England international

on talking about sturridge and him being an 'england international' it got me thinking, does this really count for anything these days? it used to indicate a players worth and value but can anyone honestly say that these days playing for england is any big deal to have on your c.v? my argument is what exactly has england done in say the last decade or more? can we say that sturridge is worth signing because he's an england international? whats the value of this these days? is it more than say a colombian international? or a russian international? or swiss? we are no better than a lot of the nations that qualify for tournaments and do nothing of note. Its with this in mind that i wonder why english players attract such a high premium still for prem clubs? i think it also says a lot about the nations football standards that gareth south gate is going to get the job. i know he's had experience with the youngsters but this is a man who was abysmal at club level. how does he end up with the top job in the country football wise? i do however believe that perhaps the right way to look at it is well actually the players are not very good so whoever is in charge is going to make little difference. south gate however tactically is going to get out thought by many a nation in my view especially if we get to the big tournaments. he even accepted himself that he is just a 'basics' man. all in all its a pretty sad state of affairs. we've got an ageing rooney who seems to still be the main man for england despite him being pretty hopeless. says a lot that we have to keep debating if he should be in the team or not as there is simply a lack of talent to choose from otherwise he wouldn't be anywhere near it. he reminds me of david platt….no real ball skills or incisive passing but could score goals…only rooney can't do that anymore.