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Brilliant Yanks made England look like planks

SteveH

BSoDL candidate for SW London
Jul 21, 2003
8,642
9,313
Not normally that big a fan of Ian Holloway but he is spot on here

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2014/ian-holloway-brilliant-yanks-made-3815886

Millwall boss Ollie believes that the Three Lions could learn a thing or two from the impressive Americans after their early exit from the 2014 World Cup

Where's the pride? The attitudes shown by Wilshere and co were England's biggest problem
The eagle has landed as far as the World Cup is concerned.

While the United States may have failed to progress beyond the last 16 in Brazil, their defeat, at the hands of Belgium, was one of the most thrilling games of the tournament.

Talk about dying with your boots on.

To coin another American phrase, Jurgen Klinsmann’s men gave it their best shot.

Nothing was left in the tank when they walked off the Arena Fonte Nova pitch in Salvador.

It was a performance that prompted President Barack Obama to hail the US team as heroes – and rightly so.

What a contrast to the way England departed the World Cup, with barely a whimper.

My abiding memory of our campaign in Brazil won’t be Daniel Sturridge’s catalogue of missed chances or the misplaced Steven Gerrard header that enabled Luis Suarez to score a winning goal.

It won’t even be the schoolboy defensive errors of a back-four, with defenders such as Glen Johnson, Phil Jagielka, Gary Cahill and Leighton Baines.

Almost two weeks after our squad sneaked back home, the image I can’t get out of my head is that of Jack Wilshere sulking his way off the pitch against Costa Rica with a look of absolute disgust on his face.

The midfielder, subbed after a sub-standard performance, seemed to take Roy Hodgson’s decision as a personal insult.

If that wasn’t bad enough, he then gave a post-match interview in which he said how hard it had been to motivate himself for the final game of England’s World Cup because he hadn’t started against either Italy or Uruguay and our fate had already been decided.

I couldn’t believe it. Who the hell does this kid think he is?

If Wilshere’s attitude and demeanour are typical of an England footballer in 2014, it’s easy to see where we are going wrong.

Technical ability and tactical knowledge are vital if you want to be successful at the highest level.

But there are other qualities that are just as important that can’t be coached into people.

Spirit, attitude, determination. These have to come from within. Wilshere seemed to be the epitome of a spoilt millionaire footballer given too much too young.

At 22, he should have been bursting to show what a talented footballer he is and put down a marker for a place in the England team for Euro 2016.

Compare his attitude to that of Robin van Persie during the week.

The Manchester United striker is Holland’s main man, but, with the Dutch trailing Mexico, he took Louis van Gaal’s decision to replace him with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar without the slightest dissent.

RVP would have been gutted. But Holland scored twice in the final two minutes to go through to the last eight, with Huntelaar firing home the winner from the spot.

I don’t think England are as far behind the rest of the world as we think when it comes to sheer talent.

But, in terms of attitude, we are a million miles away. And I thought that the Americans can now teach us a thing or two about the game we invented.

Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey and Geoff Cameron are well known to football fans in this country. But how many of you would seriously be calling for them to play for England if they had been born on this side of the pond?

Every single American player wants to play his part.

Even Klinsmann – once a World Cup winner with Germany – belted out the Star Spangled Banner before the game.

The US team have probably inspired a generation to look at ‘soccer’ as an attractive alternative to traditional American sports.

Football was always a game you play rather than watch there.

And the irony is that the fantastic product that is the Premier League has slowly turned the game into a spectator sport, too.

We used to laugh about the failure of our American cousins to fall head over heel in love with the beautiful game.

But they have made giant strides and, given the size of the country and the athletic and financial resources at their disposal, it is only a matter of time before they produce a team to lift the World Cup.

Watch out, the Yanks are coming.
 

Armstrong_11

Spurs makes me happy, you... not so much :)
Aug 3, 2011
8,572
19,113
The thing that impress me about the US team was the team spirit, they play for the team and for each other, they just never gave up.

Frankly, they are 1 or 2 superstars away from being a force in world football.
 

Spurger King

can't smile without glue
Jul 22, 2008
43,881
95,147
Not sure why the USA need to be singled out. Pretty much every team in the world cup has shown more fight and passion than England.
 

