Well it’s happened.
The less-than-minnows of world football (Iceland) have defeated the wanna-be giants (England).
It’s not the first time England have under performed in a big tournament. But normally their exit has been at the hands of more experienced and, on paper, more ‘worthy’ opponents.
More:
» England crash out of Euros
» Icelandic commentator delivers more gold against England
» Roy Hodgson resigns in wake of defeat
This time, the more worthy opponent was Iceland. And they won. Why?
I believe it comes down to expectations and how they are managed.
The expectations of:
– The nation
– The coach
– The players themselves
– The press
Let’s look at England, and their expectations:
The nation has expectations; huge expectations. Unrealistically high expectations, and they always have been. Matching this are the coach’s expectations, and while he has a good record, he was naive in expecting a young team of over-paid ‘super-stars’ to bond and play as a team.
They player’s expectations are harder to judge, but perhaps there was a ‘we’re better than them’ attitude, particularly with Iceland.
Now to the immeasurable press’ expectations. Everyone in the England Football press loves drama, and to be honest, they’ve made their living scribing the misfortunes of the national team. Nothing’s changed. They wanted England to win, but probably expected some sort of mishap.
Let’s look at Iceland, and their expectations:
They had already exceeded their nation’s expectations just by qualifying.
The coach’s expectations were realistic and steadfast. Play hard. Win the 50-50s. Out-effort the opposition.
His players believed they could beat England.
The press expected to be going home, but wanted the fairytale to continue.
Now let’s look at the English Rugby team for a moment. At the beginning of the year, they were rock-bottom. Knocked out of their own World Cup, in eighth spot in the world rankings.
Step-up Eddie Jones. A coach who made his expectations and ambitions for the team very very clear.
– We want to be the number one team in the world.
– We want to achieve a 3-0 whitewash down-under against Australia.
To achieve this, Eddie commanded and demanded the respect from his players. He picked a team built on doing the basics really well. He balanced experience with youth.
Most importantly – he set his expectations for the team, and they’ve risen to them.
Perhaps the England football team needs to consider doing the same.
– Setting a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) of being a world super-power in International soccer.
– Setting a time period to achieve so as to mediate short-term expectations of all concerned.
– Setting a plan on how to do this. This will include re-looking at the money-spinning EPL and balancing it’s success against the ambitions of the national team.
– Getting a hard-nosed, ambitious coach to drive them towards this.
– Developing a squad that is built around a resilient core of hard-nosed, experienced players, and then blending this with the exuberance and freshness of youth.
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