HANDS up who’s surprised? No, me neither. England are coming home, having failed on every level.

Failure to win is excusable. Failure to entertain? Well, that’s debatable. But failure to live up to what we were capable of, never mind our own hype and expectation? That’s undeniable.

We’re told – usually by agents and publicists for the players themselves – that these are some of the best players in the world, stars of the best league on the planet.

And as evidence, all we have is England 1, Slovenia 0, a dim highlight in a campaign otherwise riddled with inepititude.

Like a lot of Englishmen, I was optimistic before the competition began. I knew we wouldn’t win, but really thought Fabio Capello could get this pretty poor England squad playing above the sum of its parts, top the group, and have a relatively easy run to the semi-finals.

I thought we’d be organised, disciplined, and full of players who knew their role and played their hearts out for the team.

Instead, the same bunch of players – the remnants of what was laughably described as The Golden Generation – who failed dismally in 2004, 2006, and 2008 managed to make it four disappointments in a row.

A young German side who, at the moment, are merely average performers on the world stage, gave England’s more experienced and much-touted stars a footballing lesson yesterday.

Yes, the disallowed goal should have stood. Yes, we might have carried on the momentum from an equaliser and got a better result. But that just papers over the very wide cracks.

Is Wayne Rooney really vying with Messi for best player in the world? He may have sprung onto the scene as England’s most talented player for a generation, but he's now failed to score – or indeed, make any meaningful contribution – in the last two World Cups.

Steven Gerrard was once England’s talisman – we famously never lost a game when he was in the side. Now he seems unable to even keep the ball.

I could go on, singling out just about any member of the squad, because the conclusion is the same – these are players who, for some reason, don’t play as well once they don an England shirt.

Clearing out the whole of lot of serial losers – for that is what they have become – might be cathartic, but who’s there to carry the torch for the next generation?

So who do we blame? The manager? The FA has spent a good part of its wealth to bring some of the finest club managers in the world – and Steve McClaren – to coach England, without success.

There’s no doubt Capello has made odd decisions, played players out of position or out of form, stuck with 4-4-2 when it was obvious better sides knew how to pick that apart.

Something needs to change. But it needs to be more fundamental than the coach, and the players. We need talented youngsters coming through, with the opportunity to play in the Premier League, not watch from the sidelines as cheap foreign imports fill the gaps.

We need to instill a flair, a desire to entertain and play with joy, in these youngsters – compare our dour displays with the South American sides, for instance. Why can’t we cultivate the same footballing culture?

And we need to start sending young English coaches abroad to learn as much as they can from other nations.

When Germany were trounced 5-1 by England in a qualifying match, they didn’t panic. They regrouped, analysed why it happened, and the same squad and players reached the 2002 World Cup final, while England went out in the quarters.

The side that beat England probably won't win the World Cup, and they know it. But it'll do well, and in four years, they'll be a force to be reckoned with.

The future starts here. Losing isn’t the worse thing that can happen. But failing to learn from defeat, well, that probably is.