England's World Cup fiasco

Is the illusion over yet?

image from Daily Telegraph

Has the nation finally realised that England’s squad of over-paid, over-hyped and under-performing assortment of egos is actually not much good really?

As the shadow of the 1966 squad grows even longer, is it possible that English fans will finally emerge from the shadow and accept that we have a paucity of native talent and that our so-called stars are really pretty second-rate in the overall scheme of footballing things?

In today’s Observer, there is plenty of comment and a lot of apologetics from the likes of Steven Gerrard, who said;

“I agree with what the manager has said. We need to find more spirit. We weren’t aggressive enough, we never pressed the ball or won it back quickly enough. We never showed enough urgency and we certainly weren’t clinical enough around the box. We need to find some click for Wednesday night.”

Now, forgive me for appearing naive, but surely the team should have realised the shortcomings before the game kicked off?

I mean, we are constantly being told by the football “experts” in the media how great these players are. Surely great players already know how to win matches? How to be aggressive, how to fight to win?

The players seem to believe that because they play in the EPL (allegedly the greatest league in the world) that they are world beaters. Well, the evidence seems to suggest that these guys only look good at their clubs because they are surrounded by better players from elsewhere who do all the hard work and give them the space and opportunity to get involved in the games.

The reality is that England have produced the kind of football that would give anyone watching them the impression that if the team took part in the EPL they would get relegated in Derby County-style ignominy.

It appears that all is not well in the team camp either.

Well, quelle surprise! I am sure that the tension must be mounting by the second. These people embody the hopes of a nation of fans who, mostly, have never seen an England side win anything and who are told endlessly that these guys are potential world champions.

Sorry, but this is a joke. These guys have been an embarrassment to watch. The level of skill is laughably poor. What we have is a bunch of prima donna players who appear to be incapable of stringing a sequence of passes together and whose collective first touch couldn’t control the ball if it was filled with water, but who are paid the kind of money each week that most of us wouldn’t see in a couple of years’ of employment.

So, what shall we blame? The ball? Seems to be OK for the likes of Argentina. The vuvuzelas? Please, surely they can concentrate on the game without worrying about a bit of buzzing noise.

The reality is that these guys are too pampered. They are paid too much, they are treated like gods at their clubs, their agents tell them they deserve the moon on a stick and their legions of hangers on flatter them with the kind of cringing adoration that would embarrass a Nero or Caligula.

What we need in the England team are players who want to win for the pride of winning, players who care.

These guys don’t seem to give a toss.

I hope Slovenia beat us on Wednesday. I don’t think this lot deserve anything except our disgust.

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