Back in the days of our miserable exits from major competitions we were competing with far better national sides then we are now and out classed but now we have a squad that is actually decent bar a couple of duds. We are now competing against countries that are far weaker than they were, Germany being a good example.
This was one of the best opportunities we will likely ever get and ultimately failed again as we always seem to do when coming up against a better side
Its a shame but its the reality of the situation