Excuses or Reasons ???

This article by Andrew Miller caught my eye today. He mentions that Fletcher offered a whole range of 'excuses' for England's poor performance in this tour. I went ahead and read Fletcher's remarks and I personally, dont find them out of order.

He talks about the difficulties they have faced during this tour both on and off the field. Does someone think that the reasons are false? If not, then aren't these reasons bound to affect performance? And isn't it possible that that is what has happenned? But the man is also sensible and ambitious enough to bottomline that it was their duty to overcome these difficulties in any way they saw fit.

So, my understanding of his viewpoint is that, he has some reasons for England not doing well but is aware of the fact that it is upto them to overcome these issues.

Do people prefer him saying "Pakistan played better cricket and so, they deserve to win the series......We will give 110% for the remaining two days"?