Three lions of Africa (5 live)

[Nick Shorey my Lord!]

Did anyone listen to this last night? David Davies and various contributors discussed England failings at last years world cup.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01245jc

There's nothing new about the reasons discussed; lack of a winter break, PL running football not the FA, etc etc, but the one stat that never fails to make me are the number of Pro-license coaches in England compared to Spain, Italy and France. They have over 30,000 each, we have about 3,000.

There are also some interesting contrasts to opinions and views vs "facts". In particular, the view from Geoff Hurst that all was not well within the camp yet Carragher claiming it was fine. It doesn't add up either way.

Worth a listen if you didn't catch it.

[Toon Toon Blue army]

How about England are not as good as everyone thinks and they reached a stage in the tournament that reflected their true ability.

[Big Foot]

How about England are not as good as everyone thinks and they reached a stage in the tournament that reflected their true ability.

Up to 4th in FIFA World Rankings

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13957893.stm

[papereyes]

How about England are not as good as everyone thinks and they reached a stage in the tournament that reflected their true ability.

Up to 4th in FIFA World Rankings

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13957893.stm

So possible semis, but probably beaten by the first decent, properly decent team they face, whenever that happens.

Which was Germany.


Also worth pointing out the similarity with 2006, 2004, 2002 and possibly 1998.

[Terminal Boardom]

How about England are not as good as everyone thinks and they reached a stage in the tournament that reflected their true ability.

Half the problem is the media that hype evrything up to a ridiculous level. Says it all really when the most popular newspaper in this country is The Sun. Expectation is a dangerous thing.