From a hypnotherapist's point of view, I find a lot of the post mortem following the exit of the England football team a lot of "hot air in hindsight". If the result had been different, no one would have been talking about the structure of the English game, the intransigence of Fabio Capello or the technical ineptitude of the players. All this stuff came out after the event, yet I notice people are a bit loathe to say such things until the result backs them up.

As a footie fan and a therapist, I think most of this hot air misses the point completely. None of the more popular explanations mooted really explain what went wrong. Matthew Upson, the England/West Ham defender, stated himself to be clueless as to the reasons. The fact is that all those English players ARE very skilled - I know because I've watched them all in action. In terms of ability and potential, the team was as up there as one of the world's best.

The clue to the truth lies in a common factor also seen in the French and Italian teams this time, who fared even worse. It is PSYCHOLOGY. Capello himself has often stated that confidence was the issue when he took on the team. Unfortunately, though he put his finger right on the problem, he had not by the time of the "big test" found the solution.

Getting 11 very different individuals united only by skill in football to work as a single unit is no easy task, no matter how skilled the individuals. There is no formula and no manual. A manager has to have an excellent understanding of the mindset every individual, and work with all those mindsets and make them blend together.

There is a significant element of pot luck in this - your task as a manager is a lot easier if most of the players come in to the squad with the right mindset to begin with. If most of the players happen to get on well with each other, understand each other and believe completely in both the team and themselves, half the manager's job is done for him.

On a regular basis, I work with the belief systems of my clients, and I can tell you without equivocation that belief is everything. Those clients who believe absolutely in me and my methods succeed every time - guaranteed. Those who are suspicious, who seek alternative explanations, who want it done THEIR way rather than what I know they need, never complete the course. In fact, after I have assessed them in the initial free consultation, I no longer accept any client who is anything less than 100% trusting in my ability to help them. Any hint of suspicion or skepticism and I either refer them on or turn them down flat - it would be a waste of their money and my time, and would only damage my reputation.

A football manager does not have this luxury! He has to work with what he can find. The very best managers are as much gifted psychologists as they are technical coaches. Even then, he can be thrown by a combination of player's emotional baggage, the prevailing culture, and a situation he is not used to. This I would suggest was the problem that Capello encountered this time. Whether given the extra years he now has to keep working on the problem will enable him to get it right remains to be seen.