Finding England’s style dull? Grow up, or try Netflix instead…
What’s your mood about England today? Get your views in to theeditor@football365.com…
Southgate’s style
Robin in sunny California is completely missing the fundamental purpose of football. A team full of players who take sexy touches, play without pragmatism, look easy on the eye but don’t get results are by definition a bad team. This ridiculous attitude of ‘I don’t wish to win it unless we win it well’ baffles me. You can’t honestly believe that you would have been happy to be knocked out of the competition last night, provided that we played some lovely stuff?
Get the basics right, clean sheets win tournaments and championships and the productivity in front of goal follows. Chelsea under Tuchel are the clearest most recent example of this. You ask a Chelsea fan if they’d rather have Bambi at the wheel, play lovely stuff, finish outside the top 4 and go out of the last champions league in a high scoring blaze of glory vs what they achieved and I think we all know the answer.
As a nation we have for far too long tried to shoehorn bodies onto the pitch without a clear and obvious plan. That old saying about the definition of insanity couldn’t be more apt than when referring to our national men’s team. We have finally approached this whole football malarky differently, have tangible results but ‘it’s not sexy enough’. Give me strength.
You honestly can’t please everyone, but sometimes it would be silly to even try.
Ibby, Newcastle
…With regards to all the negativity around England reaching the QF’s all I can think is that people are cray cray. Ultimately I think it all boils down to how you view football, as entertainment or as a sport? IronMan sums up the entertainment lot wonderfully when they said ‘I would love a bit of trying to win with Hollywood style. What is the point of playing otherwise?!’ erm……to win? Surely in every single game ever the point is to win, not entertain but win. This need and demand for entertainment has grown as the coverage and money has increased in the job and yeah when you’re shifting hundreds of pounds to watch your team being entertained is a nice bonus point but it’s a sport. You may be bored with perceived negative football but that’s on you and your expectations of what you think you deserve which ultimately is nothing. You choose to watch, to follow, to support and yes most of us have a lovely story of being born into supporting a team or country blah blah but it’s still our choice. Ours. All of this is our choice so own that and own your own feelings.
Take this recent competition, so far England have not been thrill a minute and like most of the country I’ve also been indulging in a fair amount of armchair punditry but like a fair few of the mailboxers I too constantly doff my cap to the man in charge and his plan as we keep winning and moving forward. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the constant double pivot but soon realised the group stages were all about preparation for the latter stages and also about building confidence. You don’t get that defensive performance from Stones, Maguire, Pickford et all without confidence and that comes from one place, clean sheets. I’ve also LOVED how this is one of the most unemotional England teams I’ve seen on the field. 16 Conclusions touched upon how after conceding a good chance against Germany England then proceeded to kill the game with a sustained period of defensive keep ball removing all risk and German impetus. It’s brilliant and drags the game back into a tactical battle and one built on gameplans. Stay solid, don’t concede and bring on the right creativity to help unlock tired legs.
Welcome to the social media age i guess where we all crave constant content, have the attention span of a fly and have become so mentally fragile that we panic and lash out when we have to think for ourselves. Also the vast majority of teams people were wishing England played like are gone so those arguments are dead in the water as those teams had all the attacking talent and none of the needed defensive discipline/squad unity so maybe the art to this tournament malarky is to build from the back and play a team best suited for the opposition instead of shoe horning your best players into a team just because you can….. *cough* Golden Generation *cough*. So let’s all chill out, grow up and stop acting like entitled children who think they know best and are waiting to throw their toys out of the pram because they are not being entertained, if not can you just crawl back to netflix as you literally are paying to be entertained there and keep your thoughts on the football to yourself from now on please.
Lee AFC, Bristol.
Wednesday’s PM Mailbox: ‘Embarrassing’ if England don’t win it now…
…I’m not sure if there are some mixed messages or a bit of a lack of comprehension out there but, just so everyone is aware –
– England are in the quarter finals of the Euros
– England have just comfortably beaten Germany to reach the quarters
– England are yet to concede a goal in the tournament
– England have to beat Ukraine and one of Denmark or Czech Republic (who we have already beaten once) to reach the finals of the Euros
Now, this is just for the England fans who have found their way into the mailbox the last couple of days moaning; What is it you’re after? What are you watching for? Because I’m getting distinct fucking miserable bastard vibes.
It might be coming home, it may not. But I’m personally going to make the most of it all.
Jim, Manchester (Remember when England played like Brazil? No? Me neither)
So, having read a few mails about how England how we should now “Entertain” and hope to win, I’m all for it.
