englandtilidie

England face humiliation and the full weight of a nations crushed dreams if they lose against Uruguay tonight.  The country with the  strongest leagues and the longest footballing tradition can tomorrow be on flights home to a welcome of derision and contempt.  To return this early from Brasil would be sour indeed.

It is not the young men who wear the shirt who decide their level of pay, who determine the assignation of the millions of dollars that surround the game. They are simple athletes, most of whom would still be desperate to play the game without the mad money go round that now surrounds it.  Every boy child kicking a football in the streets and parks and playgrounds of England strikes the ball dreaming that this time the ball crossing some imaginary line will be the goal that wins the World Cup for England.

Now these boys are men and those dreams are being played out for real in some foreign field, some throbbing South American city has built a stadium for the greatest competition in the sporting world. Now Gerrard and Rooney and Cahill and Sturridge – all of them – have to see if they can overcome the hard and hardened professional footballers from two times World Cup winners Uruguay.

It is summer in England and the sun shines on the green fields and trees. Our city parks and gardens bloom and football is played on asphalt, on concrete, on grass. It is played in cities , in towns and villages – by everyone and all the  time.  You need nothing but a ball and some friends and some time. It is the same around the world.

England stand on the edge of defeat. They also stand just six games away from greatness. Six games from the greatest sporting glory of a generation. Time ticks on. This is England. They are our young men.  They cannot hide from the challenge.  We are on the edge now. The edge of greatness.

COME ON ENGLAND.

The fine young men who will represent England at the 2014 football World Cup were photographed standing, ready to depart, on the aircraft steps. There is an air of excitement and expectation draining from the photograph. They are wearing suits and are
all smartly groomed.

At home England is preparing for the celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of D Day on the 6th June. Then our young men were smartly dressed and sent off to fight and for many to die. The young men who claimed that victory that day made possible the luxury of our society happily besotted with nothing more troubling than the vagaries of a football competition.

22 years after the Normandy beaches were awash with the blood of allied servicemen England cavorted to victory over a team from Germany in the football World Cup of 1966. Bobby Moore held aloft the Jules Rimet trophy and the names of the 11 English men who played were inscribed on the nations hearts – Banks, Cohen, Wilson, Charlton,J. Moore, Ball, Stiles, Charlton.R, Peters, Hurst, Hunt.

It was a tremendous game and Sir Alf Ramsey had delivered his incredible promise, “England will win the World Cup” and Wembley under a summer sky burnt those images into the memories of English football supporters, of an England at peace and prospering.
Its a moment more glorious for its unique occasion. Nothing since has been comparable.

Brasil are five times world champions, Germany have won it three times – and Italy. English football followers recognise and respect the special skills and vision of Brasil and allow them a magical hold on the top table of the most popular game in the world. But this is England, an England whose time must come, a team with players good enough and brave enough to give it a go.

Now they are in Miami and everyone is counting the days. Now it is time to remember a bit, and time to know – “England will win the World Cup”

The best display by an England team in the World Cup, post 1966, was Italia 90. In that tournament England had the unbridled genius of Paul Gascoigne and a lame duck manager, Bobby Robson, who had already jumped ship and signed a contract with a Dutch club.

The players took over and played with freedom, commitment and self belief.

Now that hopeless Hodgson has done his selection duty, and done his worst, the sooner the players can get free of his influence the better. Hodgsons every move is designed to pacify some segment of his broader support from within the FA and the press. Without an original vision or dynamic impetus of his own he has decided to leave the left side of the English defence unsecured without Cole and used his attacking wild card on the industrial Lambert – when it is Andy Carrol who can really unnerve defences.

Undoubtedly he will want to drill the players into his rigorous defensive shape – and good luck with that Roy – but hopefully Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have been around enough quality managers to know what it really takes.

Roy got a bit red in the face when asked about winning it. He managed to mutter something about having “some hope.” England has the strongest football leagues in the world, produces great players and has fantastic clubs. Over 30% of the players in the best league on the world, the Premiership, are English. Getting them playing together to win a tournament should not be impossible.

If England are saddled with donkeys in the leadership function they do at least have lions on the field. Rooney alone has emerged from the Manchester United debacle with credit, Gerrard has led Liverpool magnificently and Lampard has been working alongside Europes most outstanding manager. Sterling and Sturridge have proved they can rip into any defence and there is the promise of more danger from Barklay, Wilshire and Oxlade-Chambelain.

