WASN'T it a great pity that Wayne Rooney, who was the talk of the tournament and had been compared to everyone from Pele and Maradona, had to come off after 25 minutes of England's ill-fated Euro 2004 quarter-final against Portugal?

But hang on a minute. Only three weeks ago, we weren't even sure whether young Wayne would even make the starting line-up.

It was always going to be Michael Owen plus any one of three. It's rotten luck Rooney suffered a bad foot injury that ended his golden run (he is pictured trudging off above). But should we have been so dependant on an 18-year-old?

Wasn't it bad luck, too, that skipper Beckham slipped yet again as he missed his third penalty in a row?

But there again, the England camp were aware of the surface problems before the game - and 11 other players did go on to score from the spot.

We heard last week from Beckham that a team talk had persuaded the manager to play four across the middle instead the diamond. I only hope they found time to have another team meeting after the Portuguese game.

One of the big frustrations for an international manager is that there is rarely enough time to sit down together as the players shoot back to their clubs.

Certainly there was enough time before this tournament for Sven to have the squad together so they could bond and tighten up spirit.

So before the superstars go off on holiday with their wives and loved ones - who surely must be anxiously watching for the credit card bills to come in after shopping in Sardinia and Lisbon - they will all find time to meet and analyse what we can learn from our latest failure in one of the only two big competitions we play in.

Remember, we have never won the European Championship and, thanks to Alan Ball and co, our only World Cup triumph was 38 years ago.

The meeting could possibly start with the facilities for travel, hotels and bouncy castles for the kids as well as extra room for Mrs Beckham and entourage.

The verdict - first class, no complaints and no expense spared.

So let's get down to the football matters. From a squad of 23, a third didn't actually start a game, so even though they are sitting looking very concerned, underneath they are really saying: 'it would have been different if I'd got on, so you can't blame me' and 'I should be alright for selection next time.'

I remember when I was in the England camp and we had a European Championship game with Sweden.

Our first-choice right-back was injured and Keith Curle, normally a centre half, was being given the runaround.

Our permanent sub, Tony Dorigo, was asked by Graham Taylor if he could go at right-back and astonishingly replied: "No, not really. I'm left-sided."

He had actually been round the world about three times with England and had hardly ever played, but was happy to be sub.

So what could a current England meeting throw up about the plusses and minuses of Euro 2004?

David James has not won over everyone yet. He undoubtedly helped keep Manchester City in the Premiership but he is still some way from attaining the respect of messrs Shilton, Clemence and Seaman.

But the sobering fact is that, on the last count, there were only four English keepers playing in the Premiership. They don't grow on trees any more.

Of the back four, Gary Neville and Sol Campbell played well while Ashley Cole came out with some credit.

The Rio Ferdinand problem, though, brought uncertainty to the other central defensive position and that has still to be resolved.

Midfield gave us the emergence of Gerrard and Lampard while Scholes and Beckham were already seasoned internationals.

The problem was how to play all four and certainly the full-backs must have known there was only token defending in front of them.

Beckham, while back-tracking, is never going to be a tackler while Cole would be lucky to have anyone backing him up due to the lack of left-sided midfielders in the starting line up.

This could well be a point made in the inquest meeting from players like Bridge, Dyer and Hargreaves - all natural left-side performers.

Any coach or manager will say the basis of all teams is shape and pattern of play. When it came to the crunch, we lacked that.

Up front, Rooney was an amazing plus for us but Owen, along with Beckham, never performed as well as two years ago in the World Cup.

Have off-field problems for both Owen and Beckham affected their play, and most importantly - can they get their top form back in time for the World Cup qualifiers which start in September?

As thousands of extremely disappointed supporters shed tears, I just hope the group of players, loved ones and hangers-on appreciated their feelings and are more determined to do well for them next time.