It's ridiculous to say the players don't care about playing for England, which suggests they're not even trying. They do care, very much. For them it's a dream come true, a real honour and the pinnicle of their careers. Ask any player if they'd rather win the League, the Champion's League or the World Cup and guess what the answer will be. I don't like John Terry but I know he'd rip his own heart out if he thought it would help England win the World Cup. Wayne Rooney is moody, petulant and sulks too much in an England shirt, but only because performing well and winning means so much, not so little.
We blame the manager, the tactics, the players, the Premier League, the length of the season - anything we can think of to explain our lack of success. Isn't it time we realized that, with one or two exceptions, our players just aren't good enough at international level? Once we accept that and stop beating ourselves up every time we lose we can relax and once again enjoy supporting our national team.
There are 15 teams in the Premier League that are never likely to win it, but that doesn't stop their matches from being entertaining or the fans from giving full support and recognizing when their teams are doing their best despite being outplayed by better opposition. Never mind winning it, they're just happy to be in it. Why can't we have the same attitude towards England? Qualification for a major tournament should be enough, then just relax, enjoy and see what happens. If we adopt that attitude and remove the ridiculous and unrealistic weight of expectation from the players, we might be pleasantly surprised.