Quote:
Originally Posted by Bulldog
Anyone else looking forward to England v Spain this weekend? I am myself. Not because I think we're capable of beating them or anything, but because it'll be interesting to see just how far our younger players have yet to go if England wants to be a competitive team again. It'll be an opportunity to see a lot of our youngsters in action...or at least it should be (if I see Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard starting, I'll be a bit annoyed really).
Talking of, like, football and that, does anyone genuinely expect England to go far in Euro 2012? Personally I think with or without Rooney (who's barely turned up to a major tournament since Euro 2004), we'll be lucky to get past the group stage. I see the whole thing as an opportunity to build for the future, give untried players big-game experience and such, as opposed to something we can actually come even close to winning.
All that said, I really hope I'm wrong in writing off the lads like this. It's just that I've had a serious crisis of faith in the team since the last world cup (the draw against Montenegro at Wembley in particular).
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If the English press stopped building up England before every tournament, they might actually get somewhere. Ever since I`ve been watching football (since the 1980s) the expectations on the national team have been huge. The only time it was more relaxed, was actually before they hosted the EC in 1996!!! and that was largely due to the fact, that they had played badly at EC 1992 and failed to qualify for the WC in 1994.
The worst thing that can actually happen to England is if they beat Spain in this friendly, as it will have the press in hysteria and stamping England as favourites for 2012!