A shoe in

[MrMark]

I'd piss myself if Scotland qualified and England didn't. I'm not a jock either, I'm just tired of the over-inflated opinion of the England team, followed by almost zero skill and desire when they're on the pitch.

No doubt England will struggle to qualify, then have one decent game (by England standards) and everyone (especially the press) will think they're one of the favourites to win the tournament. Come the WC they'll scrape through the group stage and get knocked out in the QF on penalties.

Then we'll have all the now cliched comments.

"It's too hot, they're wilting out there"
"They're exhausted and need a longer christmas break"
"They need to keep the ball more"
"We'll get better as the tournament progresses."
"The team are really missing x who was injured just prior to the tournament"
"There are no easy international games anymore"
"We need a root and branch change to the whole system"
"They need to re-look at introducing goal-line technology"
"Hopefully this time we'll win the penalty shoot-out"
"You can't fully prepare for a shoot-out so we didn't practice them. It just wasn't our night."

It's like groundhog day every time a major tournament comes around.

Hate to say this, but you're right. If we ever play a decent team in a tournament eg France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina or Uruguay, we all know the chances of England getting the upper hand are slim. Even teams like Portugal, Croatia and one or two African teams, could probably best us. I don't think it's the players as such, just that they nearly all play in the Premier League (very few English players adapt abroad) and have to play in a certain way to succeed there. It seems to adapt ok to the euro Champions League, but not at international level.

[Doggy Styles]

Hate to say this, but you're right. If we ever play a decent team in a tournament eg France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina or Uruguay, we all know the chances of England getting the upper hand are slim. Even teams like Portugal, Croatia and one or two African teams, could probably best us. I don't think it's the players as such, just that they nearly all play in the Premier League (very few English players adapt abroad) and have to play in a certain way to succeed there. It seems to adapt ok to the euro Champions League, but not at international level.

Gradually burnt out from a young age.

[gingerjedi]

Hate to say this, but you're right. If we ever play a decent team in a tournament eg France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina or Uruguay, we all know the chances of England getting the upper hand are slim. Even teams like Portugal, Croatia and one or two African teams, could probably best us. I don't think it's the players as such, just that they nearly all play in the Premier League (very few English players adapt abroad) and have to play in a certain way to succeed there. It seems to adapt ok to the euro Champions League, but not at international level.

They bottle it, simple as that.

Take a pressure off and they thump Jerry 1-5 in his own back yard.

[swamp]

Paul Scholes said: selfish players put personal glory above England.

And I think he's right.