FeriAtsI've been reading some of the Sunday papers over the weekend and these guys already started analysing England's chances of winning the WC.
The earliest world cup I can remember is Mexico 86 and since than before every tournement England qualified there has been talk of winning. And how many have England won? Zero, nil, nada, zilch...How many times were England runners up? Zero, nil, nada, zilch...
Here we are, it's almost 2010, England has 14 tournements out of possible 21 after WC66 and the best we could reach was 3 semi finals the most recent being in Euro 96 at home turf. There seems to be a consistent pattern of crashing out at the quarter finals and still the press is talking about winning it.
I am worried about the added pressure on our squad. I suppose, winning the WC is not really within our reach. Setting hihger expectations that we can reach has proved fruitless time and time again.
What can be done to stop media pumping up optimisim? Thoughts on the matter?
19.10.2009
nvrBy and large, I agree, British media have an unhealthy habit of declaring England contenders prematurely.
However, I do not agree that winning it is not in our reach. We will probably make it to semis and who wins after that is just anyone's guess.
20.10.2009
RicardoHave a good team and the opposition don't look as unbeatable as in some previous years. I think England are up there with a handful of teams ... from there it's up to chance!
20.10.2009
Robert O'CarlosRather than give the impression that the press rates England as favourites, it's more a case of including them among the top 6-7 teams who should be there or thereabouts. Given some of the talent we have available we should be aiming that high. And anyone in the England squad that doesn't believe they will win the whole shooting match should be left behind at Heathrow.
But I do know what FeriAts is getting at here.
There does seem to be a brick wall around the quarter/semi final mark but it is ultimately a cup competition and subject to one stupid or lucky moment costing a team. Greece winning the Euros anyone? Denmark? It's a feasible thought so why not dare to think it?
:-)
20.10.2009
FeriAtsHeskey is looking for first team action and the team he cannot break into 11 is... Aston Villa. He was England's first choice to lead the attack in qualifying campaign. Doesn't this tell you anything guys? How about the goal keeping situation? It's our age old problem; we have decent bunch of players with 1 or 2 cruical positions missing for a great team.
Another thing that has to be taken into account is that all of our players play in English clubs, apart from Beckham obviously. Come next June, they'll be all out of a much tougher season than their counterparts playing in Spain, Italy, Germany etc...I doubt they'll have the mental and physical fitness to give their best performances.
@Rob
Greece and Denmark were underdogs whom were never really taken seriously until it's too late. And when someone took them seriously, they had exceptional luck. Czech Republic - Greece, Holland - Denmark games are prime examples of huge luck these teams had.
The problem is nobody takes England as an underdog. Our opponents will give their 100% in every game we play. So we might need to be lucky for a couple of games rather than just one.
21.10.2009
ZolaI would normally be agreeing you on this. But Capello himself seems to be optimistic, too. Now, he is from a school of football that won a lot more than England did in national teams level. So he must be knowing what he's talking about.
22.10.2009
Robert O'CarlosFair point well made, FeriAts.
:-)
I'd still hold on to your comment about those teams enjoying the luck it takes to win any cup competition once the opposition were taking them seriously. There's no reason England cannot expect to make at least the quarter finals. Then, as long as England stick to the gameplan, it might just come down to good fortune.
Maybe half the problem is that English fans aren't jingoistic enough. I think the Brazils, Germanys, Netherlands, etc. all play with a certain swagger because they genuinely believe they deserve to be their when the medals are handed out. If England go into it thinking they'll fail sooner or later, then they will.
:-)
23.10.2009
GeorgieWasTheBestI have to disagree with FeriAts on goalkeeper situation. Barthez, Nikopolidis(I had to look up his name), Casillas and Dida are some average keepers who happen to have some silverware in their cupboards. On the other hand Chech and Van der Saar are great keepers and they did not win anything.
So we have James, Robinson, Green and Foster. All are OK keepers, but all can let in a strange one on the they had a quarrel with the missus. Capello should pick one of them as his primary keeper and put this goal keeping question into bed once and for all. The talk of goalkeeping itself is more damaging than these chaps poor performances.
England's real problem is their lack of depth in their squad. We had the field our 2nd tier players against Brazil last weekend. Did they impress? I wasn't, not even one bit.
18.11.2009
FeriAtsAshley Cole injured and very doubtful for World Cup. He was one of the few world class players. Bridge and Teryy is not a good mix these days. Who is it now for the left back? Warnock?
12.02.2010
jmancubsfanU-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A! Bah ha ha ha...
12.02.2010
MontyFirstly, GeorgieWasTheBest, you are not seriously suggesting there that Iker Casillas is "very average"? If he's average, I dread to think what a good keeper would be like.
As for England, one reason the media get very hyped up about the national team is because they're rather blinkered, ie they think that Upson and Lescott represent (as I saw in a newspaper once) "surely the best back-up centre-back pairing on earth". Need I say more. England have some very good players, especially the simply astounding Rooney, but in many areas are too deficient to win, regardless of how good the coach is.
It's a feature of this World Cup that a team with quite a few frankly average players, England, have possibly the best coach at the tournament, whereas teams stuffed with talent in the shapes of Argentina and France have all the talent in the world but largely incompetent coaches.
13.02.2010
CaptainGerardIf he wasn't from Real Madrid's academia he would have been long gone to Oviedo or something. Similar things can be said for Valdes. Reina is the best keeper available to Spain and I am saying this as a Man Utd supporter.
Look at VDS, Chech, Buffon for current great keepers.
14.02.2010
Robert O'CarlosA Man Utd supporter? With a name like Captain Gerrard???
:-D
15.02.2010
