England? pt. 2

Greetings, gentle readers.

Yes, England is out of the World Cup.  Again.  In a slight change of pace, it's not as a result of penalty kicks or extraordinarily stupid red card offenses.  I've discussed how they were beaten on the field, but there are other factors to consider.
Strategy
The most obvious expression of strategy in a football squad is player selection.  There will be more on this later, but for now, let's just focus on who plays for the team, and how those players are chosen.
A key point of conspiracy theorists is the English FA, the body that first created the laws of the game and essentially invented the sport as we know it today.  They hire the national manager, oversee the training facilities, the youth squads, the officiating bodies, etc.  The question is:  do they interfere with a manager's selection process when it comes to players? 
Looking back at 1966, when England last won the Cup, Sir Alf Ramsay had a number of star-quality, talented forwards, but it was Geoff Hurst who got the big playing time and the big kudos ahead of Jimmy Greaves and Terry Paine.  The big indicator here is not who is played in the games, but who isn't.  Why include players in a 23-man squad if you have no intention whatsoever to use them in any capacity?  Why include Theo Walcott in the 2006 World Cup squad, and not play him for a single minute? 
Good thing that Michael Dawson was able to come in as a replacement for Rio Ferdinand in this year's World Cup... England are out of the tournament and he still hasn't received his first international cap.  Yup.  Never represented his country.  At all.  I guess he got a plane ticket to South Africa and a nice hotel for a couple of weeks. 
Good thing Ledley King was taken along for the trip.  There were suspicions that, having suffered most of the season with injury, he might be a bit fragile.  Crocking himself in the first match seemed to validate such an argument. 
Then there's Joe Hart.  Possibly the best player for Birmingham last season, though that's tantamount to being a gold medal-winner at the Special Olympics.  Thanks for coming out, Joe.  Next time, we'll even let you put on some gloves so you can keep your hands warm on the bench.
Stephen Warnock?  Michael Carrick?  Obviously lynchpins of the team.
The strategy bit is to pick a team, and then make sure that everyone is on the same page, working together towards a clearly identified, common goal using an established methodology.  Formations, passing, and that sort of thing are dealt with using tactics.  I'll get to that next.  Ciao for now,
Cheers,
—mARKUS