If
you are on the TV show “Pointless”, and the question was “Name a country which
is crazy about football”, an answer of “England” would not win you a jackpot.
While South Americans choose to express their enthusiasm through throwing
toilet rolls and fireworks, traditional rivalries and hostile chanting (with a
beer in hand) forms the picture of loyal football fans in England.
The
commitment is driven by a sense of belonging to the local community, and this
sense of belonging has effortlessly extended to the national level. There is
nothing to be ashamed of standing behind your country, but has it exerted a
positive influence on the England National Team?
Prior
to the start of Euro 2012, Gary Neville urged the fans to be more realistic
about the chance of their home country winning a trophy, a very unpopular but
constructive statement. By looking at the squad, you don’t even think they
could avoid playing Spain in the Quarter Final.
By
the time they luckily conquered the group stage, thanks to the officials in
Ukraine’s match, Joe Hart declared that the goal for England had always been
winning the tournament. No wonder, confidence was high when praises were sung
from everywhere in the media locally.
Everyone
knows how the story ended, which was of no dissimilarity to the previous
tournaments. All of a sudden, the team was transformed from brilliant against
Sweden and Ukraine, to toothless against Italy.
It
will be harsh to put all the blame on patriotism, but one cannot deny that the
patriotic crowd has overcastted the sensible voices who have correctly
addressed England’s problems. After two decades, people still believe in the
spot kick curse.
It
is impossible for a team to improve under such disillusion. One single header
turned Andy Carroll into a national hero; a simple tap-in made people forget
how poor Wayne Rooney had been. Nobody seriously addressed England’s inability
to cope with speedy attack and to launch an attack with more possession and
better passing. The belief was England was going to do it in Greek style --- to
win the tournament by the safety-first approach.
The
spell did not last long until people realised the incapability of the midfield
to hold the ball and pass it properly under pressure, not to mention the
inability to contain opponents’ playmaker. After the disappointing campaign,
pundits shouted for a change in the playing style.
Roy
Hodgson’s era ought to be starting after Euro, which he will be given two full
years to build a team which would, hopefully and expectedly, shine in Rio de
Janeiro. The honeymoon period had officially finished and now it’s time for
Hodgson to show the fans what he has.
Nevertheless,
the fear for failure only means the same old story continues. The 5-0 scoreline
against Moldova appeared to be promising, but praises were heaped on a 34 years
old midfielder, who may not even be fit in 2014. Four days later, Gerrard and
Lampard were completely outpaced by Ukraine in Wembley, only not penalised
thanks to Ukraine’s poor finishing.
Hodgson
emphasised that England’s future lies in the younger generation, but he dares
not to make a radical revolution. As a consequence, Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain was
in the starting XI, which half of those will be in their 30s and could well not
be in the squad in Rio, whereas his prospect teammates were only bench-warmers.
Hodgson
cannot fail, and he knows very well what the public reaction would be if he
threw matches away without selecting the “golden generation”, such as Ashley
Cole, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Stephen Gerrard. The love towards the home
country has gone to an extreme, that people still believe they are the players
to lead England to success, and they want them to lift the trophy more than
anyone else. The cruel fact is, their best days have long gone, particularly
Gerrard and Lampard, who show their struggles to maintain their high
competitiveness for two matches in the gap of three days.
The
scarcity of resources does not help either. Foreign players rush to the Premier
League and limit the first-team opportunity for the young Lions. Chamberlain,
Cleverley, Bertrand, Sturridge and Welbeck were the younger players on the
field, but only the latter has more regularly featured in the starting XI for
his club.
England
is not in a tricky group, which one would expect them to qualify for the World
Cup with ease. At the same time, this is an invaluable opportunity to let the
younger generation mature, both as an individual and as a team, because you
don’t improve as a team in football if you don’t play together regularly.
Scrappy moments will occur, but the veterans will be there to back them up.
It
will not be a hard decision for Hodgson to decide to qualify in a less
roller-coaster way, but England will only distant themselves even further away
from the top teams in the World, disregarding their rankings. This only means a
longer time to rebuild. France and Germany have both gone through the painful
transition period. Now they possess the assets to be title-challengers. It is
time for the Brits to play down their patriotism, firstly to learn from the
lesson of their fellow rivals, and secondly to be more forgiving towards their
managers’ reform, in return for the long term success.
By The Linesman
Twitter: www.twitter.com/LinesmanBlog
