Quote:
Originally Posted by Bulldog
Anyone else looking forward to England v Spain this weekend? I am myself. Not because I think we're capable of beating them or anything, but because it'll be interesting to see just how far our younger players have yet to go if England wants to be a competitive team again. It'll be an opportunity to see a lot of our youngsters in action...or at least it should be (if I see Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard starting, I'll be a bit annoyed really).
Talking of, like, football and that, does anyone genuinely expect England to go far in Euro 2012? Personally I think with or without Rooney (who's barely turned up to a major tournament since Euro 2004), we'll be lucky to get past the group stage. I see the whole thing as an opportunity to build for the future, give untried players big-game experience and such, as opposed to something we can actually come even close to winning.
All that said, I really hope I'm wrong in writing off the lads like this. It's just that I've had a serious crisis of faith in the team since the last world cup (the draw against Montenegro at Wembley in particular).
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No. I think we will be played off the park and quite rightly so. After watching England for over nearly 30 years I accepted a while back that we are just not a world force in football anymore. Sure we probably have the most exciting league but that is mainly because of the influx of foreign players to our league. How many English players play abroad? Virtually nil and that is because we are not technically gifted enough and this is beaten out of kids at a young age in academies. The focus is on strength and power far too much and the kids with the tricks are usually told to cut it out.
Don't get me wrong I think we have some damn fine players and if we play the 'English' game then we can give anyone a good game but when the game is slowed down as per the European style then we are not good enough and opposition teams know this and exploit that weakness.
It could also be argued that as a team ourselves we are guilty of slowing the game down and it just doesn't suit us. Having Fabio as manager is a big mistake. His recent comments about the state of English football and lack of homegrown players is an honest assessment but hardly inspiring to the team.
The press here also have an impact on the team. How many ex - players have come out in recent months saying that playing for England is a chore and not a pleasure? and these are respected players and not two bit fringe players.
I personally don't even think that we will get out of the group stages at 2012 but if we do with flying colours then is it right to mess with that formula and bring another player in, no matter how good they are?