Alright, well I consider England to be my best country in this game, so let me tell you a few things. You have three nations to deal with, Russia, France, and Germany. Two of those nations will almost always be at war with each other, so what you do is sit back and exploit.

So, in Spring 1901 you must do two things. 1) Ensure Russia opens south. the south is very important to England. You want Russia and Turkey fighting each other if possible, so he doesn't have a chance to build in St. Petersburg. Tell Russia you want to be friends, and will guarantee him Sweden if German bumps him out.

Second thing, you want to prevent the Sea Lion. Be friendly with both France and Germany to start of with, because hopefully those two will start fighting each other. So unless you want to blitz France, don't open to the channel. But talk talk talk to both Germany and France, and make sure that one of them will be on your side. talk to Italy and Austria to try and verify what G and F are saying.\

Another thing, the Western Triple is almost always good for England. France is forced into the Med, Germany is forced out, and that leaves both very open for stabbing come mid-game.

As England, you are easy to defend from attacks and usually your attackers will turn on each other before you are dead, so you can sell your soul to one of them in exchange for letting you live.

Also, as England, you will almost always go to war with France in the end-game, so prepare for that. You need 18 centers, so map them out. They will almost always include Brest, Portugal, and Spain

Though I don't have much experience, I believe you have indeed a lot of options. You can try to play Germany and France one against the other while you gain some foot in Scandinavia, then pick one side and keep going. France is a better prey, for the Iberian Peninsula is not easily reachable but from England and France. A fleet in the Channel, another in the Mid-Atlantic and an army in Gascony tends to be fatal. If you decide to go this way, Italy could be a key support, if Germany refuses to join you. If you decide to go after Germany without France, you should try to bring Russia to your side. If Russia collapses in the very beginning, try to get all of Scandinavia plus St. Petesburg before anything else. In other words, it will depend on your diplomacy ;-)

England almost feels as if it has more options than germany sometimes.. The keys I've learned with England that many newer diplomacy players don't grasp is:

1 Work the press. (this goes without saying for any country really)
2 Play second fiddle till you get a good opportunity to stab.
3 Don't over-commit.

A very strong england invites unwanted attention early in the game while a well placed but smaller England is seen by other players as an asset.

Also if everything you have is going after Russia, it's all too easy for France to feel up your backside with MAO to NAO. Thus don't over commit to one direction.

Some other pertinent information about England is the following: While it contends with ultimately three rivals (F, G, R) it only has to deal with two in the beginning (F & G) because Russia will be too absorbed with the south to care much about the north early on.

The greatest benefit to England is its limited opening list. The absolute goal in the first year has to be to convoy the army to some mainland area (Norway or Belgium preferably) and if you can do it with the blessing of another nation, then you more power.

Don't neglect fleets. There are more coastal zones than landlocked zones meaning that England can win with 10 or more fleets on the map. An average England will have 6-10 fleets on the map by the game's end. If you can balance the number of fleets to armies in any given game, then you will be much harder to take down later on.

It's always a good idea to keep a fleet in the North Sea and an army on the Island because North Sea is the most vital sea zone in the game and an army on your Island is far more versatile and maneuverable than a fleet.

Expect stabs and watch your flank (MAO). Let nothing into the Channel.

Know the location of your stalemate lines. If you're going to win, then you need to get past St Petersburg or the Mid Atlantic by mid-game.

Last but not least, make sure to talk to the other countries on the map, especially those that impact France and Germany the most (communicate heavily with France and Germany but also Italy and Austria). Find an ally somewhere that will keep other nations in check.