England will set off knowing they have beaten Brasil and Spain at Wembley, knowing they play against the best every week and knowing the whole country is behind them. There is nothing to fear from any other team of eleven professional footballers, they just need to believe a bit more and have a bit of luck.

England may not have the greatest individual players but they have enough across the team. Our players play at the highest level every week. Our players are all lions from the greatest clubs in England. They are fine young men from the most popular sport played in our green and pleasant land. Yes, this year they can do it.

England will win the World Cup in Brasil.

In the end England just served up another quarter final defeat in a major tournament. They lost to the eventual losing finalists, Italy, on penalties when first Ashley Young and then Ashley Cole missed from 12 yards.

Hodgson always set England up to play a defensive game and spoke confidently about extra time and penalties before the game against Italy. The suspicion was, and is,
that he played for the draw, that his miserable game plan was at best to nick the game with a chance from a free kick.

Spain played with 8 midfielders and in many ways Hodgson played with 8 defenders. Ashley Young was poor as second left back and on the right Milner was so dutiful
that Glen Johnson began to look the wide right part. The mindset of the players was so set that they instantly shrank before your eyes into 2 lines of 4 without an alternative
clue.

Brooking and the suits at The FA had of course undermined any serious ambition by trumpeting their realistic “management of expectations” mantra like keen young business trainees. They set the bar so low that they could protect their man puppet Hodgson from the blow back from a disappointed public. It worked and an ever pliant press sucked it up.

Those responsible for the game in England protected their position and threw away a tournament. Ultimately Hodgson did not even have the wit to win a penalty shoot out. He did not manage final phase of the game successfully. Not many fans would have put Young and Cole in their first 5 penalty takers. He totally failed at this level but Englands failure was far deeper and more troubling than losing to Italy, it was a failure of spirit and ultimately a humiliation.

England failed to compete for the Championship. They turned up “hoping” to get out of the group and by the end, in defeat, there was a smug satisfaction that their performance had in some way been creditable. The management at the FA in some way seemed to feel that they had managed
the situation successfully. But they have not, they have managed only defeat and delivered only defeat and a gutless, spiritless defeat at that.

Of course Hodgson should resign and go back to some mid-table Premiership club and so should all those who appointed him. Its football, it’s a results business and not only was the result terrible the manner of it was embarrassing. Get lost Hodgson and take the management with you.

Pre-match Roy talked about extra-time and talked about penalties. England play to win, always have – until now. Now Hodgson is the manager.

When England got at them they were for the taking. Remember how Tottenham under Harry Redknapp tore up Italian teams. When they break loose of the Hodgson headset the England players are fine. The previous manager of West Bromwich Albion has destroyed another England team.

There was all this tosh about Roys Italian experience. Is that where he learnt to cripple the players with fear and in the great betrayal of the English tradition play for penalties ? Go away Roy – your time is done. How dare you do that.

In the final moment – you, Mr. Roy Hodgson, chose the penalty takers. You got it wrong. Utterly wrong.

The players are always good enough – but Hodgson is a disaster. Where now are Brooking and the smug faces at the FA. They will lie low and carry on. They made sure that they had got all their excuses in before a ball was kicked.

It is always England ‘til I Die and it is forever the peoples game. In England people know their football. They didn’t want Hodgson. Did they ?

Good luck to Italy, to Spain, Germany and Portugal,

Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero – “Seize the Day, putting as little trust as possible in the future”

Horace,

(from Wikipedia.)

Don’t worry now about the what ifs, or what may be be to come, not now the self doubt or concern for the unseen. Now take the day, by the throat, and take it down.

The whole country has watched enthralled as the England team has slowly meshed into a unit of talent and resolve. There is a unspoken alliance of quietness and focus. Can it be that what we are seeing is the full maturing of the hope we have all held so dear. To see a team that represents the strengths of the English professional game, with the young men from our towns and cities winning .

There is some level that the game is played at where the forces that govern the outcome are ethereal, about the spirit of the day, about fate and destiny. There are unsayable outcomes, possibilities that haunt our nightmares but you have
but you have to believe. You have to seize the day .

We know the players, we know the set up and know the opposition. In Kiev, in Ukraine, in a stadium out east, just about in Europe, the England players have to take on Italy. In London, in England, we are not talking about it. There is nothing left to say.

Everyone knows the time, everyone knows that England are playing Italy. Everyone will be watching it. Everyone will be hoping that England can go on.

The players carry all that with them. The England fans will be Kiev, the team will be in Kiev, the hearts of all England are with them. Now Engalnd now.

It is time. Seize the day.

Come On England. Come On.

Winning the Euros in 2012.