England: no pride, no passion, no belief. What has gone wrong?

Question

What has gone wrong with our national team? I think we are not only heading out of the Euros, but also into the football wilderness for many years. They are mostly great players for their clubs, but this current generation who are at their peak just cannot play well either indivdually or as a team when they pull on the England shirt. It's a mystery!

Answer 1

The coach plays the wrong players. Against Isreal, why not start with Barry and Downing on the left and Carragher as right back? Why not play a diamond midfield like Chelsea does where u can get the best of Gerrard and Lampard with Hargreaves holding behind them? Why not leave out Rooney? What has he achieved. He's suppose to score goals. How many has he scored. Even when Man Utd plays, he can't score against teams like Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and teams who has good defenders. He has failed to deliver for England over and over again. Andy Johnson is a failure at International level. Defoe is a failure too. Vassel used to come of the bench and get the goals at any time called upon. Why not call him to the squad?? He has what it takes to score at International levels, given his limited time of play. Good strikers will score no matter who the defender is. Just look at Shevchenko, Drogba, Henry, Bellamy, Ronaldo, Villa and Crespo. Just compare them with the current crop of England strikers. What a crap!

Answer 2

Having the best 11 players available does not mean they will be a good team,we need a new manager and a new team,yes pick a few stars Rooney Gerrard Terry,then build a team round them,players who will play there hearts out for the stars around them.We pay some bloke a fortune to pick the 11 best English players,well i could do that,what i couldn't do is find 11 players that together could become world beaters.

Answer 3

It's incredibly frustrating. When you look at the full strength England team on paper, they can beat anyone. But when they get out there, it's as if they can't be bothered.

When they go forward, there is a total lack of support. Rooney and Lennon go forward and Gerrard and Lampard are almost back in their own half. And let's face it, Gerrard and Lampard just do not go together - period. It's time one of them was kept and the other dropped. I would keep Gerrard and get rid of Lampard. He's overpaid, over rated and strangely dries up in front of goal in an England shirt. What a loser.

Other thing that's wrong - the coach. Said it back then and I'll say it again, it should have been big Sam. He would have told England how crap they were, straight to their faces.

Answer 4

Far too many foreign players in the British leagues, who are preventing the up an coming talent of Britain's young players having any chance of playing and getting experience at the highest levels. Eventually there will no body good enough to compete at international levels for any British National Side. Plus we need a manager with ideas other than the long ball to 5ft 6inch tall players.

Answer 5

A severe lack of motivation,and a coach with no talent..that might be part of it.What has Maclaren ever actually done other than play second fiddle?Fegusson,Venables,Ericcson...Time to get shot me thinks, before I eat my shirt-I shall do it on youtube if we dont beat Andorra next week.
My plan?Write Macca off as a no-hoper and persuade Martin o'Neill that the jobs still there for the taking.
Sorry Villa, but Macca is all yours

Answer 6

hi. I'm scottish. i watch the epl every week. its brilliant. you have players that are world class and can produce stunning performances week in and week out. when i watch england play its as if they dont know what they are suposed to be doing. when the draw for euro 2008 came out all of scotland said as one,bloody england,easy draw again, and it was. if a team of englands stature cannot handle that lot then the loyal fans must make their voices heard and demand that anyone putting on an england shirt does so with seathing pride. thats how it used to be and thats the only way it can be.

Answer 7

They're the most boring team on the planet. Need a good insomnia cure then watch an England game, give you 10 minutes and you will be asleep.

Answer 8

It's about time England realizes that they can't play like the way they play in the EPL against foreign teams. As a fan it's great to watch english football becuase it can be a visual spectacle with all that pace, power, and energy; it's an instinctive back and forth game. But how often have we seen English (including club level) teams go crap once they come up against a foreign team that doesn't want to run with them up and down the pitch? And then what's left, what's the only solution? Beckham's free kicks? That's pathetic.

In recent years, the only successful English club teams to go far in European competition is Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool. All of whom are coached by foreign managers who have developed an understanding on how to play against lock down defensive European competition. (And though Arsenal is beautiful and swift to watch in the EPL, understand that Wenger completely changed their flowing style last year, in order to go far in the competition.)

English football is fine, tactically appealing, and exciting, but only if it's played against a similar style of play. You ask why all these highly rated English players are just standing around, looking overrated: the answer is that they don't know what to do or how to play once the opposing international team removes the pace of the game.

I hate to say it, but Italy and Germany (and to a lesser degree even France) are the most suited to go far in international competition because of their grass roots, national style of play. These teams are often slower and methodical though still with plenty of class and technique, when the time is right during the game. They are able to slowly dissect opposition and find space, which England (because of how they play at club level) cannot do unless the other team "plays with them and opens themselves up. Watch today's game again and see how everyone just stands around after all desperate attempts to switch the ball back and forth have failed pass after pass after pass. They don't know what to do, and no coach is going to be able to give them answers once that moment comes (which seems often these days) when the plays break down and dull down and the opposing team brings everything to a stop.

I'm convinced no coach will be able to re-eductate english instinct. There is no magic or imagination in the English style of play unlike the way it is in Italy, which is necessary when up against a defensive team. Sure Gerrard and Lennon and all those guys are fast and strong etc., but they all lack imagination. And coaching isn't going to help that.

Answer 9

No mystery. They just don't care. Club football takes priority for them. Do you really think that Chelsea or Man u players for example are going to risk an injury at this point in the season - no chance. Champions League and Premiership is all they are thinking and their next pay day of course.

Answer 10

McClaren is simply not good enough to be managing England. His record at Teeside wasn't that great to begin with. I don't know if this is true, but it looks like the players don't believe so much in their manager. They don't appear to want to play for him or they have yet to buy into his system. When the players don't have faith in the manager, the team will not do well.