Cesc Fàbregas is the key to it all. The attitude to the Spain midfield player's limited involvement in this European Championship is a window on the flaws in the English game.

Fàbregas will get his chance in the final tomorrow, with David Villa injured and Luis Aragonés, the Spain coach, reverting to a five-man midfield. Yet almost from the week Euro 2008 began, even on the day Spain won their opening match against Russia 4-1, Fàbregas's place on the substitutes' bench has been greeted with puzzlement and no little irritation in his adopted country.

That the Arsenal player invariably did well when he came on merely added to the frustration, almost as if this was a slight against English football. So our foreign players are not good enough for you now, is that it? It barely registered that Spain had a beautifully functioning and balanced midfield without Fàbregas or that to accommodate him would mean dropping Andrés Iniesta or Xavi Hernández, the Barcelona pair who have dovetailed so perfectly.

It would be regarded as inconceivable that the first name on Aragonés's teamsheet is possibly that of Marcos Senna, the guarding player who, in the semi-final on Thursday, rendered Andrei Arshavin redundant when the Russian was meant to be taking Europe by storm. Fàbregas is a great player so he must be in, is our logic; and Fabio Capello, the England manager, wonders why he needs to lecture on the subject of humility.

To see a tournament without England is to realise how far we have to come. To see Hamit Altintop, of Turkey, perform impressively at right back against the Czech Republic and later run central midfield against Germany is to accept that we have forgotten how to produce footballers in the truest sense. The only England player who could confidently switch between defence and midfield is Owen Hargreaves and he was schooled at Bayern Munich.

There is no reason why it should not happen, either. Rio Ferdinand has the technical gifts to play as a midfield player, Steven Gerrard is defensively strong enough to be a right wing back, if required, yet if England had found themselves in greatly reduced circumstances, as Turkey were in their semi-final against Germany, even to suggest such an overhaul would be tantamount to heresy.

By comparison with some of the teams here, England's football appears semi-literate. Russia had a squad full of players who could operate in various positions, to varied tactical game plans. Yet if England move away from the familiar, the players have an attack of the vapours, which is what happened against Croatia in Zagreb in 2006.

Capello bemoans the absence of a line-leading striker in the mould of Luca Toni, of Italy, but watching Toni's performance in this tournament, a fit Michael Owen would be the better option. It is in other areas that England are lacking. There is no equivalent of Senna or Mehmet Aurélio, of Turkey, for instance - the selfless deep midfield player, breaking up play and eating up the space in which all second strikers thrive.

If Wayne Rooney had been here, he would have come up against any number of players who would have looked to squeeze him out of the game, which is what happened to Deco against Germany, Michael Ballack against Turkey and Arshavin against Spain. Yet England had immense problems with Arshavin in Moscow, precisely because there is no midfield player with the discipline - Capello would say the humility - to do a dour job for his team.

Pace is another element of the tournament that has surprised English eyes. One goal, Holland's second against Italy, seemed to be the summation of a sport that England footballers no longer play. It began with Giovanni van Bronckhorst clearing the ball from his line and ended with the same player providing a pass that led to Wesley Sneijder scoring. Holland broke so fast that it made one wonder how England would have coped here had the third Croatia goal not gone in at Wembley.

Spain were similarly impressive in two matches against Russia, who were made to look ordinary, while Deco took a free kick for Portugal against the Czech Republic that was down the other end of the field for Cristiano Ronaldo and in the net from Ricardo Quaresma in the time it would have taken England to place the ball and lumber into position for the penalty-area header. There is pace in the Barclays Premier League, but that is not carried through at international level.

No channel passes, either. Chris Waddle pointed that out before the match between Germany and Turkey. You never see a good European team banging the ball into the space near the corner flag for a front player to chase. Everything is played to feet because possession is valued and nobody thinks that the full back is going to tap the ball into touch under pressure, as often happens in the Premier League. Faced with a channel pass, Sergio Ramos, of Spain, would chase it down, turn and bring it out. So would any full back of calibre.

When David Beckham was at his peak, England had a secret weapon, because he was the best deliverer of a dead ball in the world. Yet against Portugal, Bastian Schweinsteiger, of Germany, took two of the finest free kicks of this tournament to create headed goals. So other teams can play it England's way.

Now look at Schweinsteiger's goal against Turkey in the semi-finals. Could Beckham have made the same run to get on the end of Lukas Podolski's cross, and do England have a striker capable of operating as intelligently and effectively as Podolski on the left side of midfield?

Those who are still looking at England teamsheets and wondering why we missed the party do not get it. For those who are paying attention, the explanation for England's absence at Euro 2008 had been delivered daily, in any number of languages.

Has it been understood by the people who matter? Have they even been watching? With a rematch against Croatia in Zagreb in September, we will soon find out.