“Why always us?” England and International failure

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By Mike O’Brien

England’s Euro 2012 exit is naturally bound to spark the age old debates amongst English fans and even officials as to why they appear to fail at International tournaments. So I thought I’d take a look into what is preventing England’s superstars from performing when they pull on the white shirt.

Exhaustion

There is the ever existent belief that players are overworked. Most England players ply their trade in the Premier League which consists of 38 games a season, plus FA and League cup commitments and for some, their European competitions can result in players competing in 50+ games a season. It is hard to argue that exhaustion isn’t a reason for England’s constant failure. This season alone the likes of Gerrard, Henderson, and Johnson participated in full domestic schedules, getting to both the Carling cup and FA Cup finals with Liverpool. Meanwhile the likes of Ashley Cole and John Terry had victorious FA Cup and Champions League campaigns.

Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson and Glen Johnson after collecting their losers medals in the FA Cup final.

So a case can certainly be made for exhaustion when it comes to summer tournaments. Many fans called for a winter break in Premier League proceedings after Spain won both the Euro’s and the World Cup consecutively and gave birth to a great and innovative form of flowing football. But this would do more harm than good to English players in my opinion. At the end of the day, the players are going to have to play 38 league games. A three week break isn’t going to change that and would in fact mean the players would be playing games more often and would probably result in players being even more tired at the end of the season. The only way to counter this is to literally copy

9 Comments

  1. Exhaustion??? And the other fifteen teams don’t play just as much football as the England players? The Spaniards have played in each of the last four summers, yet they still win everything. England failed because they have a lack of game intelligence, quality, and tactical nous.

  2. English players are technically inferior – no ball control – all they do is ru like crazy – Germans would have murdered us – Hope Brenda Rogers teaches us to play proper football – this is my great hope – then LFC will be back

    1. Hi Honest,

      As the writer of this article i’d just like to say that i agree with the majority of your points, but rather than look at the mountain of tactical issues wrong with England which i think everyone can see for themselves, i wanted to just look at the main ones speak about.

      Thanks for taking the time to read it and if you wish to contact me further then feel free to follow me on twitter @mike_oby_92.

  3. Sorry if above sounds harsh but it is the truth -always knackered by the quarter final stage – look how uncomfortablJay Spearing looks on the ball – remember the Cup Final and his lack of basic ball control – sorry to be harsh but it is the truth

  4. What’s with the “US”…..? #ScouseNotEnglish

    The issues with England remain the same from Manager to manager, the people who pick the team are the National press. Rooney was poor, Young was dire, while the brave decisions by the manager paid off. Parker grafted in the middle to allow Gerrard to shine. Carroll was worth his spot, and so did the young Arsenal lads.

    Now, looking that all the manc players had a woeful tournament, do you look at the blow inflicted by loosing the prem in such a spectacular fashion? The Liverpool players had much to prove after a poor season, and did so, but they never had their dreams crushed in the blink of an eye, we knew we were pants since January.

    Terry should not have been there, no matter how steady his performances are.

    I don’t subscribe to this exhaustion theory. It is not as if footballer are the ultimate in athletic fitness, with all their nights out boozing and smoking. Yes it is better than the 70’s, but it is not as if they are finely honed machines, like Olympic athletes. They only train for a couple of hours a day.

    The other aspect is how we play one way all year round, but then change how we play for National games. Our game is more physical, but as Andy Carroll found out, as soon as you go within 6 foot of a European player, they go down like they are shot, and the ref will blow up based on his acting skill. Liverpool players usually have more experience of these games. Refs blowing up when you raise your foot above the knee… SO what do we do? We neuter ourselves, and don’t play our game.

    What should we do, play non-contact European football, or go out and play our game and win the thing?

    Think back to Europe, and the ban following Heysel. Were we banned for killing 39 Italians? Hell no. If that was the case, why are Turkish teams not banned for 5 years for stabbing opposition fans left right and centre? Because they DON’T WIN. From 1977 to 1984, English teams win the European cup all bar one time. It was that dominance and monopoly that triggered that ban. If we play our game, and stopped cutting our own nuts off every 2 years, we would conquer all before us.

    1. Noblelox,

      You are aware that Margaret Thatcher, the British PM at the time, banned Liverpool and all English teams from European play following Heysel, right? That self-imposed ban is a big reason as to why Everton hates us because they were on the cusp of European dominance and they lost that European cup spot.

      Overall, there is a point to be made about exhaustion. Yes, I am aware that all the major European leagues play the same amount of matches, however, there arent any throwaway games in the EPL. Messi and Ronaldo can have games where they are playing against recently promoted teams in La Liga and jog around the pitch but their team will still win handedly. In the premiership, no team can mail it in against any opposition. The points are too important. One argument is to have the national players play in different leagues, but why should a player have to accept an inferior league and a vast lifestyle change all for the fleeting chance at an international tournament victory? Its a complicated issue.

    2. Hi Noble,

      As the writer of this article i’d just like to say that i agree with the majority of your points, but rather than look at the mountain of tactical issues wrong with England which i think everyone can see for themselves, i wanted to just look at the main ones speak about.

      Also, on the #scousenotenglish issue? I totally agree but i am a sports journalism student and im often taught to be unbiased and this isnt the only site thats had this article so i had to keep it fair.

      Thanks for taking the time to read it and if you wish to contact me further then feel free to follow me on twitter @mike_oby_92.

  5. The world watched as England ludicrously embarrassed themselves by playing what the English thought was the game of football.

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