I think we've been guilty of wanting the best of both worlds. We were well set up under Trapattoni and O'Neill. Qualified for tournaments but weren't too pretty on the eye. Then we seemed to think that we should be able to play football like Spain, and well - it was calamitous to say the least.
I really think we need to get back to brass tacks. Years ago, we still weren't as good as the European heavyweights. But they still didn't fancy playing us because they knew we'd be damn awkward and would play like our lives depended on it.
In international football, if you have even 3 or 4 lads playing at a good level you have a chance. Fill the rest of the positions with tactically disciplined players who are willing to run through walls. Wales over the last 10 or 15 years are probably the best example. They had Bale (admiteddly a generational player), Ramsey and a few others. But the rest weren't all that much better than we have now.
I'd go so far as to say go back to a simple 4-4-2, get good supply into Ferguson, with Troy Parrott poaching around.