Ramon Vega Euro 2016 exclusive: Hodgson's legacy is a great one - England's future is secure

As yet another major tournament reaches its climactic stages, once again England are conspicuous by their absence.

The searing disappointment felt after the defeat to Iceland will take time to subside.

All those who celebrated when England avoided a knock-out clash against Portugal and were instead drawn to play against a team making its tournament debut have been proved wrong in the most emphatic fashion.

The competition in France has proved that these days there are simply no minnows at international tournament level.

Even the least fashionable teams are well organized and hard to break down, boasting impressive fitness levels and technique.

Roy Hodgson has taken much of the blame for the early exit, yet I feel he should be judged on his legacy rather than a nightmare 90 minutes which saw England undone by countless individual errors, including the defending for the first goal and Joe Hart’s goalkeeping for the second, and a general sloppiness in play that was inevitably punished.

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It will not be the trendy viewpoint to take at the moment, but I still believe that this crop of players that Roy has harvested is the most exciting to come through for years.

They will not suddenly become bad footballers overnight. Indeed, although it will be little consolation to them now, they will undoubtedly benefit from their experiences in France.

Every one of them should be stewing for the rest of the summer, repeating to themselves on a daily basis ‘I will never let that happen again’.

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It is often upon such humiliations that future success can be built. Looking at an English team from another sport as an example, there is no doubt that Eddie Jones was able to profit from all the hard work put in by his predecessor Stuart Lancaster after the England rugby team’s disastrous World Cup campaign, capitalising on the experience they garnered and the hunger they had to right the wrongs that haunted them.

Hodgson’s replacement can do the same, constructing his side around players such as Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford.

As to the identity of the new manager, I’m afraid to say that the names on the list of possible candidates only serve to illustrate a fundamental problem that has plagued English football for a while now- the lack of top quality homegrown coaches.

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More, better-trained coaches are needed from youth level up. The FA need to create the kind of flourishing coaching culture that we see in countries like Spain, Italy and Germany, where coaches are tactically astute and encouraged to show initiative from early on.

Another issue that needs addressing urgently for the sake of the national team is the interaction between the two biggest power brokers in the English game, the FA and the Premier League.

They need to do more to work together and ensure there is greater harmony to what should be a mutually beneficial relationship.

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As for the current England side, these players will have opportunities to redeem themselves.

The Iceland loss may feel like it has heralded an Ice Age for the game in this country. However, if the FA can step up and firmly prioritise the development of young English coaches, brighter times surely lie ahead.