[Football] Why am I still not excited about England?

[Mellotron]

You may not want to sound patronising...but you do!!

Because it's really ****ing enjoyable, and I want other people to be able to enjoy it too....obviously!

Surely you'd rather be absolutely loving it, no?

Just like when I see someone who is really into their passion - cars, a band, whatever - I definitely think "I wish I could have that passion, they look like they're having a lot of fun".

As an example - I was lucky enough to watch a number of bands from sidestage at a festival in Denmark, in 2014. I'm not a big Pixies fan but watching them, I was hugely jealous of their fans who were screaming along with every word like their lives depended on it. It's infectious, that sort of passion. I absolutely wished I was more into the Pixies, because then my experience would've been way more enjoyable. That's just logical, non?

 

[Icy Gull]

Because it's really ****ing enjoyable, and I want other people to be able to enjoy it too....obviously!

Surely you'd rather be absolutely loving it, no?

Just like when I see someone who is really into their passion - cars, a band, whatever - I definitely think "I wish I could have that passion".

As an example - I was lucky enough to watch a number of bands from sidestage at a festival in Denmark, in 2014. I'm not a big Pixies fan but watching them, I was hugely jealous of their fans who were screaming along with every word like their lives depended on it. It's infectious, that sort of passion. I absolutely wished I was more into the Pixies, because then my experience would've been way more enjoyable. That's just logical, non?

Don't get me wrong, I have been very cynical about England and Southgate BUT I am enjoying watching us. It's been a bit Hughtonesque until the second goal went in against Ukraine, but no I am not thrilled, anymore than I was when we won a scrappy 1-0 under CH.

If the Denmark game is exciting all of this may change but I genuinely haven't been leaping off my seat in excitement so far. I totally get people feeling differently but as I keep saying I watch football to be entertained and what I've seen so far has been efficient but not exciting (apart from a couple of Pickford saves and when Muller missed a sitter ) so far as we haven't really had to get out of second gear.

 

[Mellotron]

Don't get me wrong, I have been very cynical about England and Southgate BUT I am enjoying watching us. It's been a bit Hughtonesque until the second goal went in against Ukraine, but no I am not thrilled, anymore than I was when we won a scrappy 1-0 under CH.

If the Denmark game is exciting all of this may change but I genuinely haven't been leaping off my seat in excitement so far. I totally get people feeling differently but as I keep saying I watch football to be entertained and what I've seen so far has been efficient but not exciting (apart from a couple of Pickford saves and when Muller missed a sitter ) so far as we haven't really had to get out of second gear.

I'm not suggesting the football has been champagne, but I do find - and this isn't particularly aimed at you, or anyone specific - I find as England fans we are oddly entitled to expect free flowing football and success. We've never had great success playing free flowing football. Ever.

Just getting to consecutive semi finals is a massive step forward for England. This is uncharted territory at the moment. I understand though, if for you the entertainment level is more important than the result.

 

[Bry Nylon]

I'll happily admit to being the worst kind of England fan. (With the exception of those who have no interest in football whatsoever except when the WC comes around and end up on the BBC news reeling out of a FanZone after England have beaten Turkmenistan 1-0 in their first group game, wearing the latest home shirt with the Sports Direct price tag still attached to it, gurning at the camera and shouting "It's coming home! Get in!").

When it comes to England, I like to adopt a fluid position, which generally goes something like this:

Pre-tournament
Complete ambivalence and a willingness to tell everyone that during qualifying we flattered to deceive, we will do well to get out the group and the manager is clueless.

We get out the group.
State that our group was gash anyway and we will get knocked out in the R16

Win the R16 game
Profess that we had an easy draw and confidently predict that we will lose to the first decent side we play

Beat a decent side
This is where it gets a bit tricky so I claim that the decent side we just beat aren't as decent as they used to be whilst trying to covertly clamber aboard the bandwagon without anyone noticing. It is at this point I usually try to buy a replica 1982 England shirt on-line only to find they are all sold out or going for £85 on eBay.

I find this approach has served me well over the years until we finally get knocked out and then I can feel vindicated and quite smug. It did lead to me having a bit of a row with [MENTION=457]sheebo[/MENTION] on here during the South Africa World Cup until (to my shame) I realised that [MENTION=457]sheebo[/MENTION] is actually one of the most decent posters on here and his unconditional support for the national side is something to be applauded.

 

[zefarelly]

Because it's really ****ing enjoyable, and I want other people to be able to enjoy it too....obviously!

Surely you'd rather be absolutely loving it, no?

Just like when I see someone who is really into their passion - cars, a band, whatever - I definitely think "I wish I could have that passion, they look like they're having a lot of fun".

