England football team: the hyprocisy of the English press

So England lost a friendly game and before the game many had predicted it to happen. Honestly I thought we would win, but I am a forever optimist. On the drive back home listening to TALKSport all I could hear from the pundits was how bad England are and how bad they have become.

This happens all the time and we all know what will happen. I even blogged previously about the silly nature of the English press and the over reaction when things go both slightly bad or slightly good; case in point being Andros Townsend being seen as the saviour of English football. After a few wins and qualification, fans and press alike were confident of a New England and success at Brazil 2014. Now fast forward a few losses and we are awful, don't know how to play, have bad players etc.

On Sunday, sky sports present a programme called the Sunday Supplement; here a few journalist talk about recent topics and give their insights. Interestingly enough last week they said that England aren't that great and we know it so let's be realistic and not expect too much. Now these same journalist will write tomorrow morning about how bad England are and that this defeat against the German b team is embarrassing. The problem here is that they know what will sell and writing this rubbish sells. We love controversy, we love being the underdog more, however, when it comes to England we don't treat the underdog with the same kindness or pity we usually show an underdog. Instead we get the knives out and point the finger of blame at everyone; players, manager, FA and history.

Jason Cundy on TALKSport made a great point, England have been this way for over 15 years. They no longer surprise us, they infuriate us and frustrate us but don't surprise us. We have never been that good and haven't gone past the quarter finals of a tournament since 1996. Can we be surprised when Roy Hodgson is the manager. As a Liverpool fan I am not his biggest fan. His succes at Fulham was fundamentally built on a good defence and keeper and for your best players to be in these positions it says something about the team. Roy Hodgson works in tatics at an intricate level but too defensive and too rigid as seen against Chile and Germany. Football has evolved and so should england. The players are good enough but as with the last 15 years this is a team of individuals and they cannot perform as a team.

Take most things with a pinch of salt. Tonight was a friendly game. Thankfully the pressure England will face in Brazil for the World Cup will be the same as it is now. Other teams may struggle with this and it could work to the benefit of Enhland. For England on stats we are good enough for the second round or quarter finals. Be positive and be realistic, this team are not that great but let's not be hypocrites and expect them to win everything yesterday.