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But the press do their bit as well every couple of years, by whipping up ridiculous levels of hope and expectation among England's long-suffering fans.

There was a period of about 4 years between 1966 to 1970 when England were (arguably) a major force in World football.

Okay we won the World Cup with home advantage in '66, but a World Cup win is a World Cup win, and we had to beat some decent sides to do it. And the 1970 side was still a good one with some genuinely world-class players (though nobody but Pele's, Jarzinho's and Rivelino's Brazil was ever going to win it that year).

Since 1970 though it's for the most part been downhill all the way. We were dismal thoughout the rest of that decade and failed to qualify for 2 World Cups in a row, patchy at best during the '80s, and although a bit better in the '90s were never really *that* good - our teams always lacking that killer edge, that mental toughness, that others like Argentina, (West) Germany, Brazil and the excellent French side of the late '90s/early '00s possessed.

That's why we were never going to be anything more than "nearly men" - and it's worth noting that going right back to 1970, every time we've come up against a big team in the knockout stages of a major tournament, we've been sent packing.

So why are England **still** rated among the favourites (not just here, but abroad as well) in the run-up to every major tournament (be it the Euros or the World Cup)?

And why are we always among the top seeds? It's like Bjorn Borg now coming out of retirement and being seeded 8th at Wimbledon, purely on the strength of his having won 5 single titles 30+ years ago.

It doesn't make any sense to me at all.

- Eric

"So why are England still rated among the favourites?"

Probably because we actually won the world cup, hype and because the British have pretty much invented the sport to what it has become so we are being patronised for it

Trash me if you like but I dont follow football so I dont expect any real respect here for my lack of knowledge on the subject.

If England never won a world cup then it would be an entirely different story I think. seems to me now its all baout the actual money than the actual playing to win of it from my observation.

Also, what kind of press would we have if they trashed the players by telling them they would lose before they even played a game in SA?

With you saying this and The Sun (that glorious institution of all things british) saying with emblazoned capitals: YOU HAVE FAILED YOUR COUNTRY! Had me envisioning the players coming back with post traumatic stress disorder.

Fuck that. Its a game. They lost. So what? Someone had to lose and you and others have said it best that there are far better teams and players in the other teams.

I would rather England win by being good than by a fluke and I half suspected that some people were hoping to by the grace of god, get in there and win by a whisker.

If it makes you feel better we can always say we lost the game ...BUT won the waaaar!!!! (my saaahn!)

Good job too because the likes of me wouldnt be around and you'd all be speaking German

Hey, you cant win em all but at least you didnt get your arse whooped on your own doorstep without at least winning one so dont be too harsh on yourselves.

When the team come back, buy em a round of beer, get pissed, tell em they were shit and move on

"So why are England **still** rated among the favourites (not just here, but abroad as well) in the run-up to every major tournament (be it the Euros or the World Cup)?

The answer to that question is FIFA world rankings
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Rankings

England were ranked 8th in this World Cup, 5th in 2006, 7th in 2002 and the lofty heights of 4th in 1997.

So given these rankings based on performances, it is not unrealistic to assume that England should get to the quarter finals at least and possibly the semi-finals. They clearly are not expected to win it, looking at these rankings. This is where the hype comes in.

The problem is that England rarely seem to achieve their potential when it matters.

Cheers
D

one eyed jack wrote:


>>


That would of course be going the other extreme, and equally silly.

Having spent 20 years living in Germany, I've noticed that with the exception of Bild-Zeiting ("Germany's Sun"), the German press tend to be a lot more measured and realistic in their pre-tournament analyses than the UK press.

Yes they're proud and patriotic - but not jingoistic. And they don't hype up their team to anywhere near the degree we see in the UK.

- Eric