Most of England's problems seem to stem from the fact we have a lack of players who are comfortable having the ball in the middle third of the pitch, and probably at the back too (which I think is why more often than not it's lumped up front rather than played through)
This isn't just a problem for this tournament it's been why we haven't seen out games from winning positions in previous tournaments (e.g. Brazil in WC02, and France & Portugal in Euro04)
Unfortunately I think Rooney, Gerrard & Lampard are all looking to make the same runs and do congest the middle. And when doing this it leaves not a lot else to have the ball or make a telling pass.
Whilst this may be some United bias, I don't think the way England play as a whole gets the best out of Rooney. A friend of mine said during the Algeria game that "United look to get the ball into Rooney, whereas England are looking to get the ball to Heskey." The way we've played in this tournament has rarely suited Rooney's game although it does look clear that he's still not 100% after the injury against Bayern Munich.
The formation of Rooney up front (his best position) and Gerrard supporting (his best position) with 2 workers & passers (Hargreaves being injured for over a year is a blow) in midfield & 2 wide players should for me have been tried & worked on in the friendlies - the 2 best players playing in their best positions with a team around them working to get the best out fo these players (whilst still being capable enough to create & score themselves)
I've heard & read people asking why performances of England players is different to that of their respective club performances and all I can think of is that their clubs have technically sound players from other countries doing the non-goalscoring midfield work for them - namely Makelele & Alonso (before they moved) Essien, Mikel, Mascherano, Lucas, Fletcher, Anderson etc.
The technology debate is a big one because there are various decisions around the pitch which can be 50-50 and can lead to key incidents in a game so it would be difficult to draw a line as to where it can and can't be used.
Maybe though now is the time to get goal-line decisions assisted by technology and it starts from there.
Hopefully the 2 'big' fixtures over the next 2 days (Brazil v Chile & Spain v Portugal) remain controversy free and are the spectacle that lots of people expect from these teams.