As an example - I was lucky enough to watch a number of bands from sidestage at a festival in Denmark, in 2014. I'm not a big Pixies fan but watching them, I was hugely jealous of their fans who were screaming along with every word like their lives depended on it. It's infectious, that sort of passion. I absolutely wished I was more into the Pixies, because then my experience would've been way more enjoyable. That's just logical, non?

Thats a funny one . . . I was back/side stage at a 'big' gig in 2019. Just soaking it up and very much enjoying it . . . but don't feel the need to go ballistically over the top in my enjoyment. likewise I've worked and raced with some pretty famous drivers. they're just people. I can get enthusiastic when it comes to my specialist subject, but England & football is just all a bit special, some peoples reaction is way over the top. It does help if you're in big groups as opposed to at home with a bored teenager and a grumpy wife. ;-)

as previously noted, politicians are a cancer to sport, I really really hope they don't get invited to No10, whatever happens, it's got **** all to do with them and they should not lap it up to their own ends.

 

[Baldseagull]

I want to be more excited than I am, I have been enjoying it, but I seem to be more detached from it than I would have thought, I can't put my finger on why exactly either.

 

[zefarelly]

I want to be more excited than I am, I have been enjoying it, but I seem to be more detached from it than I would have thought, I can't put my finger on why exactly either.

This . . . . once we start to progress I get a bit more into it, but not this time. must just be the general mood and state of the nation

 

[Iggle Piggle]

I'll happily admit to being the worst kind of England fan. (With the exception of those who have no interest in football whatsoever except when the WC comes around and end up on the BBC news reeling out of a FanZone after England have beaten Turkmenistan 1-0 in their first group game, wearing the latest home shirt with the Sports Direct price tag still attached to it, gurning at the camera and shouting "It's coming home! Get in!").

When it comes to England, I like to adopt a fluid position, which generally goes something like this:

Pre-tournament
Complete ambivalence and a willingness to tell everyone that during qualifying we flattered to deceive, we will do well to get out the group and the manager is clueless.

We get out the group.
State that our group was gash anyway and we will get knocked out in the R16

Win the R16 game
Profess that we had an easy draw and confidently predict that we will lose to the first decent side we play

Beat a decent side
This is where it gets a bit tricky so I claim that the decent side we just beat aren't as decent as they used to be whilst trying to covertly clamber aboard the bandwagon without anyone noticing. It is at this point I usually try to buy a replica 1982 England shirt on-line only to find they are all sold out or going for £85 on eBay.

I find this approach has served me well over the years until we finally get knocked out and then I can feel vindicated and quite smug. It did lead to me having a bit of a row with [MENTION=457]sheebo[/MENTION] on here during the South Africa World Cup until (to my shame) I realised that [MENTION=457]sheebo[/MENTION] is actually one of the most decent posters on here and his unconditional support for the national side is something to be applauded.

I'd certainly second that about [MENTION=457]sheebo[/MENTION] I've followed England about over the years but have levelled off in recent years and have become much more ambivalent as a result. Reading his posts makes me realise I've turned into a cynical old git. If we do go onto win it, I'm sure he will enjoy it more than anyone else on here and rightly so. I wish I could be as enthusiastic as I used to be about the whole thing - I was probably more emotionally invested in the Cricket World cup which is a statement I couldn't imagine myself uttering 10 or so years ago.

 

[Albumen]

National identity. Brexit. I’d celebrate Brighton any day of my life, England? It’s gone.

 

[crodonilson]

This might also be partly my issue. I've only been able to watch the Ukraine game with others and even that one was muted as the result was fully expected.

Also, where are all the England flags? In years gone by the cars and streets would be covered in them if we'd reached a semi-final.

I think it's to do with all of the negative connotations of the flag. In past tournaments I'd have been proudly hanging my St Georges cross out but in the current climate I have kept it in the loft.

 

[Kosh]

I've always struggled to get passionate watching England, perhaps its down to me supporting a club that in my youth was glued to division 3/League 2 and therefore (back when a lifelong passion is born) I was never going to see an Albion player representing England beyond under 8 level. Don't get me wrong I'm happy we're progressing, but it's the same level of happy I get if the bus turns up on time just before it rains.

Now; when Bobby and Lewis and even Ben have got close to representing us in competitive games I have got excited, but more about their individual performance than the whole. It's odd and I can't quite get my head around why tbh, but take this tournament for example; I was totally immersed in the France Switzerland epic to the point I cheered like it was an Albion goal when that last gasp equaliser hit the back of the net. Seeing the arrogance of Pogba utterly demolished was a thing of underdog legend... and there lies the rub, I think I like an underdog and I can't abide the media golden generation, every generation hyperbole that nearly always surrounds England, that and I can't warm to some of the players - who I know to be arrogant and unlikable in the extreme. The fact that I was gutted when a team of Swiss (virtual) unknowns went out to Spain speaks volumes about the kind of teams I can't help but support and fall behind.

