Just when you thought things might be a little bit different for once.
Come on lads, this is England we’re dealing with.
The English hype-train was noticeably quiet coming into this World Cup. Noticeably because in comparison to a whole lot of them getting ahead of themselves and building the coverage around their team up and then completely overreacting when something goes to plan and losing the rag when something small goes wrong, things were nowhere near as overstated this time around.
Paralysis by analysis you could call it but over the years the English just seemed to crave success so desperately and as a result they’d lost the run of themselves completely. They would read too far into things that shouldn’t really matter and everything always seemed to be made into a bigger deal than it actually was.
When things were going well, the team were headed for the finals but one backward step and it was as if lads were just waiting on this happening.
From England needing a new manager in the middle of the tournament to the requirement for a scapegoat. From the whole FA needing a grassroots investigation to realising they already have the future sorted to coming to terms with the fact that they just don’t have the technical ability. In saying they’re not getting carried away, they just always seemed to get carried away easier and quicker than anyone else.
https://twitter.com/act133/status/713843841841958912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E713843841841958912&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportsjoe.ie%2Ffootball%2Fenglish-hype-world-cup-71916
For some reason, the build-up going into this World Cup was quieter and a little bit more reserved.
The Three Lions have a young, inexperienced squad in this World Cup. The coverage of them wasn’t as wall-to-wall as it had been and all roads hadn’t be leading to Russia for seemingly months on end. It was all a bit unusually normal from our friends across the pond.
But natural order was restored quickly. After beating the two worst teams in the whole tournament to book their places in the Round of 16, they reverted the type.
Not to fear as they were soon overreacting to the tune of Harry Kane being bound for the Player of the Tournament and Reuben Loftus Cheek being the answer now. And of course, they’re planning their progression all the way to the final.
Roy Keane put it perfectly on ITV last week when he called on the whole of England to take it one game at a time.
Gary Neville may have been sitting right beside him but it seems that he wasn’t listening.
These lads were beaten by Belgium B on Thursday night and you still have analysts of the experience of the former United defender planning a World Cup semi-final.
https://twitter.com/GNev2/status/1012454340789927936
Gary seems to be belittling the fact that Colombia put in the best performance of the tournament against Poland and have the capacity to pass this England team off the park and that Sweeden have been a bogey team of theirs’ for years.
Come back to us when England have a creative player within an ass’s roar of Rodriguez, Quintero or Cuadrado.
Gary Neville claims England have the best chance since Italia 90 of reaching another semi….
"That's not being arrogant. That's not being ignorant" pic.twitter.com/qRKn2QCkW2
— Pat McCarry (@patmccarry) June 28, 2018
On the other end, you’ve Jordan Pickford getting torn apart for something that wasn’t actually that bad.
“The goalkeeper, it’s a bit strange. It’s just all a bit strange, to be honest with you. He’s up in the air. He’s actually… his feet are off the ground when he’s jumping. He goes with his wrong hand. I’s just a bit weird, the whole dive thing after,” said Neville on ITV last night.
Then Southgate is slated for resting Kane even though had the same man got injured he’d have been criticised to the same degree for being careless.
Save the best, till last.
The Mirror’s front page this morning…
Enough said.
