How do you feel about England now

[Billy the Fish]

Not really cared since that grinning clown was in charge. Used to go to alot of games, but I find the whole thing dull now. They are following the same pattern over and over again, it's like watching an average film hundreds of times.

 

[KZNSeagull]

We over pay mediocre (on the world stage) talent

And grossly overhype.

 

[Stat Brother]

Looking at the 'new breed' coming in, it's most definitely going to get worse before it gets better.

We have lesser players coming in replacing mediocre players, but are still 1/4 finalists.

No matter where the line is drawn we under perform.

 

[Return of the Rev]

Have watched England in Denmark, Luxembourg, Italy, France, Romania,Mexico and Germany but that was during 70's and 80's. Pretty calm about England now till we get to the quarter finals then I'm right back in the zone

 

[Commander]

I can see where you're coming from but given the number of withdrawals from squads and the frequency and age which players now retire from international football I do not believe a international cap is viewed the same way it once was. Once it was the ultimate accolade, now it is an inconvenience to many.

Which we have the likes of Ferguson and other Premier League Managers to thank for. Or just the Premier League in general.

 

[Lethargic]

I used to watch England all the time on the telly, go to Wembley to see them from time to time and I have also been to a couple of away games. I was lucky to see the Euro '96 semi and I last saw England in the flesh in Russia in 2007.

My interest faded for the following reasons: 1) the sense of entitlement, misplaced self-belief and expectation without effort the players have 2) most of the players are utterly detestable figures and an embarassment to my country yet these morons represent my nation 3) the constant excuses and whining from the players 4) everything connected with the national game behind the scenes from grass roots to schoolboys to the top seems to disorganised, chaotic and fragmented. England will never succeed all the time the Prem, FL and FA pull in three different ways. 5) and finally the supporters need to look at themselves. Your accepting nature is as much to blame as say Rooney's inability on the world stage. English players are nowhere near as good as their foreign counterparts. You need to make this known instead of applauding every move they make and lapping up the shit they serve up as football and the nonsense they spout. Then maybe something will change.

I think 2) is my biggest reason. I could pick many examples but top of the pile is the fact a racist captained the team.

Pretty much agree with every word of that and until the powers that be get their house in order I feel that my passion is miss placed and somehow dirty. Its a bit like someone has stolen my favourite toy I love it completely but until it is found I just cannot express that feeling of love - in this country the FA, FL, premiership and players have all stolen my favourite toy and I want it back.
And I dont accept the a fact that because we are no that great now we can never be great we have the resources to be a real power but at present money is more important.

 

[Pavilionaire]

The problem is there are two realities:

1. The football reality: England aren't especially good at retaining the ball, technically we're behind the leading nations, besides Rooney we don't have many goalscorers, we still rely on an ageing spine to get us big results in big matches. But we're hard to beat, we have one or two world class players and we have excellent fans.

2. The economic reality: "You get what you pay for". And England's players are paid ludicrous amounts of money. If the Montenegro players were that good they'd be over here, or Spain, or Germany, all earning ludicrous amounts of money too. But they're not.

We've been told to lower expectations, to be realistic, when watching England. We're also expected to pay our Sky subscriptions and pay big ticket prices to watch "the greatest league in the world".

Shut your eyes and you can hear Martin Tyler screaming "ROOOONEYYY!", "GERRRRARD!" "LAMPARRRRRD!" or "WALCOTTTT!" on the Sky adverts hyping up Sunday's "Big Match", and yet these are the same players who put on a different shirt and all of a sudden getting a point against a nation of 600,000 people is a decent result.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

3) the constant excuses and whining from the players

Revisiting this point I am reminded of a quote from one of the Spanish players sometime ago when he went up to take an important penalty. He was asked what was going through his mind as he stepped up and he said 'I knew I had to score, I thought of the thousands of Spaniards in the ground and the millions at home watching and knew I had to score.' This is a very different approach to the 'crushing' weight of expectation the England footballers often cite as a reason for failure. How can some thrive on the pressure yet others wilt and choke. What is the difference? Obviously and utlimately we are all different people but why does one nation produce a team which can deal with the epxectation and another one cannot?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

The problem is there are two realities:

1. The football reality: England aren't especially good at retaining the ball, technically we're behind the leading nations, besides Rooney we don't have many goalscorers, we still rely on an ageing spine to get us big results in big matches. But we're hard to beat, we have one or two world class players and we have excellent fans.

2. The economic reality: "You get what you pay for". And England's players are paid ludicrous amounts of money. If the Montenegro players were that good they'd be over here, or Spain, or Germany, all earning ludicrous amounts of money too. But they're not.

We've been told to lower expectations, to be realistic, when watching England. We're also expected to pay our Sky subscriptions and pay big ticket prices to watch "the greatest league in the world".

Shut your eyes and you can hear Martin Tyler screaming "ROOOONEYYY!", "GERRRRARD!" "LAMPARRRRRD!" or "WALCOTTTT!" on the Sky adverts hyping up Sunday's "Big Match", and yet these are the same players who put on a different shirt and all of a sudden getting a point against a nation of 600,000 people is a decent result.

