The media in England are constantly telling us that the Premier League is the best in the world. It's enjoyed globally by a billion people and is the leading example of how football should be played. Well, anyone watching Euro 2008 might just have to rethink this commonly held belief.

The football on show has been consistently attractive and at times breathtaking. Yet, despite the best efforts of the BBC and ITV commentators, it’s mainly down to non-Premier League players. In fact, with the possible exception of Fernando Torres, so far most of the big-name Premier League players have disappointed. Are we maybe kidding ourselves on about the state of the game in England?

It's hard to argue against a league that produced three of the four Champions League semi-finalists. However, scratch below the surface of the so-called Big Four and the strength in depth just isn’t there. The league is fast and exciting but not technical, it’s passionate but not studied and, whilst there is flair, it is limited to a handful of exceptional players not spread throughout the teams.

Also the price of failure has become excessive. Clubs rarely give a manager time to develop, media and fans alike demand instant success and this only leads to short-term thinking. Add to this the fact that so many English teams aren’t even owned by supporters but are run as "businesses" rather than clubs and you can see the mindset that is permeating in the Premier League.

Surely this is now starting to show. Aside from the obvious fact that England themselves didn’t qualify from a group containing the gifted and passionate Croats and the average Russians, the teams and players really catching the eye this summer have never played in or have now left England.

The Dutch have impressed everyone who has seen them, with their style of play, workrate, ball retention and speed on the break really making everyone sit up and take notice. They’ve done this with only two recognised Premier League players in their starting line-up. The Spanish have also caught the eye, and they have only one English-based player in their starting XI. Likewise the excellent Croatia.

And if it's passion and fire you want you’d be hard pushed to find more than in Turkey's showing against the Czech Republic. I don't think I have to point out there wasn't a single Premier League player in the team. The deity that is Cristiano Ronaldo has played well in spells but hasn’t hit top form. The ones who have really caught the eye are Wesley Sneijder, David Villa and Nihat Kahveci, none of whom has ever played in England.

So should Premier League fans be worried? Well, as the richest league in the world don’t be surprised if many of the stars of Euro 2008 end up in Blighty soon - and no doubt the rich clubs' bun fight that is the Champions League will continue to have English representation in its latter stages for a few seasons to come. However, that doesn’t cure the problem.

Smaller, less wealthy countries are consistently producing better players than England - and very often when these players do finally sign for an English team they stop progressing as players in a league where physical attributes are prized over technical ability.

There is no shortage of passion and enthusiasm for football in England and at boys' club level the English players are every bit as good as their continental peers. However, when your top clubs are more interested in selling shirts, corporate boxes and holding on to the Sky TV gravy train then don’t be surprised when developing youngsters fall through the cracks.

There is more money than ever in English football thanks to Sky - and they can’t be blamed for how the clubs chose to spend that cash. However, ultimately if the product they are paying for is shown not to be the best available they might just reconsider how much they’re  paying for it. And where will that leave English football?