I think it was Thierry Henry that offered one of the most accurate and profound summaries of English football I've heard in recent times:
When asked by an interviewer a few years ago what the best thing about the England team was he replied, "their desire" and when the interviewer subsequently asked what the WORST thing was about the England team was, he replied, "their desire".
This is so true. I genuinely feel that one of the key problems affecting England can be summed up in one word... "Expectations". Not just from the fans, but the media, pundits and maybe even the players themselves which is why I would urge England fans to take a healthy dose of realism, especially in the wake of South Africa.
It must be said though, on the positive side, this new England team is beginning to display the balance, passion and youthful exuberance that I think we have been craving for many years and when watching this new look team play I am filled with optimism for the future. The starting XI now features players who appear to be genuinely excited about playing for England (an element that I feel was lacking from the previous stalwart who felt they could just walk into the team on account of their reputation, rather than current form). Fabio Capello is rewarding promising young players and forcing the likes of Lampard, Terry and Rio to stop taking their England shirts for granted.
I do think, however, that after all these years of supporting England, a sprinkling of pragmatism is recommended. If Fabio can start to mould a team (as he is currently doing) with the correct mix of youth and senior talent, all playing in their natural positions and with Steven Gerrard as captain then the team can begin to rebuild and really start reaching its potential, but this is not enough on its own. I have a secret ingredient that we need to add to this formula... TIME.
I think it is very unwise to start talking about England winning the Euros in 2012 because once again we are falling into the trap of heaping unnecessary pressure on young shoulders. England fans need to be able to respect the international pedigree of some of our main rivals and accept the role this plays in their success at major tournaments. We can't go talking about England winning tournaments and Wayne Rooney top-scoring before anyone has even kicked a ball!
That's why I think we should all adopt a mindset geared towards World Cup 2014 instead of the Euros. Let the likes of Joe Hart, Adam Johnson and Phil Jagielka gain as much exposure to the international game as possible over the next four years; let them get the feel-good factor back into playing for England. The fans must allow this very raw group of players to use Euro 2012 as a valuable learning curve (a quarter final appearance is both realistic and fair to expect, anything else will just be a bonus). That way, the pressure will be lessened and these players can play with the freedom that will ultimately enable them to flourish. If the fans and media adopt this conciliatory approach then by the time we reach World Cup 2014, we will have a core group of matured players in their mid-20s with invaluable tournament experience and a really good understanding of each others game; capable of doing something really special.
To sum up, I think that we need to rid ourselves of the curse of expectations and adopt an heir of patience (after all, we've waited forty four years already for England to deliver). I, for one, would happily hold on four more years to develop a team capable finally delivering what we all dream of, wouldn't you?
PS/ here is a great blog post from BBC' Phil McNulty on the big decisions faced by Fabio Capello... http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philmcnulty/2010/09/capello_facing_big_decisions.html
Very interesting...
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