We know the Three Lions have been underachievers over the last decade or two, but let’s actually sit down and analyse the situation. Is it really the players’ fault?
I don’t think so. Despite the English media being one of the most critical on the playing staff in world football, it’s the recent managers who have not got the best out of the players.
I think it’s time we stop blaming the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, A.Cole, Rooney and co.
Look at them at club level, The English Premier League is the greatest and toughest league in the world with players from all over the continent – in fact the Premiership has the most represented races registered playing of any league in Europe.
But if the boys who represent the Three Lions always seem to produce the goods at club level, many people ask, why not in the white shirt?
Previous managers like Capello, McLaren and Eriksson have not let the boys play their game. Look at Rooney and Lampard for their respective clubs – they are all over the field, running around like Speedy Gonzalez. They track back and they attack, this doesn’t happen in the Three Lions shirt, instead they look afraid.
Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole move up and down their flanks more than a cat chasing a mouse for Liverpool and Chelsea respectively, but when they put on the white shirt, they just seem as if they are wedged to the floor and can only defend.
Steven Gerrard has the same problems. His long range shot and passing game with the forward running is what gives Liverpool the zest they need. In England, he looks more like a sergeant in the army.
England have what it takes to win all the major competitions, regardless of if they have too many stars. Look at Spanish national team – they seem to do it with no concerns.
It’s about getting the best out of the players and allowing them to play football rather than grounding them like a 60 year-old father on his 17 year-old daughter for being late from a night out.
Let them play and let them choose their game, obviously with an organised approach from the manager that is. Let them enjoy the occasion. The media need to give the boys a rest and not boo their own countrymen, this is key for England.
If Hodgson doesn’t let this happen, then it would be just the same old story for the pretenders of world football.
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