Are Kane and Rice among the ‘disinterested, nonchalant primadonnas’ who lack English ‘pashun’?
Some ‘old racist b*llocks’ is torn to shreds in the Mailbox but the ‘panic’ over England under Thomas Tuchel is otherwise justified ahead of the World Cup.
Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.
Pashun
I’m sure there will be numerous counterpoints to William’s absurd notion that a little bit of white English “pashun” will sort out the English national team.
I think I’ve been hearing the passion argument for the past 35 years and it’s as absurd now as it was then. I think the most passionate team I’ve ever seen was Brazil before the 2014 World Cup semi final. They were belting out the anthem and the players were crying. It meant everything. And they got battered 7-1.
The problem with the “home grown” argument is that it can be so easily disproved.
We can look as recently as 2024 at the Euros. Lamine Yamal was born in Catalonia to a Moroccan father and Equatorial Guinean mother. Nico Williams has Ghanaian parents. Aymeric Laporte is just naturalised to Spain, he is actually French.
In 2018 France won the World Cup with a squad where 17 of 23 squad members were of African descent, including key players such as Paul Pogba (Guinean parents), Kylian Mbappé (Cameroonian and Algerian descent) and N’Golo Kanté (Malian parents).
In 2014 Germany had Mesut Özil, Jérôme Boateng, Sami Khedira, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski. The last two were born in Poland and the previous three are of Turkish, Ghanaian and Tunisian descent respectively.
In 2002 Brazil won, a country which simply doesn’t have a fixed ethnic nationality. Brazil is one of the most ethnically mixed nations on Earth (Portuguese, African, Indigenous, Italian, German descent) and players such as Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Rivaldo reflected this.
Perhaps the starting point for the strength of multiculturalism in a team was France 1998. Zinedine Zidane (Algeria), Patrick Vieira (Senegal), Lilian Thuram (Guadeloupe), Marcel Desailly (Ghana), Youri Djorkaeff (Armenian) are just some of the examples of players born outside of France, or of a different heritage.
These teams managed to win, and the players seemed pretty proud to play for that country.
So sorry William, a bit of good old English “pashun” won’t cut it, and no matter what Farage tells you, things won’t magically get better by getting rid of the foreigns.
Mike, LFC, Dubai
Firstly wtf. Secondly wtaf. Seriously?
Come on. Is the simple message here to remove all the players who don’t have multi century ancestral ties to the nation?
Firstly. The insinuation that A) the players we see on tv are any less committed to victory for England because their ancestors weren’t here to fend off the Duke of Normandy in 1066 is completely insane.
And B) that fans can’t connect to the players because they aren’t century old historical families ignores the fact that a huge proportion of the population who support England passionately also weren’t here “centuries” ago, and those that were here may have been so against their will…
The flaws in the argument are so many and varied I’m not going to waste any more time on it. (Also, so so weird that fans at Liverpool worship in a very spiritual sense the ground Salah walks on. Even the Chelsea fans kissed the feet of Drogba. No need for a century old connection to the city? Weird?)
Most egregious of all of this is that what you’re asking for is Burnley International.
Seriously. You don’t need pelters (though you’ll get it) you need help!
Unbelievable. 2025. Wtf.
TM
This is a mildly scattered one, so bear with me.
William: if you’re ’ready for the pelters’, then stop hiding behind the opinions of ‘many fans’ and say ‘I’. For *you*, being English isn’t just about where you’re born or your passport. Until that sense of belonging and pride returns, *you* will struggle to feel that the team truly represents England. (And if those aren’t actually your personal opinions, apologies.)
You are absolutely bang on that players from diverse backgrounds ‘challenges traditional ideas of national identity’. But, presuming that you count yourself among the people who feel ‘an unbreakable bond to the land, the history, and the people’, can you honestly say that you can trace your family history back ‘thousands of years’, all in England? Is Declan Rice (with famously Irish grandparents) one of your ‘disinterested, nonchalant primadonnas’? Is Harry Kane (Irish dad)?
When you don’t reference these white footballers with quite significant non-English heritage, who are widely regarded as among England’s most consistent players (Kane the first player to score in an England manager’s first four games, incidentally), you invite the suspicion that you’re talking about visible difference.
And I’d say if, *if*, Black players find it difficult to take pride in the shirt, voices like yours telling them they don’t deserve it probably have more to do with that than their supposed lack of an ‘unbreakable bond’ to the country that has given them and their families so much.
J, English-born German (disclosing my personal awareness that nationality is more complicated than ‘heritage’)
MORE ENGLAND REACTION FROM F365
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👉 Tuchel sack demanded with Postecoglou and Gerrard lined up after England ‘disaster’
Jesus Christ. So presumably by his logic an 11 of him and his fat, pasty, white as the driven snow, face tattoo of the St George(a greek man)Flag wearing mates who drink down The Albion and sing songs of white nationalism and ‘better days of yore’ would’ve smashed Senegal 10-0. Because they are white. And have ‘thousands of years of bloodline’ to lean on.
