The English National team- Why have they won nothing since 1966?

[Richard Hebberd's Syrup]

Lack of passion. Compare this lot with the likes of Pearce, Gascoigne etc who shed blood and tears for their country.

Yes. They won loads for England, didn't they?

The teams haven't been good enough and whenever we look like we have got vaguely close to doing something, the manager has been hounded into leaving (Robson and Venables) with the media playing no small part in that

 

[8ace]

The fact that the second option isn't running away with it shows how blinkered people are in this country.

 

[catfish]

Although we've had some decent enough players over the years, and have produced the occasional good performance, the teams have been crap.

 

[cloud]

That, and the fact that for years we never bothered to practice penalties

 

[Leicester Seagull]

It's very simple. We are taught to play the game the wrong way. Players get put in a set position, for example a centre back, at 8 years old, so the kid gets about 10 touches of the ball a game and doesn't learn how to play the game properly. Contrast that to Brazil or Spain, by the time the player is 18 he has played in every single position on the pitch, and is completely comfortable on the ball. Result = far superior players who understand how to keep the ball and not give away possession.

Until this attitude changes in England, we will not be successful at the very top level.

Oh and this bizarre obsession in playing the supposed top 11 players in the country regardless of system, rather than picking the best team.

Totally agree.

The fact that the second option isn't running away with it shows how blinkered people are in this country.

This is probably the source of the problem- most people still don't seem to understand the flawed way in which we coach players in this country. Until they do, how are things ever going to improve?

Ah well, maybe Gus will sort it out one day! Once he's won the Premier League and Champions League with us, of course

 

[alan partridge]

2010 - Poor Decision by the linesman, Ok we would have gone out anyway...
2008 - Steve Mclaren
2006 - Rooney sent off and Penalties, would have lost in SF anyway.
2004 - Rooney Injury, Campbell goal dissallowed, Penalties. We could have won this...
2002 - Lucky goal, would have won SF and certain we would have beaten Germans in the final
2000- Utter tripe , would have gone out in QF if it wasn't for Phil Neville.
1998 - Beckham sending off, Campbell goal dissallowed, Penalties
1996 - Certain we would have won the final, Penalties...Gascogine's miss, Anderton hitting the post
1990 - May well have lost the final but bloody unlucky not to get there, Waddle hitting the inside of the post and PENALTIES!!!

With a bit of luck and passion...you never know.

Not a bad assessment although, Ronaldinhos goal was NOT lucky. There's one problem with the English attitude right there. Can't accept that he meant it and can do it.

and the passion thing. Drives me nuts hearing that.

 

[alan partridge]

The fact that the second option isn't running away with it shows how blinkered people are in this country.

this.

 

[Brovion]

All of the poll options are true to a greater or less extent (apart from conspiracy). And kudos for not putting 'Lack of passion' as passion on it's own is an utterly useless quality as far as winning football matches is concerned. A great quality for supporters, but not for players.

Two of the options I might take issue with:

1 - The 'foreigners in the premiership' isn't as big a factor as some would believe as there have ALWAYS been foreigners in the top division - only in the old days they were Scots, Welsh and Irish.

2 - 'Lack of ability'. I don't think our players DO lack raw ability. I don't think God looks at the souls of about-to-be-born babies and says "Well, you're going to be crap at football, so I'd better make you English". I do think that the coaching leaves a lot to be desired, especially with regard to kids where from the age of six there is this urge to corral them into teams (all in matching kits) and make them play matches where the results are recorded and plastic trophies are given out. As kids the guys that won in 1966 in barely played organised football outside of school games, it was all street and park football without an overbearing adult in sight.

I also think one of the reasons we haven't won since 1966 is BECAUSE of 1966. It gave us a false sense of our place in the world football hierarchy and we believed that there was nothing that Johnny Foreigner could teach us, the nation that invented the game and won the war, about football thank you very much. In fact 1966 was actually a bit of a hiccup (a bit like Greece winning Euro 2004) as we'd been rubbish in every tournament prior to that and had already been given a footballing lesson by the Hungarians 13 years previously.

So I reckon the main, but not sole, reason is coaching. Look what Gus has done to quite ordinary players, and then imagine that multiplied across all age groups and across the country.