why were england so bad in the world cup?

Question

They were hyped up to so good, they wone their three group games and last 16 tie by luck more than anything else.

Answer 1

Because only the English can play for England.
And they're all soft souless glamour boys.hahaha
You're going home, you're going home!

Answer 2

How many reasons do you need......
1) They appoint a manager that tries to play a foreign game with local players, the manager was a success the players were not.
2) His selection of Rooney,Owen, Walcott,Crouch, Neville and Beckham were a mistake, some were unfit or unready, some were over the hill and some just cannot play soccer..you decide which is which.
3) Over-rated players believe their own press.
4) Gerrard never plays well for England
5) The youngsters,Lennon & Downing looked good and should have been used more.
6) No Big Match Temperament
7) Over involvement with the media created a form of brainwashing that made a lot of people expect too much.
8) Long balls, Long Balls Long Balls....
9) Sven should not have been there, he had no more to lose
10) English Football, coaches, managers and players are just not good enough! Like it or not the most successful English League players and managers have all been foreigners.

Lets just for once stop the hype, look at the players warts and all,play the game in the right spirit and stop blaming referees and foreign prima -donnas for the same old failings.

Answer 3

Thats a very good question, one we're all asking. We never really got started. I have to say Sven, although largly to blame with his tactics was right when he said you need some luck.Neither France or Italy looked like getting to the finals and they are teams England could definately beat. It really does'nt matter how well you play sometimes its about getting to the next stage. Look at Greece in the last euro championships. Both Spain and Argentina looked fantastic but were eventually undone. To do well in the competition you need so many elements to click and combine. Conversely the same elements can bring failure, ie; squad selection, fitness, tactics, injuries, suspensions, mindset and of course a bit of luck. You just have to admit in all departments England, apart from having great players were found wanting in all the other areas. Our tactics of long ball from the back and over reliance on Becks pinpiont free kicks etc was one problem. Early injuries to Owen and Rooney not fit was another. Svens squad selection was ill concieved.And then luck, I felt as soon as John Terry was booked it was not going to be our time. Then Becks went off with a tournement ending injury. The refs failure to caution for simulation and then the Rooney thing. It just all combined to eventual disaster. Even if England have had the mindset to win the penalty shootout we would have been decimated. Its a massive disapointment but I believe lessons will be learned. Keep your chin up we'll win the Euros, PROMISE!

Answer 4

Hamstrung by negative tactics. They tried to get through by wallying around, and playing not-to-lose. Doing just enough to get through. This might work against weaker teams, but you get found out against stronger ones. England needed to play pretty well from the outset, then get stronger as the tournament progressed - just as Italy have done. Then they would have had the 'playing well' mentality. It didn't happen.

Also, we haven't kept possession well enough. It's all well and good sitting on leads if you have players who can keep the ball, but we haven't had them recently. Sitting back on a 1-0 lead invites great players like Ronaldinho, Zidane, Figo etc to come at you and work their magic around your penalty area. That is how we were undone by Brazil, France and Portugal in all of Sven's tournaments.

Why play negative, cagey football when you have superb attacking players? Surely it would have been better to use a disciplined, passing game. Getting the ball forwards so that you can keep it away from your own penalty area. Building on the lead to keep your opponents even further out of reach.

I don't mean playing like a naive Kevin Keegan team. If you are driving forward all the time you leave space at the back for opponents to hit you on the counter attack.

The answer lies somewhere between gung-ho Keegan tactics, and Sven's catennaccio game. Forward passes, utilising your creative players (not lumping long balls forward and bypassing them) keeping possession, defending set pieces, building on leads. Hopefully we will find that in Euro 2008, and win the competition. The 'golden generation' CAN still have their day.

Answer 5

The world cup was hyped up,It is to create an interest, thousands of people have been out kicking a ball, joining footy teams because of the world cup,The hype is to make people support there country which we should do in any sport,
Erickson has always been a let down we may have won games but it is the manor in which we win them all the big teams atleast gave someone a hiding.To defencive approach for a team with real attacking quality! no flare! and no strikers!
by attack quality i mean midfielders Lampard,Gerrard, J and A Cole(switching it), and beckham between them should of had more goals. along with all strikers!
We were impressive in defence

Answer 6

The problem with the England squad is that they believe their own hype.
Fair enough, on paper the look to have one of the strongest squads in the tournament (with the obvious exception of Crouch!!) but each of these players come to the squad with an ego as big as Old Trafford, and with the weak man-management skills brought by (Doctor Death) Sven Goran Eriksson, the team were onto a loser before the competition began.

The lack of depth in attack was always going to be a strong factor with this squad, as England found out in the later stages.
Rooney's frustration during the Portugal match was plain to see.
The tactics of a manager who insists on playing a solitary striker, (who was nowhere near 100% fit) while punting balls forward, ignoring the fact that his squad's strength came from his midfielders begs belief!!

Answer 7

It was obvious to everyone except the £5 million a year Swede that we needed two strikers and a wide service provider on the right.

For once I don't blame the players as 9 of them were clearly all trying to play in the same position and tripping over each other whilst we had one poor sucker half a pitch away trying to receive long balls and turn three defenders.

Was never ever going to work.

Answer 8

Bad management, in selection of the squad, in selection of the teams for individual matches, in tactics during the games, and in lack of leadership to inspire the players. In particular, Rooney got sent off in the Portugual game because he got frustrated at never getting the ball, which resulted from a team picked with nobody to support him. If we had had two strikers, we would have beaten Portugual, and would have had a good chance against both France and Italy.

Being able to score penalties would have helped!

Also, we lacked top quality strikers. It was not just that Erikksen only picked four, two of whom had injury problems, one of whom was too young and the fourth was (rightly) picked for his height, despite other limitations. England are beginning to suffer seriously because of the lack of home players in the Premiership and in what position do clubs first go for big name foreign players? Yes, strikers like Henri, Van Nistelroy and Robben. England is not likely to do well in international football until the interests of Premiership clubs are co-ordinated with those of the nation.

Answer 9

English football clubs are the best in the world with the best players in the world - no doubt.

Its just that when it comes to the world cup all the players go back to and play for their countries so we loose.

LOL - but true

Answer 10

I think it was good ole sven erikson coaching tactics. He didn't bring the right strikers, and didn't want to play 2 of them, and the other two were hurt. I don't think that Gerrard and Lampard played up to there par either, especially Lampard, I was excited to see him play in the world cup too.

Answer 11

England is full of good players. Defence is good. Midfield failed to rise to the occasion. It is their forwards who let England down. Peter Crouch looked like a joker throughout the tournament.