What a load of old racist b*llocks.
The truth doesn’t hurt. Racist, white supremacist, historically impossible bullsh*t winds me up. It doesnt hurt me, it sets fire to thousands of years of history of integration and the success story of immigration in this country. Including mine, which goes back 150 years but apparently, according to William I myself should not qualify for citizenship in this great land and should only be able to play for Lithuania?
A rank misunderstanding of history, migration and the usefulness of nationalism in its truest sense.
William sounds like a c***.
TGWolf
On one hand, I get that free speech (and the need to provoke and drive traffic) probably dictated the decision that the dreadful email from William this morning was publishable. But, on the other hand, what the actual f**k?
What is the point he is making? That only “true Englishmen” should be picked to play for England? True Englishmen that can trace their ancestry back for “centuries”? How many centuries makes a true Englishman? Anyone? What is abundantly clear is that William only think pure white men should be picked for England, and for that, ladies and gentlemen, is pure, unabashed racism.
And this unbelievable f**kwit believes he is a purveyor of the truth.
What should we do, William? DNA test players before we consider them for selection? And obviously, don’t even bother doing that with the brown ones, eh?
Mat (dumbfounded, frankly)
Panic stations
Dear F365,
So here we are again. A year out from a major tournament, with a squad full of talent, and England have just been outplayed, outfought, and out-thought by Senegal in their own backyard. I’ve seen people on social media trying to brush it off as “just a friendly,” but you don’t concede three at home to a supposedly lesser footballing nation and call it a “blip.”
Senegal didn’t just win – they bossed us. Ismaïla Sarr was electric, their midfield pressed with intelligence, and they looked like a side with an identity. England? We looked like 11 strangers meeting for the first time at a corporate five-a-side. Kane scores early, we sit back, and then just unravel like we always do when the going gets even mildly tough.
Tuchel has now lost to both Belgium and Senegal, and in neither game did we look like we had a plan B – or even a plan A that worked. What’s more worrying is the body language. I hate to lean on clichés, but they genuinely looked like they didn’t care. Watching Declan Rice wander about while Senegal passed around him like cones was painful. Jude Bellingham, usually our bright spark, looked knackered and disconnected. Is it burnout? Is it confusion over roles? Is it the fact that Tuchel’s trying to apply club-style tactical rigidity on a group that sees each other six times a year?
And can we talk about defence? We spent 10 years trying to get away from the Harry Maguire era and yet somehow, we still look like we’re one slip away from disaster at any moment. Trent in midfield might work against Moldova, but against athletic, well-organised sides, it’s a tactical luxury we just can’t afford. Senegal exposed every weakness ruthlessly.
I know some fans will say this is overreaction, but history tells us that friendlies in a World Cup year do matter. They reveal patterns, they test depth, and they shape belief. And right now, the belief feels like it’s evaporating. If we go into the tournament hoping to “click at the right time,” we’ll be on the first flight home. Again.
Tuchel said post-match that there’s “no need to panic.” But when your players look frozen, your shape collapses under pressure, and your fans boo you off at the City Ground after getting schooled by Senegal – yeah, I’d say a bit of panic might be justified.
Yours in deep concern,
Sandeep, London
The painful truth
Got to laugh at some of the reaction to the Senegal game.
After 8 years of complaints that Southgate was stifling a new “Golden Generation”, that he needed to take the handbrake off, that his cautious tactics were the only thing holding England back……it’s now bring back Sir Gareth.
Here’s the truth. It’s an unpalatable one for English fans, but it’s the truth all the same: your players aren’t as good as the media hype machine makes them out to be. They’re good, but they’re not as good as Spain’s, France’s, Portugal’s, Germany’s and probably a few others as well.
Southgate knew this. That’s why he set them up in a way that best gave them a chance of winning games, no matter how ugly. But you hounded him out. Now you must reap what you have sown.
Andy H, Swansea.
Everyone actually just needs to calm down
I know it has ever been thus and I shouldn’t care about all the grumpy old men in the mailbox and the media but….
People need to calm down about the poor recent performances. Believe me England have been a lot worse in the recent and not so recent past. From failing to qualify for several world cups and Euros. To Beckham/Rooney red cards and that fateful goal in South Africa which led to the VAR debacle we all have to live with.
It is June. England will likely qualify for the next world cup at a canter. England will play some dire football in the USA but will still make the Quarters and get beaten by the first decent team they play.
Does any of this sound familiar? This has been the blueprint for the England football team for my entire 50 years on the planet.
It is OK to hope for better but to refuse to acknowledge the past and the fact that it will almost certainly repeat itself and then get angry that England are doing England things is foolish.
I spent Tuesday night in Southampton watching another England side score a record total for a T20 on home soil. It was really fun and I was allowed to drink in the stands. There was no racism or homophobia. It was almost civilised.
I think some football fans need to use the summer to take a break and watch some actual summer sports and just relax for a bit.
Simon (Summer is for cricket (maybe I am just old fashioned)) Woking
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