Why do England always fail?
It has been a couple of days so I have had a chance to digest this and think about why England have been booted (literally) out of another football tournament.
On Monday night (27 June) the nation sat down in front of their TVs expecting England to go through to the Quarter Finals of Euro 2016 in France. After the final group game it looked like England would have to play Portugal and the nation was concerned about this. Although Portugal had been sub-par at times they were still a force to be reckoned with. Then, at the last moment, Iceland scored a goal and went through in a position to play England instead. This seemed like a gift from the football gods as the side is made up of part-time players and the assistant coach is a full-time dentist!
Within a few minutes England were awarded a penalty and it was put expertly in the back of the net by Wayne Rooney. It looked like this was the flood gates opening and it would be the first of many goals for England that night. Then, the unthinkable happened and Iceland scored an equaliser within minutes of the England penalty. To make matters worse for England they were 2-1 down at half time.
As the second half clock ticked on it became apparent that England just didn't have what it took to defeat this Iceland team. Iceland went on to win the match 2-1. Yes, it wasn't a fantastic match for either team but what a story for Iceland who now face France, the hosts, at the weekend. They are being heralded as the 'Leicester' of the tournament. Wonderful to watch and I will be cheering them on for their next match.
Before England went out we had already lost two home nations. N Ireland and the Republic of Ireland went out at the weekend (although N Ireland were playing Wales). With the results as they are it means that only Wales remain (with Scotland being the only home nation not to qualify in the first place).
Why is it that England always seem to go out in the last 16 or the Quarter Finals? That said they were out before that in the last World Cup in Brazil two years ago.
England always seem to be fairly comfortable in qualifying (lets leave out that Euros from a few years back where we failed eh?). Then they always seem great in the friendlies they play as a warm up and then...the tournament starts and it all falls apart.
Some have argued that trying a new formation at the start of the tournament was a bad idea as it meant that they finished second in the table with the points they had and set up that confrontation. Others argue that England grossly under estimated the Iceland team (which I do believe is true). There is yet another argument that there is something psychological at play.
England always do well and then tank. There is so much expectation on their shoulders after so much time. The only thing we have really excelled at is winning the 1966 world cup...twenty years before I was born! Even then the Germans (and others) claim there was a dodgy England goal that won it for them...who knows. The point is that this was the time of the semi-professional player who played for love of the sport and not the money. Today we put pressure on these over paid millionaires and they just can't cope with it. They say it is glorious and an honour to play for England but they never perform.
I will take all expectation away. It is a joke now that England go out by the QFs and to be honest we might as well just accept it. That way, if they do better we can say it is a nice bonus.
When you look at the women who don't get paid anywhere near as much you see that team spirit and that joy. They came third in the World Cup a couple of years ago and are doing amazingly well at the moment. They play for love of the game and not money so perhaps there is something in it?
There was a song 20 years ago about football coming home. England hosted the Euros in 1996 and the Lightening Seeds with a couple of comedians did a song about 30 years of hurt (30 years since we last won anything). It is now 50 years and counting.
On Monday night (27 June) the nation sat down in front of their TVs expecting England to go through to the Quarter Finals of Euro 2016 in France. After the final group game it looked like England would have to play Portugal and the nation was concerned about this. Although Portugal had been sub-par at times they were still a force to be reckoned with. Then, at the last moment, Iceland scored a goal and went through in a position to play England instead. This seemed like a gift from the football gods as the side is made up of part-time players and the assistant coach is a full-time dentist!
Within a few minutes England were awarded a penalty and it was put expertly in the back of the net by Wayne Rooney. It looked like this was the flood gates opening and it would be the first of many goals for England that night. Then, the unthinkable happened and Iceland scored an equaliser within minutes of the England penalty. To make matters worse for England they were 2-1 down at half time.
As the second half clock ticked on it became apparent that England just didn't have what it took to defeat this Iceland team. Iceland went on to win the match 2-1. Yes, it wasn't a fantastic match for either team but what a story for Iceland who now face France, the hosts, at the weekend. They are being heralded as the 'Leicester' of the tournament. Wonderful to watch and I will be cheering them on for their next match.
Before England went out we had already lost two home nations. N Ireland and the Republic of Ireland went out at the weekend (although N Ireland were playing Wales). With the results as they are it means that only Wales remain (with Scotland being the only home nation not to qualify in the first place).
Why is it that England always seem to go out in the last 16 or the Quarter Finals? That said they were out before that in the last World Cup in Brazil two years ago.
England always seem to be fairly comfortable in qualifying (lets leave out that Euros from a few years back where we failed eh?). Then they always seem great in the friendlies they play as a warm up and then...the tournament starts and it all falls apart.
Some have argued that trying a new formation at the start of the tournament was a bad idea as it meant that they finished second in the table with the points they had and set up that confrontation. Others argue that England grossly under estimated the Iceland team (which I do believe is true). There is yet another argument that there is something psychological at play.
England always do well and then tank. There is so much expectation on their shoulders after so much time. The only thing we have really excelled at is winning the 1966 world cup...twenty years before I was born! Even then the Germans (and others) claim there was a dodgy England goal that won it for them...who knows. The point is that this was the time of the semi-professional player who played for love of the sport and not the money. Today we put pressure on these over paid millionaires and they just can't cope with it. They say it is glorious and an honour to play for England but they never perform.
I will take all expectation away. It is a joke now that England go out by the QFs and to be honest we might as well just accept it. That way, if they do better we can say it is a nice bonus.
When you look at the women who don't get paid anywhere near as much you see that team spirit and that joy. They came third in the World Cup a couple of years ago and are doing amazingly well at the moment. They play for love of the game and not money so perhaps there is something in it?
There was a song 20 years ago about football coming home. England hosted the Euros in 1996 and the Lightening Seeds with a couple of comedians did a song about 30 years of hurt (30 years since we last won anything). It is now 50 years and counting.
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