This article should be on the obituary page. Such is the sense of desolation surrounding English football in the wake of their Euro 2000 humiliation, it feels inappropriate to think of the future, of Japan, of South Korea and the 2002 World Cup finals.

It seems too early. The post mortem is just beginning. But England must look forward. For now, the present past can be buried with the eternal phrase that Team England 2000 dived with their boots on.

Alan Shearer's admission that England's plight was so desperate against Romania that he was reduced to cheating for his country by diving for fouls revealed the real state of England's decline. That the only English player of the past few years to go unflattered by the term world class ended up scavenging off the grim fodder supplied by England's bankrupt midfield was one of the abiding memories of England in the aptly named Low Countries. One of them.

Others were England's defensive paranoia, fundamental deficiencies in basic ability, repetitive midfield pinball passing and shapeless tactical awareness. And one other - the Spanish newspaper's unforgettable description of David Seaman as: "A piece of meat with eyes".

The notable aspect to that comment, apart from its journalistic brilliance, was that it was just one of many mocking asides from the Continent regarding England's performance here. The French players were apparently doubled over with merriment during the Portugal game. The Italian press called England versus Germany: "Two big beer drinkers pushing each other around". During the Portugal match, the non-playing Parma midfielder Paulo Sousa confessed to: "Laughing at England's defenders trying to bring the ball forward."

These views matter. Disdain can affect self-esteem and that can hinder progression.

Nine weeks ago Chelsea went to Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions' League holding a 3-1 lead from the first leg. The next day Manchester United entertained Real Madrid with the score goalless from the Spanish leg. In England's latest international they played creditably against Argentina at Wembley. English football was buoyant. The media, and not just Britain's, supported a fresh outbreak of pieces concerning the Premiership's exalted status in global terms. To repeat, that was nine weeks ago.

At the time Spain was consumed by angst. Manchester United stuffed West Ham 7-1 the Saturday before they flew to Madrid. Real, meanwhile, continued to plummet down La Primera Liga. In Italy, too, the mood was recriminatory. Without a European Cup quarter-finalist for the first time in 18 years, the country stared angrily at its navel.

Barcelona hammered Chelsea in Catalonia. Real won 3-2 at Old Trafford and went on to win their second European Cup in three years. Tomorrow night Spain take on the world champions, France, in the last eight of the European Championships. Italy play Romania tonight in Brussels confident of making it to the last four. The Italians appear to be regaining self-confidence.

The mood in Italy and Spain reflects the new blossom of their national teams. In England, the atmosphere reflects the team's withering.

Listen to the Sun, chief tub-thumper of the nation's red, right and blue brigade: "We belong in the backwoods from where we have spent most of the time since the Boys of 66 played every match at Wembley and made off into the West End with the World Cup. We haven't won a thing in the 34 years since. It really is worth remembering that."

Alongside this was a column entitled: "Ten Questions On The Crisis In Our Game". It ended: "Isn't it time just to accept we're not much cop?"

Mockery from abroad, disillusion at home. The Charity Shield is in five weeks. Manchester United versus Chelsea and doubtless Sky, having just paid £1.6 billion for the right, will shout that "ENGLISH FOOTBALL IS BACK". It will be: our perspective changes like the weather.

But also it won't be. When Gianluca Vialli sends out his side, just as he did against Lazio in the Champions' League, there could be 11 non-Englishmen in the team. After talking about the fact that English players realise the particular requirements of going to places like Bradford and fighting for victory, Vialli has promptly gone out and bought Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Mario Stanic. Chris Sutton will be off-loaded.

Vialli and Chelsea will be castigated for that. But it is worth remembering that in Alex Ferguson's last eight purchases - Fabien Barthez, Massimo Taibi, Mark Bosnich, Mickael Silvestre, Quinton Fortune, Jaap Stam, Dwight Yorke and Jesper Blomqvist - sits not one Englishman. It would have been nine if Ruud Van Nistelrooy had passed his medical.

The Charity Shield could quite easily feature not a single player from England. So while Keegan should take a lot blame for England's charitable passing, his shield is an obvious one: too many foreigners in the domestic game mean that Keegan has limited resources of the necessary quality. Because nearly all the good foreigners are in the Premiership, Keegan was correct when he said when he took the job: "Some day soon the England manager will be watching players in the First Division regularly." It may be sooner than Keegan thought.

The contradiction is that the influx has raised the standard of English football, but not the standard of England. At the last count - before Hasselbaink returned - there were 370 foreigners in England, a figure which, as Bobby Robson said: "Means 370 lads from England are not getting a game every Saturday."

Moreover, the clubs' dash for cash means that at the apex of the domestic game, there is decreased time for player development. If a young player such as Chelsea's Jody Morris is a fraction short of commanding a first team place, he sits on the bench.

Only by playing could Morris make the fraction whole. Morris has the play-making talent England lacked so conspicuously at Euro 2000 yet was not considered as even a possible squad member, presumably because of his lack of first team action.

The next great hype, Liverpool's Steven Gerrard, has been a consistent factor for his club this season only because the likes of Dietmar Hamann have been frequently injured. Although it was plain that Gerrard had outgrown youth and reserve team football and that he was ready to step up, had Hamann and Veggard Heggem stayed fit Gerrard might not have made Keegan's squad.

To take an opportunity you have first to be given one. Arsenal's best young player this season, David Noble, refused the offer of a new Highbury contract a month ago because he, like Stephen Hughes before him, saw no way past Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit.

Morris, Gerrard and Noble all have lessons for Irish boys crossing the sea, and it is worth noting that the strength of Czech football currently does not come solely from a crop of class players. All of those players received a sound education playing in their unfashionable domestic league before moving abroad. And because so many are leaving, youth is given its head.

It is Keegan's problem that he has to deal with the downside repercussions of the Premiership's bonanza. Every goldrush has its seamy side, yet he and England are already feeling a trickledown effect from all the television money. It is being seen in the Academy Leagues. The investment in youth is partly responsible for the arrival of Joe Cole and Michael Carrick at West Ham. Keegan called it: "A fantastic idea."

Keegan needs as many of those as he can get. He also needs coaching help, though not of the long-ball Howard Wilkinson variety. Hoof and rush has died as a tactic over here. Keegan must learn quickly with Germany coming to Wembley in October. If he does not, then he should be sacked. But if England win with a couple of youngsters in the team, then forget the doom and gloom of this week. Spring bright, summer sour, autumn? Football can change with the seasons.