Quote:
Originally Posted by Bulldog
Couldn't agree more. I've been watching England since Euro '96, and the level of hype surrounding the lads before each tournament they've qualified for is just unbelievable, no matter what they didn't do to earn it. I remember a mate of mine from Northern Ireland telling me the thing that annoys him most about the English fans is that they think their team has some god-given right to win every game they play in, and you can see where he's coming from.
I'd love to live to see us at least come really close to winning a major international competition in my lifetime but, until the press lowers their expectations, that's simply not going to happen. To be fair to the press though, I legitimately thought we'd reach the semis in South Africa only to see some team performances tht can only be described as nightmarish.
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The big problem is The Premiership and the hype that surrounds it, its been the biggest league in the world for several years now and thats where most of the money is and most people including the press regard it as the best league in the world, in reality though its not the most technical of leagues and thats where England I think suffer on the biggest stages as both La Liga and Serie A are far more technical and tactical. Apart from a few world class players that England have had over the years, the majority that make up the squad, wouldn`t be good enough to make the final squads of any other major footballing nation and that I believe is where the big problem lies.
I always remember an article many years ago that I think holds true. That for a national team to win a major tournament it needs at least 6 world class players (Greece being the exception in 2004)
I`ve seen England come close or look the part of going all the way in a couple of tournaments. Mexico 1986, Italia 1990 and Euro 1996. I can tell you especially on Mexico 1986 and Italia 1990 poor old Bobby Robson was hounded by the English press and critcized for their crap displays, but the team nearly went the whole way in 86 and 90 and were probably almost as good as the eventual winners.