Posted by Stephen Kuzner

By Stephen Kuzner - WFD Fan Correspondent

Dear England,

I writing out of concern for your national team not only on behalf of America, but also on behalf of the Footballing world as a whole. If things go as planned for you-all, the 2018 World Cup will be "coming home" to your great land. Particularly for us in America, if you win the bid, we'll be given a great opportunity for a somewhat convenient soccer vacation. All this being said, an underachieving English national team, is a blight on England and the global footballing landscape. The world needs you to get things together before a potential embarrassment on your own soil. This is what you need to do.

It is an honor to play for England. Cut any player that doesn't feel this way about your great country. Your players need to be either in or out. Players caught in between will only make your team indecisive, divided, and un-driven. Any player should be honored to play for soccer's founding country. Soccer's exact origins will always be a source of debate, nonetheless it would be fair to say your people created the game. At the very least, you spread soccer across the globe more so than anyone. Soccer would not be a global game without you. Any player that does not understand and revere England's footballing legacy needs to go.

Next, release any player that has or even potentially could divide your team. The collective whole must be greater than its parts. Before the World Cup began, I knew your team would underachieve for no other reason than John Terry was on your roster. How can any team unify around a key player that is, without a shadow of a doubt, a dubious character in relation to his teammates? Any way you cut it, Terry was a polarizing factor in your team this time around. A team can not truly rally around a player they know has truly betrayed a former teammate. Don't believe what your team said about being behind Terry. They don't believe their own words. Think about what England in 2010 would have been if Terry's character was that of Sir Bobby Charlton or that of Bobby Moore? You'd have a legitimate captain the team could be centered around. Steven Gerrard was third string captain, hardly a leader.

Please don't play Gerrard and Lampard together or two similar players in 2018.

While on the Gerrard/Lampard thing, every player needs to be willing to play any position they are called-upon to slot into. Phillip Lahm plays better on the left, but Germany needed him on the right. Please take note because you just saw this one while losing to Germany. If Gerrard won't play on the left and stay on left if called-upon, cut him. Your players must be willing to do whatever is asked of them. No exceptions.

That brings us to the fragile psyche of your players. You're a courageous nation and your players need to reflect this admirable trait. It is absolute rubbish that your players were not "mentally ready" because they didn't know the team-sheet until just hours before the match. The complaints from your national team about this are ridiculous. This is the World Cup where you go home if you lose, not the week-in and week-out daily grind of the club season. Every player should be focused to play every game. Players without this emotional fortitude and attitude of do or die should not be considered for your team. Further, your players whined like a bunch of pampered kids that they were bored! Are you kidding? (No pun intended.) It's the World Cup. Who cares if you are bored? You are England! Your players need to understand that:

PLAYING FOR ENGLAND IS AN HONOR NOT A PRIVILEGE!

Getting back to courage, honor, and strength, these are the characteristics with which the world tends to think of when they think about the English game. This time round, these values were lacking. Your team displayed little grit, determination, and resolve after Lampard's goal was disallowed against Germany. Your veteran star-laden team lost 4-1 to bunch of up-coming German kids. You need players that encompass these values and you need to create a culture within your national team that re-enforces them. The culture of the team can make the sum of its parts greater than the whole. A focus on the core English footballing values must come from the FA down.

These issues deal with both the personnel and the culture of your team. You got 8 years to get them straightened-out before you potentially host the 2018 World Cup. Don't get distracted about tactics or whether to have a foreign or an English coach. Don't let your tabloid press keep you focused on these two areas. They are meaningless without the people and culture to successfully execute a plan. We want you to do well. A repeat of 1966 on English soil would be a great story.