So lets pick the England Team for Ukraine…
We need to start Grealish, obviously
And Foden because he’s the golden boy
And Sancho, who the Germans are scared of.
Kane, could be dropped after the 1st 30 mins but he scored so lets keep him
Sterling was prime for dropping because… I’ve got nothing, he stays
And Rashford obviously.
Ahhh Saka – sorry mate
So Kane up top
With Sancho, Sterling and Rashord in a 3 behind
A 2 of Foden and Grealish protecting the back 4 (but pushing on obviously)
But Bellingham has to play so stick him in with a back 3.
Lets not be too defensive though, Reece James and Chilwell have played as wingbacks regularly enough, get them to give us some width…
Maguire at the back with Pickford in goal. (Walker for Pickford? He could push on a bit, nah too much)
1–5–3- 1
Cups as good as ours..
Matt (maybe win something first, then start trying to entertain the masses)
Calm down dear
Can we just inject a little bit of nuance into all the debates we seem to be having about England glory, potential and realised? On one hand we’ve got JN mouthing off like a rabid dog saying that everyone who sees any rivalry between England and Germany in football is a right wing lunatic. On the other we’ve got some lad writing in to tell us how wonderfully educated his kids are, yet they’ve never heard of racism because apparently it doesn’t exist in the multicultural society they live in (nothing wrong with the education system in the UK whatsoever). Now we’ve got JN back on his soap box today saying only cowards criticise this England. As always the truth should be somewhere in between.
Let’s take out all the bullshit and look at some cold hard facts. Yesterday, the 4th ranked team in the world, winners of their group without conceding a goal, played and won a match of soccerball at home, against the 12th ranked team who came second in their group and were 6 mins from losing to the 37th ranked team and thus dropping out of the competition. It was a 2-0 victory, which seems comfortable but other presentable chances were missed on both sides in the match and as the home side didn’t make the breakthrough until the 75th minute, the match could have gone either way. Had the home side gone out they may have rued not being more aggressive earlier in the match, a charge often levelled at their oft-waist-coated head coach. Ultimately though, a job well done and a deserved victory. They will now play the 24th best team in the world in the quarter finals. Win that (as they should) and in the semi finals they will either face a team they have already beaten in this tournament or the 10th best team in the World who have very recent experience of beating them at Wembley.
In summary, if you ignore the fact that England have had a problem beating big sides in knockout games for a very long time and then ignore the fact that Germany are probably the team we have lost to the most in that time, and then ignore the fact that for quite a long time, in fact for most of Low’s tenure, Germany have been one of the teams to beat then all that happened yesterday was that England won a football game they should have against weaker opposition, whilst perhaps giving that opposition a little too much respect for 75 minutes.
It’s great that the players are talking a good game and saying how much they don’t care about the history of England – Germany because they weren’t born, we’re young when it happened etc, that’s exactly how they should approach games. But it’s also fine for England fans to put more meaning on the game based on whatever experience they have the history of that fixture. Personally I’m just old enough to remember the shootouts in 1990 and 1996 and of course the drubbing in South Africa. I don’t hate Germans or Germany, in fact I wish England was more like Germany in so many ways, and actually, the efficiency of that performance yesterday was pretty German like (90s Germany side, not 2010s). There’s no need to mention that those things that happened between 1914 and 1945. That’s some people’s jam but usually based on a completely bollocks history and we really should have moved on by now (Adam Curtis’ The Living Dead has some good stuff on this).
So yeah I fucking enjoyed that win due to my experience of the footballing history and England being generally useless in my lifetime. If you take out that experience then yesterday was just a good (potentially great) young team beating a less good team that’s between generations. Football shorn of context is literally just 22 players knocking a ball around, or football for footballs sake. Where’s the fun in that?
And when are we allowed to criticise England again exactly? I think Germany were there for the taking yesterday, but by playing Saka (0 shots, key passes, dribbles, crosses, bad pass completion) instead of Grealish (1 assist, involved in the other goal) we gave up some of the initiative. Hard to be too critical as we won but there’s definite room for improvement. Hopefully the improvement we’ve already seen continues in an upwards trajectory and ends with Harry Kane lifting the trophy in 11 days time.
Ash (Has the clock been reset on The Hurt?) Metcalfe
F365 Says: Goodbye England Clamour, you will not be missed…
…I know people are allowed their opinions but I find it extraordinary that anyone can still be miffed about our performance against Germany. I understood (but didn’t agree with) the moans during the group stage to an extent, there is no shame in wanting an entertaining team and enjoyment while you get your football fix, especially with the squad we have. That is understandable but not always possible, particularly on the international stage.
