Well, that was a ride.
It was a decent World Cup for England, they exceeded expectations and they garnered a lot of good will from neutrals who started to actually like the team.
But, as Dion Fanning said on The JOE World Cup Minipod:
“I thought I liked the new England, but God I missed the old England!”
So as much as everyone made their peace with the prospect of English success, the fact that they were 45 minutes from the final made the fall all the better.
It's Coming Hooooooooo……….. #WorldCup #ENG #CRO #CROENG pic.twitter.com/FQErObMF5L
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 11, 2018
There’s of course irony in the idea of Ireland fans taking any pleasure from another team’s demise. The Irish were 60 minutes from Russia and then conceded five goals in that time.
The difference is we’ve never aspired to win the World Cup and that loser mindset is a blessing in a way and it’s the reason we can enjoy those with ‘notions’ coming up short.
In a way, it’s hard to say that the English FA even deserved to get this far when you consider that it hasn’t even been two years since they hired Sam Allardyce and tasked him with this World Cup campaign.
Two years ago this month, #Eng hired Sam Allardyce pic.twitter.com/li14FKFNfV
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 7, 2018
No long-term planning. No investment in youth. Obviously no care about how the country would play or for future pathways.
No, they brought in Sam Allardyce.
One game later, 67 days into the job, he was gone and England stumbled across a guy actually thinking about how his team and other teams should set up and how they’d prefer for each eventuality.
But Jon Walters is more than just a fine footballer. He’s a big character too and, during England’s sorest hour, the Irish great was having a little Sam-shaped giggle to himself.
Big Sam would’ve got to the final #WorldCup
— Jonathan Walters (@JonWalters19) July 11, 2018
You can imagine the responses aimed at Ireland’s form but Walters had long since grabbed his coat and strutted out of there.
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