Dear Mr Capello, please look at our Rugby side...

[alan partridge]

Surely there is absolutely no doubt that if our football side played with more passion we'd be a better side? Pride over money...a real desire to win. I know our rugby side right now are playing poorly! Denying that more passion would not help the side is rubbish.

sorry I don't buy the whole 'passion' thing. I don't think England footballers care as little as the press/public like to believe and I definitely don't think it helps win football matches.

I'm not a fan of John Terry, as a footballer or as a person but I reckon he really does want to play for England.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Surely there is absolutely no doubt that if our football side played with more passion we'd be a better side? Pride over money...a real desire to win. I know our rugby side right now are playing poorly! Denying that more passion would not help the side is rubbish.

How much worse do you think the England Rugby teams performance today would be if they hadn't sung along to the anthem?

 

[Phat Baz 68]

And currently getting thrashed by a team that has already in the first half lost two of its key players !!!

 

[Guy Fawkes]

One major thing that usually happens before every football World Cup or European Championship that never helps is the level of over expectation from the fans believing that we will win the tournament and that we have to play our best football in every game and we can only do that by playing at a thousand miles an hour (something that can't be done over several games in such quick succession)

That and the press trying to unsettle / undermine key players or the manager (Gazza & co in 96, Terry in 2010 etc...) Surely you want a national team that is focussed on what they are about to do rather than worry about what is in the papers about their private lives or who will be the next player distracted by a new relevation - It would be far far better if the fans and press were 100% united behind the players and not trying to divide them.

 

[Husty]

Oh gosh OF COURSE, it is ALL Capello's fault the players dont give a shit how has nobody seen this before

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Games are not won or lost by how much effort players put in to singing their national anthem and it does not indicate the amount of passion and effort they will then put into a game. I'd rather the players channel their efforts into producing when it matters and that is during a game, not before it.

Do you seriously think that players struggle to motivate themselves for major competitions, such as the World Cup? and if they do, do you think that their singing along with the national anthem will make a blind bit of difference

The tabloid press would like us to believe that if the England players are thinking of the Royal Family while passing the ball, somehow it's going to help the pass be accurate.

 

[Simster]

Surely there is absolutely no doubt that if our football side played with more passion we'd be a better side? Pride over money...a real desire to win. I know our rugby side right now are playing poorly! Denying that more passion would not help the side is rubbish.

This is utter drivel. If I had ever been a pro sportsman representing my country, I'd NEVER have sung the national anthem because I hate it, but would like to think that I'd do whatever I could to help my country win the game I was picked for.

There must be millions of people who feel like this, FFS.

 

[Mr Smggles]

The similarity is there, struggling in your first game against a team ranked well below you.

They really aren't ranked that low, only 9th - 4 behind England. People may say we should have rolled Argentina over but they are a very good side.

 

[Zamoracomehome]

This is utter drivel. If I had ever been a pro sportsman representing my country, I'd NEVER have sung the national anthem because I hate it, but would like to think that I'd do whatever I could to help my country win the game I was picked for.

There must be millions of people who feel like this, FFS.

As there will be with my point of view too Simster! It's not so much about whether you like or hate the national anthem, it's about a way of showing pride for your country. If that's what the anthem is then fine, it doesn't matter what the bloody song is, it's about the fact that it still identifies with our country and so you go with what you've got. There are tears that go with showing that pride, and I have only ever seen something like that from Tony Adams for the football side...certainly, that sort of commitment to the national side is missing from the current crop...and like Paul Ince said this week, there appears to be little honour these days in playing for the national team, where as in rugby/cricket it is the pinnacle of a player's career.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

As there will be with my point of view too Simster! It's not so much about whether you like or hate the national anthem, it's about a way of showing pride for your country. If that's what the anthem is then fine, it doesn't matter what the bloody song is, it's about the fact that it still identifies with our country and so you go with what you've got. There are tears that go with showing that pride, and I have only ever seen something like that from Tony Adams for the football side...certainly, that sort of commitment to the national side is missing from the current crop...and like Paul Ince said this week, there appears to be little honour these days in playing for the national team, where as in rugby/cricket it is the pinnacle of a player's career.

But surely the players get their pride from wearing the shirt and representing their country and not from singing a song just before kick off.

If players weren't bothered about playing for England, and just went through the motions on the pitch as you seem to think they do in games then they wouldn't last very long in the side before the manager dropped them or they retired / withdrew from international games.

A problem is a lack of quality for the manager to select from, a lack of competition for places and therefore players are able to take it easy in certain games knowing that they won't be dropped.

 

[Gus is god]

*wrong thread*

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Interesting, I thought there would be lots of praise about how England toughed out a win against a very good, physical side. Oh well, maybe these games are on too early for you guys in the UK.

 

[Gus is god]

i would like to add Wilko missed about 15points yesterday, if he got them we would not be moaning i don't think.

The only real issue i have with England is the needless pens we constantly give away, its been a major issue with our game in recent years.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Personally I'd rather we had eleven Daley Thompsons, who could whistle disrespectfully along to the national anthem at every opportunity.