E17yid

Well-Known Member
Jan 21, 2013
16,985
30,495
England (and sometimes France) are pretty much the only countries that don't give a shit about their national team.

EDIT: The odd African nation as well perhaps?
 

indianspurs

Desi Khiladi
Sep 3, 2013
657
3,138
I agree but why just the US ? Teams like Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Algeria, etc. also deserve a mention.
 

riggi

Well-Known Member
Jun 24, 2008
48,487
104,720
Because its even more of a worry that the u.s are better than us.
 

JerryGarcia

Dark star crashes...
May 18, 2006
8,694
16,026
I agree but why just the US ? Teams like Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Algeria, etc. also deserve a mention.

Yeah this is true, nobody made England look like planks apart from England. All the teams who have performed well have done so on their own merit and can be proud of themselves, England on the other hand were just crap as expected.
 

Azazello

The Boney King of Nowhere
Aug 15, 2009
6,965
5,069
England (and sometimes France) are pretty much the only countries that don't give a shit about their national team.

EDIT: The odd African nation as well perhaps?

I'm not sure that this is entirely true - there is a relationship that needs to be rebuilt perhaps. That said, England games are well-attended and well-supported. I don't know where you live in Wales, but round here in Surrey, it was very quiet for the England games, local pubs were packed out and bedecked with flags.

I think a lot of people are fed up with the team seeming not to give a shit, but that's another issue.
 

E17yid

Well-Known Member
Jan 21, 2013
16,985
30,495
I'm not sure that this is entirely true - there is a relationship that needs to be rebuilt perhaps. That said, England games are well-attended and well-supported. I don't know where you live in Wales, but round here in Surrey, it was very quiet for the England games, local pubs were packed out and bedecked with flags.

I think a lot of people are fed up with the team seeming not to give a shit, but that's another issue.

I didn't mean to refer to the people necessarily,I certainly think they still care, even though club usually wins over country in the UK. The players, as you rightly point out, is another, more complex issue
 

Spurrific

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2011
13,501
57,356
I agree but why just the US ? Teams like Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Algeria, etc. also deserve a mention.

Boo-hoo. 'Brilliant Yanks, Chileans, Costa Ricans, Colombians, and Algerians make England look like planks' doesn't really roll off the tongue does it?
 

TheUltimateHotspur

Active Member
Jul 2, 2014
223
292
Sadly most of the England players earn to much money, and most can't really be bothered to play for their country. Add that with Woy being out of touch with the modern game, and he is another yes man, the FA showing zero signs of changing. Hardly a surprise England keep on failing.
 

tototoner

Staying Alert
Mar 21, 2004
29,387
34,059
Bekgiun
England (and sometimes France) are pretty much the only countries that don't give a shit about their national team.

EDIT: The odd African nation as well perhaps?
Belgium

Always infighting between the Walloons and the Flemish
 

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
Aug 20, 2003
9,188
11,150
Wilshire said it was hard to motivate himself for a WC game?What an arse, if I was Hodgson I'd never pick him again for the national team and tell everyone why, no matter how good the press seem to think he is....
 

Spurger King

can't smile without glue
Jul 22, 2008
43,881
95,147
Wilshire said it was hard to motivate himself for a WC game?What an arse, if I was Hodgson I'd never pick him again for the national team and tell everyone why, no matter how good the press seem to think he is....

It's funny, because I can never motivate myself to support an England team with that scrotum-faced druggie in the line-up.
 

Gb160

Well done boys. Good process
Jun 20, 2012
23,646
93,315
Sadly most of the England players earn to much money, and most can't really be bothered to play for their country. Add that with Woy being out of touch with the modern game, and he is another yes man, the FA showing zero signs of changing. Hardly a surprise England keep on failing.
I don't think moneys got anything to do with it.....look at the lines of Neymar, Messi, and even Suarez, each on circa £200k per week, doesn't seem to affect their performances for their national teams.
I think your second point is much closer to the truth.....I fail to see any progression under uncle Woy, and the FA even appointing him shows awful judgement on their part.
 
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