London: As another World Cup draws to an end, we find ourselves in familiar territory, in urgent need of some German lessons. Of all the leading European countries, it is Germany’s consistency in reaching the latter stages of major tournaments that is worthy of admiration, but there is also a sense of fury when considering our failings.

The German template is the one we can and should be following, proof that you can marry a powerful domestic league and regular Champions League success with a national team of the highest class. Unfortunately, structurally we are miles behind, and I fear culturally we are incapable of making the necessary adjustments to catch up soon.

You only have to see the negative reaction to Greg Dyke’s proposals for B teams to see how resistant we are in England to embracing the radical ideas our game is crying out for. If we do not find a solution to the problem of our young players being denied the opportunity to play a high level of football between the ages of 17-21, we can forget about ever replicating Germany’s success.

Those who argue we do not have the quality players are ignoring the real problem. We have just won the Under-17 European Championship but there will be nowhere for those players to go in two years because - with one or two exceptions when a fully developed teenager bursts on to the scene - English football has not got a clue what to do with its emerging talent.

In Germany, the progress from the youth ranks into the Bundesliga appears to be so much easier. I once asked my good friend Didi Hamann what he considered the biggest difference between German and English football. He defined it to me as follows: “If an English player is booked in a World Cup semi-final, and it means he can’t play in the final, he starts crying on the pitch,” Didi said.

“If it happens to a German, he puts it out of his mind and then scores the winning goal. One player is thinking about himself and the other his team.” The current superiority of German football culture over ours can be summed up as an obligation to always put the greater good over any individual needs, a philosophy that applies not only within the 11 players on the pitch but across every level of their game.

The way Didi put it, whether we like it or not, the perception of English football is that selfish needs come first. The leagues are looking after their own interests above those of the national team, the biggest clubs want less rather than more international football to protect their talent, and some players are more worried about the impact a performance will have on their own reputation. You could call it a systematic selfishness that is the complete opposite of German football — where the national team are at the top of the pyramid.

We have always been obsessed by the cult of individual, whether it is heaping praise on those who have performed well and elevating their status, or crucifying those who failed to produce their best, to the point where some players have not enjoyed playing for their country and have worried about the consequences of a defeat too much.

I have been on an England team bus after an exit in a major tournament when the biggest concern of some players was whether they would get only a five out of 10 in the match reports the next day. I cannot imagine a German player being concerned by such trivialities. There is a team spirit within the German national set-up that is more akin to club football, something we have often tried to replicate in the England dressing room, with minimal success.

When you look at the Germany and Argentina sides, there are modern superstar players all over the teamsheets, and yet I would argue their progress to the final is based entirely on their team ethic. Take some of the finest individuals from the German team - Toni Kroos, for example — and place them in the England squad. What would happen? There would be an obsession about building a team around him, the same as happens every time we find an outstanding individual talent.

You do not hear that kind of demand in Germany, where the collective force is so much more potent. Is Miroslav Klose one of the 11 best players at Germany’s disposal? I would argue not, but he fits the system. If we had a player like that in the England squad, my bet is we would be saying he was a one-trick pony who ‘only’ scored goals and did not contribute enough outside the box.

It is not always fashionable in modern football, but putting round pegs in round holes works, and allowing everyone to get the best out of each others’ different qualities is a winning formula. Even Argentina, with one of the greatest individual talents in the history of the game, have so much more to them than Lionel Messi.

Of course, when you have him you can be sure that there will be match-winning contributions and they want to get him on the ball as much as possible, but it was the performance of Javier Mascherano - the ultimate team player - that shone against Holland. The respective managers, Joachim Loew and Alejandro Sabella, have designed teams in which every player knows exactly what is expected, where everyone complements each other.

Of course they have many top-class players, but credit should be given for moulding them into a team rather than an assortment of players trying to claim all the glory. I have two theories as to who will win on Sunday, one based on my head and the other my wallet. I bet on Argentina before the tournament so I will not change my mind at this late stage, but when assessing both teams it is evident Germany possess more firepower.

Their destruction of Brazil was both beautiful and painful, exposing the incompetence of the hosts with frightening virtuosity. There is no way Argentina will grant them that kind of space and it will be a much more cagey, tactical game. I also have a sneaking feeling that Messi is destined to create that one moment to immortalise him in World Cup history.

Hopefully, it will be a final worthy of what has been an outstanding World Cup, where no side have emerged as ‘great’ in the way we think of Spain in 2010, but the overall standard has made it a much more open and entertaining event. It is the third time Argentina and Germany have met in a final.

Whatever happens in the next four years, you can presume they will be strong contenders to win it again in 2018, 2022 and beyond. If England ever want to be in similar contention we need to start recognising that this success does not come by accident. We have witnessed enough German lessons on the pitch over the years and the time is overdue to start learning from them off it.

- The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2014