Having lived next door to two youngsters trying to make it in professional football, I know how hard it is and how dedicated kids have to be to make it. One thing they both had in common was that they absolutely loved playing football above everything else. This idea that young players on big wages spend their time clubbing and abusing their bodies is just not true in the vast majority of cases. And I would say that the idea that they are happy to take the wages and not play the game they love is also not correct in the vast majority of cases.
I'm willing to admit that there may be rare exceptions to this, but I think the reasons for England's failure to do well in international competitions should be sought elsewhere.
[cite]Posted By: Mortimerician[/cite]World class players, bring in the kids, better coaching, change the manager. Same shit/different day. The answer's no. England has only every won two games against sides that have won the world cup, at finals. That stat won't change much.
Not true, we've beaten the Germans, French & Argies at the finals. Possibly more?
Sorry, I wasn't all that clear. England won six games against sides that have won a World Cup France (x2) Argentina (x3) and W. Germany - but there's only two of those wins over teams that were previous cup holders at the time of the win (and that's West Germany 66 and Argentina 02
[cite]Posted By: Floyd Montana[/cite]I thought Mourino and Klinsmann made some excellent comments
And the hopeful comparison that if the Spanish can turn it round in a decade, then we should be able to.
Yes, if you had that opinion before watching the programme, it would've confirmed it.
But, if you had the opinion that England will win the 2014 World Cup if they just get those pesky foreigners out of the country, it would've confirmed it (Germany have regulations on foreign players in club teams).
The problem was that after talking about how it took Spain and Germany a decade or longer to turn things around, they then had Venables etc saying that England will definitely be in with a chance in four years time, and Scudamore talked about the next generation (Wilshire is a generation, apparently), the same garbage that led to the country being so disappointed this summer.
Lineker refused to say that it won't happen until English people think long-term. The same circus will happen next World Cup. It will always be like this until there's a change in perspective, but this short-term focus is what sells papers etc.
Comments
I'm willing to admit that there may be rare exceptions to this, but I think the reasons for England's failure to do well in international competitions should be sought elsewhere.
Yes, if you had that opinion before watching the programme, it would've confirmed it.
But, if you had the opinion that England will win the 2014 World Cup if they just get those pesky foreigners out of the country, it would've confirmed it (Germany have regulations on foreign players in club teams).
The problem was that after talking about how it took Spain and Germany a decade or longer to turn things around, they then had Venables etc saying that England will definitely be in with a chance in four years time, and Scudamore talked about the next generation (Wilshire is a generation, apparently), the same garbage that led to the country being so disappointed this summer.
Lineker refused to say that it won't happen until English people think long-term. The same circus will happen next World Cup. It will always be like this until there's a change in perspective, but this short-term focus is what sells papers etc.