Good point made about the hype. Sky can talk anything up to the point where you feel grateful and lucky for having tuned in to watch whatever it was they were in a lather about. I gave up on Sky when I saw Andy Gray over-analyse a Petr Cech goal keeping error. The incident was shown from many different angles, various players had apparently used their skill to do various things purely by their positioning. Tons of graphics, tons of superlative talk, tons of excitement from Gray's voice.....but at the end of the day I could not escape from the simple fact he had dropped the ball. I had the misfortune of dropping my Iphone a few weeks ago. It was not because my wife was using all her talent and was cleverly positioned and in my line of sight. Nor was I put off by another friend close by. The reality was I had missed my pocket. The real world and the Sky world are very different.

 

[Napper]

Great supporters. Team isnt very good so everyone puts the boot in and says no passion.

God help the Albion if we turn shit again

Fair weather supporters

 

[essbee]

The England players manager and FA are incompetent, clueless ****** and the deluded fans who
go to watch England need to get a reality check.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Some very good points already made.
If you are a certain age, you grew up in an era when it was everything to play for England. Players turned out for their country with niggles and injuries because it was expected. If you dropped out, there was a good chance you wouldn't be selected again. It was ultra competitive for places ( including goalkeepers ) No one was guaranteed their place.
Fans got behind the national team. The majority wanted them to do well. There was much less of a selfish, insular attitude and people wanted the country to do well. There was always a minority not interested in football but the rest all pulled together.
The players were respected once they pulled on the England shirt and you didn't get petty club rivalries spilling over into the national arena. It was unthinkable to hear a player booed at Wembley because of who he played for.
Now we've dealt with attitude and support, what about ability, skill, talent etc.
Well, over the years we have specialised in producing very good club players who can hold their own at International level but fall short of being able to influence matters at the very highest level. The only exceptions to this were messrs Charlton, Moore and Banks, who all came together in 1966. Throw in some more very good players who all pulled together as a man and fitted a system, designed and implemented by a brave, astute and flexible manager and you have a winning formula.
Outside of this era, have we had any elite players? Well, definitely one in Edwards ( cruelly cut short by Munich ) and then a small group that flirted with entry to this special club but for whatever reason fell fractionally short.
Finney, Haynes, Greaves, Shilton, Robson, Lineker, and Gazza. Thats all there have been. The rest have all fallen short of world class or near world class.
This so called ' golden era ' of Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, Scholes, Ferdinand, Terry, Cole etc have tried their best but have not been good enough at the highest level. They have been supported by higher class players in the Premiership and are then exposed at International level. I keep hearing fans calling Gerrard world class but his performance last night against a moderate side at world level was shocking. One misplaced pass after another.
You only win tournaments with most of the following.
1) One or more world class players, backed up by high class players.
2) A system that is tried and trusted by all the players.
3) A manager who is brave, pro-active, astute and flexible.
4) Home advantage.
5) Luck.
When England can enjoy most of these, then we can look forward to possible success.

 

[essbee]

good post Mo,

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

The rest have all fallen short of world class or near world class

The term world class is thrown around like confetti in the UK these days. A minority of posters on this site have stated Jack Wilshire is world class. A significant number claim Rooney is world class. I think some followers of football really need to open their eyes at times.

 

[Commander]

You only win tournaments with most of the following.
1) One or more world class players, backed up by high class players.
2) A system that is tried and trusted by all the players.
3) A manager who is brave, pro-active, astute and flexible.
4) Home advantage.
5) Luck.
When England can enjoy most of these, then we can look forward to possible success.

Not quite true. Denmark, Greece.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Oh. And if you want an idea of what can be achieved if everyone pulls in the same direction and resources and facilities are provided you only have to look back to last summer and the Olympics.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Not quite true. Denmark, Greece.

These are the exceptions though. I do not think you can look to these nations for a footballing model to follow.

 

[Hamilton]

I used to watch England all the time on the telly, go to Wembley to see them from time to time and I have also been to a couple of away games. I was lucky to see the Euro '96 semi and I last saw England in the flesh in Russia in 2007.

My interest faded for the following reasons: 1) the sense of entitlement, misplaced self-belief and expectation without effort the players have 2) most of the players are utterly detestable figures and an embarassment to my country yet these morons represent my nation 3) the constant excuses and whining from the players 4) everything connected with the national game behind the scenes from grass roots to schoolboys to the top seems to disorganised, chaotic and fragmented. England will never succeed all the time the Prem, FL and FA pull in three different ways. 5) and finally the supporters need to look at themselves. Your accepting nature is as much to blame as say Rooney's inability on the world stage. English players are nowhere near as good as their foreign counterparts. You need to make this known instead of applauding every move they make and lapping up the shit they serve up as football and the nonsense they spout. Then maybe something will change.

I think 2) is my biggest reason. I could pick many examples but top of the pile is the fact a racist captained the team.

Yep.

Came home to me that I've lost all interest last weekend and last night. Last weekend I resented the international break because I wanted the next Albion game to come as soon as possible.

Last night I got home from work late and I hadn't even registered England were playing. The date had entirely escaped me, and I wasn't that bothered. In fact I wasn't bothered at all. Ten years ago that would never have happened.

 

[Return of the Rev]

Blanked the game last night went watch St Francis v Shoreham instead

 

[Randsta]

I still watch most of the games I just don't really care anymore....!