.

There was talk of whether or not Southgate’s 3-4-3 experiment worked against France but it’s irrelevant.

It’s about the players, not the system. This has been a recurring theme to England’s football over the decades. You can count on one hand the players who have been able to remove the millstone around their necks and think on their feet when representing England in the last three decades; certainly that includes the two outstanding England players at Italia 90 – Gascoigne and Platt, after that it was Michael Owen who appeared energised when pulling on the shirt and the last to leave a lasting positive impression on the world game was Wayne Rooney, but only in his early days way back in 2004 in Portugal.

When England set off for those European Championships in Sweden 25 years ago the whole operation bore no resemblance to today’s investment and indulgence by the Football Association – the preparation and planning. Facilities have changed beyond recognition but, when it comes to results, everything stays the same.

Club football masks the nation’s problem. Premier League teams are a league of nations so the competitiveness we see week-in, week-out masks English failings.

When a team made up solely of Englishmen comes up against top foreign opposition, their shortcomings will always be found out. Be it talent, ability, imagination or intelligence.

It was happening a quarter of a century ago and it is happening now.

This is England.