One of the biggest problems is the premier league. If the likes of Lampard, Milner, Upson, Johnson, Heskey, etc are the best we've got because of the diminishing amount of English players playing at the highest level, then as seen on Tv we're in trouble.
I also think that the Manager has upset the self-centered prim-ma donas by actually introducing a more disciplined regime compared to the Mc Claren period.