Still hope we win though, purely to finally lay the '66 ghost to rest.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I think very many people have gone a bit numb about football over the course of the pandemic, whether it be club or country. It just doesn't seem to matter like it used to

 

[herecomesaregular]

I think very many people have gone a bit numb about football over the course of the pandemic, whether it be club or country. It just doesn't matter like it used to

Or it matters more

 

[Greg Bobkin]

This. It's absolutely fantastic, I don't want to sound patronising but I genuinely feel sorry for anyone unable to enjoy it. It doesn't get better than this, England-wise.

Why would you feel sorry for us? If it was me, I wouldn't give a shite about them/us. If someone isn't into something, then they're not missing out. Or am I missing something?

I think it was Gary Lineker who posted something about feeling sorry for people who were watching Love Island instead of the football? Why? If they wanted to watch the football – and were into it – then they would?

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Because it's really ****ing enjoyable, and I want other people to be able to enjoy it too....obviously!

Surely you'd rather be absolutely loving it, no?

Just like when I see someone who is really into their passion - cars, a band, whatever - I definitely think "I wish I could have that passion, they look like they're having a lot of fun".

As an example - I was lucky enough to watch a number of bands from sidestage at a festival in Denmark, in 2014. I'm not a big Pixies fan but watching them, I was hugely jealous of their fans who were screaming along with every word like their lives depended on it. It's infectious, that sort of passion. I absolutely wished I was more into the Pixies, because then my experience would've been way more enjoyable. That's just logical, non?

Sorry [MENTION=12101]Mellotron[/MENTION], I see you've already answered this similar post to mine.

I get where you're coming from, but to go to the point of feeling sorry for someone because they don't feel the same level of enthusiasm is something I just don't really get.

Name a sport or pastime that you are completely indifferent about. It would be like some people who are fanatics of that sport/pastime expecting YOU to enjoy it as much as they do! Or a food, or anything else that people have different opinions about.

Why put yourself outside your comfort zone or try and force yourself to like something that you're indifferent about? For example, Mrs Bobkin and I went to the opera once. We arrived just before it started and the people around us were NOT happy. It started and they were all laughing (it was a comedy opera) and clearly entertained, but we just didn't get it and left at half-time for the pub. Did I wish I was more like them? Not really? Did they feel sorry for us that we didn't 'get' it? Almost certainly not – they were probably quite relieved that we'd facked off!

 

[Easy 10]

I may be wrong, but I think at least some of the football fans who feel mainly apathy towards England might be swayed IF we make the Final. We've all lived through those gutting failures of falling at the semi-final stage, but if we can finally get over that hurdle, then this becomes new territory for so many of us.

England in a major Final just does not happen. If it DOES though - how can you not get even a little bit caught up in it ?

 

[vagabond]

England getting to the semi finals of a major tournament doesn’t come around often. Although of course Southgate is changing that, this is the second in a row. But it’s still rare. And I’d take a guess England getting to a major final hasn’t happened in most of our lifetimes.

If we win the whole thing it would be sporting history in this country, as simple as that. So enjoy it and soak it in while it lasts.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I think I've realised the reason, or at least part of the reason.

It's this f*cking country itself. It's the utter shambles and bare faced hypocrisy and corruption of the people in charge of this country that has made me despise it and therefore feel very little patriotism towards my national team.

It's a country full of small minded, bigoted racists run by small minded, bigoted racists.

I find it difficult to disagree with you, and pre-tournament, I felt the same. I still feel European first, and hate the direction that our country has gone in in the last decade.

But watching the games in the pub with my mates has sucked me in...as usual I am loving this tournament, and seeing the team actively stand up for diversity and against bigotry has warmed me to them even more.

I am so pleased that that I have been able to shake off my pre-tournament apathy and antipathy, because it's been one Hell of a ride so far.

My feelings aren't at '90, '96 or '98 levels, but I am on the bandwagon.

 

[Stuart Munday]

20 years ago we had an England flag hanging from the house and a car flag like hundreds of other people. I walked round our estate yesterday, a house around the corner has a flag up and another has given their garden gnome a flag, scarf and a can of Stella but that’s it, maybe more will appear over the next few days.

 

[Chicken Run]

I think I've realised the reason, or at least part of the reason.

It's this f*cking country itself. It's the utter shambles and bare faced hypocrisy and corruption of the people in charge of this country that has made me despise it and therefore feel very little patriotism towards my national team.

It's a country full of small minded, bigoted racists run by small minded, bigoted racists.

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

I’ve read some shit on here and posted plenty myself but this is definitely one of the biggest turds I’ve ever read, time for you to disappear to another country me thinks!!!


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