The failure to qualify two years earlier did have a little bit to do with the Dutch. And a manager who was out of his depth.
In 98 we lost on penalties to Argentina after losing Beckham for kicking Simeone. Argentina were fancied to win that tournament so arguing that they were average on the basis of an early exit is slightly unfair. (That Argentina team boasted Ayala, Zanetti, Simeone, Vivas, Veron, Ortega and a certain Batistuta)
On that basis you could even argue that in that 2 year period (96-98) that England team stood toe to toe with 4 top line teams and only lost on penalties.
For me they were good English sides. They had steel, they had pace, they had craft and they could score goals. Yes they lost when it mattered but only on penalties and only after performances that had you on the edge of your seats in excitement rather than mulling whether or not to even bother watching.
All fair points; those England sides did exceptionally well.
I notice you are talking about how well they did in relation to how utterly incredible the team's they lost to were. You aren't expressing disappointment that England underachieved by failing to beat those teams.
You talk about "the likes of" Batistuta, Zanetti, etc. They were better players than anyone England had; possibly Beckham was the only one on that level, but he only played in 98 I believe.
2006 was the one England had a chance in; Beckham, Rooney, Campbell, Ferdinand, Gerrard, Cole, Scholes, perhaps Lampard and Hargreaves were all top class players.
But Scholes just couldn't perform for England and hated being away from his family for those tournaments.
No manager solved the Lampard/Gerrard issue without creating others.
Owen was a shadow of what he had been.
There was no top class goalkeeper.
That England side were better, IMO, than the Portugal side they lost to.
I don't think they were better than France or the winners Italy, but I do think that in a final, with momentum behind them and luck on the day, they could have matched them and potentially won.
But fans never got to see an England at that level because they went out too early in the tournament