I hadn’t planned on writing this for another 12 months. Not until Roy Hodgson led England to another group stage defeat at a major tournament.

But then the supporters and media stirred up enough belief that this would be the year that England stepped up and lifted a meaningful trophy, their first since 1966.

With the inquest well under-way as to why Stuart Lancaster couldn’t guide his side through the group stage, with home advantage, the question is once again: why are England so bad?

I ask this question because I was thrown it at dinner on Saturday. Since taking over this role 18 months ago, friends and family come to me in search of answers that I am meant to know.

Just because I work around sport, it is my responsibility to tell everyone else where England or their football team is going wrong and what needs to be done to fix it.

So rewind to Saturday night, over dinner, and my dad asks me why the England rugby team are so bad. Actually, rephrase that, why are England in general so bad at sport when the country is meant to be one of the best in the world?

Well there’s part of the problem. Why are England meant to be? What gives them the devine right to command such a title? Best in the world. Not even the best in Britain at the moment.

Starting with the rugby team, England were in a very difficult situation. The hype surrounding the team was always going to be huge regardless of where the tournament was played.

But hold it at home and predictions are sent into overdrive. England must win this because they are the hosts.
They must win this because other nations won’t be able to handle the atmosphere at Twickenham and the Olympic Park.

Australia and New Zealand stand no chance. You may as well give Lancaster the trophy now.

OK, so maybe it wasn’t that bad but given the coverage England received once they were knocked out and it may as well have been.

This was marked a pool of death for a reason. Australia and Wales are very tricky opponents and, even as hosts, England would have been lucky to make it to the quarters. They didn’t.

It is extremely disappointing to become the first host nation to be booted out at the group stage but this wasn’t a gimmie group. We can all look back at the Wales game and Chris Robshaw’s decision to not take the penalty kick and draw the game.

But from where I was sitting, it took guts and bravery from Robshaw to go for the win. As hosts, and the crowd behind them, they should have been applauded for trying to win in an entertaining fashion and not settling for a point.

You don’t want to be seen as scared or nervous to go all-out for the win. If they had secured the victory, everyone would have lauded the gung-ho mentality and used it as an example of taking advantage of being at home.

But it didn’t and now Lancaster could be out of a job for failing to achieve something he had no chance of realistically doing.

Moving on to the football team, there isn’t much to say that hasn’t been said countless times. England are the best of the rest.

Your elite nations — Spain, Germany, Brazil, Argentina etc are at this moment in time untouchable. You can disagree and say that England are among those countries but they are not.

Yes, Hodgson may have led his side to a perfect qualifying campaign but when you go into a set of fixtures knowing that one of them will be tricky, anything but an 100 per cent record could be deemed a failure.

It is remarkable that England won 10 out of 10 and for that the team should be applauded. But that means absolutely nothing if next year the Three Lions stink up France and are sent home early.

Given the extended groups, that would be virtually impossible. But a quarter-final defeat to Italy or Germany is the likelihood and why is that a bad thing?

Those countries have a better set up, better players and know how to prepare for a major tournament in ways that England can only dream of.

Prime example: we are already discussing whether Wayne Rooney should be selected next summer. As captain, people say his place in the team is guaranteed barring injury. There lies the problem.

Rooney is a terrific player but if he is severely out of form and struggling to get into the Manchester United team, he should be left behind.

England cannot carry the Evertonian, as they have found on many occasions.

Where Germany could afford to bring a few injured players on their way to victory in Brazil last year, England have never been able to do this yet you can bet your house that at least one player in the final squad will be there on name and not form.

Another issue English sport has is the lack of funding at grassroots level.

A football teammate of mine told me how his son plays once every three weeks as there aren’t enough teams in the league to get a game on a weekly basis.

That is appalling. How are our kids meant to develop if they aren’t on the pitch improving? I grew up playing every Sunday. I was never going to be good enough to make a career out of football but at least my generation were given the chance.

This current generation are struggling to even get onto the field on a weekend. And when they do, how often is the surface deemed unplayable?

Especially during the winter months, kids can go months without kicking a ball because of a bit of rain.

I’ve written about these issues before so it is nothing new but there seems to be no change from the Football Association or the government to improve facilities.

You also look at the impact video games are playing on the youth. I am a huge gamer myself but are kids more preocupied with being Cristiano Ronaldo on the latest Fifa then going out to the park and trying to recreate his goals and skills?

You don’t see children playing sport on the street anymore. Or even in parks. Take a look at your local green area over the next few weeks and see how often a game of football is played on there.

On my way back from football on a Saturday morning, I drive past a huge field which nine times out of 10 is empty.

Saturday afternoon and there is not one boy or girl kicking a football about with friends.

Practice makes perfect and until we see a change, you cannot be surprised by the lack of quality coming through academies and the continued failure on the big stage.