dcharlie--I think many of the English fans attribute it to a lack of effort to ignore the reality that some of the players just aren't that good. I mean, look at Terry--that defensive diving header against Slovenia, as silly as it looked, was brilliant anyway; you can't say that he was lacking for interest or passion or whatever. But Terry is a pretty slow guy and the first two goals Germany scored exposed the positional unawareness of the English center-backs just as nearly every goal against the US did the same to Bocanegra and DeMerit.
England does have far more footballing talent than the US, of course, but it's not being put to good use at the national level...
EDIT: Yeah, encouraging the long-ball game is a waste of fine talent, but at least the English manage to occasionally hit a target man. Against Ghana the US looked like they were just aimlessly booting the ball down the field. Shocking stuff.
EDIT 2: And as an American, I feel completely vindicated in calling for limited video replay technology in the game. We got so much shit, especially from the English fans, in the GAF thread. "That's football, Yanks. Deal with it." They're eating crow now!
