Watching the USA team last night, I felt sad to realise that this was how England used to play: Compete as though your life depended on it..... never accept defeat until the final whistle.... Give a damn.
What we have now is a team of media savvy multi millionaires who don't really care any more. They say they do, but they don't. Their media coaches tell them what to say when faced with soft questioning by lacky, lickspittle interviewers who give them an easy ride because they know that if they don't, they won't get another interview.
The players say they tried their hardest during the world cup, but compare them to the Americans who ran themselves to the point of exhaustion and then look at how England played in their matches. Do you reckon the England players were trying as hard as those Yanks did last night..?
I don't think so.
I am full of admiration for both teams that played in that match. The Belgians were the technically superior outfit and would have won by a sizeable margin had it not been for the "over my twitching corpse" attitude of Tim Howard who didn't bother looking athletic, he just made sure he got something on the ball... anything..... just make the save. But USA hung in there and battled every inch of the way. It was a marvellous game and a great advert for football. It was also a lesson in determination, will to win and pride in representing one's country.
A video of that match should be made compulsory watching for every England player who should then be told that that level of commitment, effort and desire should be the norm from now on. Nothing less will do. Most of them would probably announce, "with regret" their retirement from international football.
In a game that is now more about technique, tactical formations and utilising substitutes to maximum benefit, England may still be quite deficient and might still not win that many more games than they do now, but we'd get some self esteem back, and raise our stock in terms of respect in the global football community. Right now, England are dismissed with scorn....... contempt...... slight regard and it is little less than we deserve.
The players probably know this and couldn't give a damn. They're too busy making money out of commercials for computer games, shampoo and fast food.
What we have now is a team of media savvy multi millionaires who don't really care any more. They say they do, but they don't. Their media coaches tell them what to say when faced with soft questioning by lacky, lickspittle interviewers who give them an easy ride because they know that if they don't, they won't get another interview.
The players say they tried their hardest during the world cup, but compare them to the Americans who ran themselves to the point of exhaustion and then look at how England played in their matches. Do you reckon the England players were trying as hard as those Yanks did last night..?
I don't think so.
I am full of admiration for both teams that played in that match. The Belgians were the technically superior outfit and would have won by a sizeable margin had it not been for the "over my twitching corpse" attitude of Tim Howard who didn't bother looking athletic, he just made sure he got something on the ball... anything..... just make the save. But USA hung in there and battled every inch of the way. It was a marvellous game and a great advert for football. It was also a lesson in determination, will to win and pride in representing one's country.
A video of that match should be made compulsory watching for every England player who should then be told that that level of commitment, effort and desire should be the norm from now on. Nothing less will do. Most of them would probably announce, "with regret" their retirement from international football.
In a game that is now more about technique, tactical formations and utilising substitutes to maximum benefit, England may still be quite deficient and might still not win that many more games than they do now, but we'd get some self esteem back, and raise our stock in terms of respect in the global football community. Right now, England are dismissed with scorn....... contempt...... slight regard and it is little less than we deserve.
The players probably know this and couldn't give a damn. They're too busy making money out of commercials for computer games, shampoo and fast food.
refereeing decisions in Brazil's games from now, starting with the Columbia one tonight.