What I couldn’t grasp was the fact people still held this view after we reached the quarter finals. Simply because this kind of result doesn’t happen to England. That alone should be enough to sway the doubters.
Indulge me for a moment, if you will, and let’s swap the result, teams, playing style, etc from the game. Suddenly a slightly disjointed performance by England chock full of good players that was trumped by the cold, calculating and efficient style of the Germans making the most of their few chances, holding the English at arms length and ending their participation in the tournament with an inevitable defeat. That could describe virtually any England tournament exit for the past 50 years. No one would have been at all surprised and, what is more, we would all be wistfully lamenting the Germans for doing it, yet again, when it matters and wishing, against hope, for a style and ability to win games like that ourselves. And when we finally get there……
We have all been watching England for many years. Sometimes we have been entertaining and expressive, but again, it has always led to us falling short. So that never worked. Here we can see some real thought, some real evidence of a plan, a playing style and players who can execute it. And yet still there are people that want us to play in a style (‘let’s just put all the good players on and get the ball up the pitch’) that has never worked for us even when we had a so called Golden Generation.
Finally, people talk about how we have left all these star players, these sexy forwards and midfielders on the bench. Well, it might shock people but we can only play with 11 at any one time. It is inevitable that some will be left on the bench. Even if we swap a ‘defensive’ player for one of these stars, there will still be plenty in reserve who don’t get into the starting line up, you can literally never please some people. And it is only going to get ‘worse’ when others emerge from injury/youth/form (Smith Rowe, Barnes, Greenwood, TAA, C Jones, Maddison, Hudson-Odoi, Eze) and provide ever more options and competition. It’s a remarkable amount of depth frankly.
I am excited, both by the route we can take and the way this squad is heading. There is still too much hurt to ever confidently say ‘yeah we will do it this time’ but while there is genuine hope I am going to enjoy it and I wish others just would too.
Rob, Leicester
…As a United fan who endured Mourinho and his dire football, quality of football does make a big difference. We won the Europa League, the league cup and community shield. That bought him time, but little else and few fans would have stood in his way in the way out. Granted, Southgate does not seem to be such a cock, but I doubt him being a nice guy would have bought him much more time. And, I don’t think his ability would have brought much more trophies(If any).
Just as you are emotionally charged after such a historic win, making your somewhat fair points. Those same emotions are probably clouding your judgement.
During my lifetime, England fans have been very much like Liverpool fans. Every year they say they suck and will never win, and every year at the first sniff of anything other than drivel, It becomes ‘This is our year’ or ‘It’s coming home’.
Entitled may not be the word but it’s close.
And, just like the rock’n’roll of Liverpool recently, England finally have a team that could be worthy of those claims. Both teams were never shit- you just always knew they could do better and you knew they’d let you down. That was sh*t. Years of that feeling that way has lowered your expectations to where getting passed the last 16 with a nice guy manager is success. Liverpool fans in fairness, never let their desire for better drop.
Now that you have something worthy of winning and well, you revert to saying your on the level of Croatia and Sweden. (As an Irish fan, I remember the days we could say that)
Someone mentioned Spain and their scores. Big difference there being, that Spain dominated their opponents. They did something nobody could stop, despite their best efforts. This team does not have that air of invincibility.
Had Muller had scored and England were eliminated, Sterling today, would be castigated and you would all write about how Southgate’s change of formation was foolish and he should have been on the front foot. That this German team isn’t even the same as the WC winners of the past, and thus, would offer further humiliation.(Actually, probably not, you’d write an article about his 3 piece suit being wonderful and how that was a good tournament)
A team doing well, extremely well, with a manager who is a proven winner, and in style, is Italy. Yet, no articles praising them, if anything, it’s been more of a ‘it will eventually fail’ or ‘bit risky that’ attitude. They are what many would like to see from there national team. Not in the styles of Deschamps, nor de Boer, nor Southgate.
You know what? That is fine. You are allowed to desire substance and style. They are not opposites and can be supplied in tandem. Part of the ‘woke’ culture is about standing up for things that aren’t right. Calling people cowards for not getting with the system sounds counter intuitive to that.
If you want to watch shit football- Ireland are right across the sea. Years of that style has inspired absolutely nobody to want to take part and in many cases, even watch. You’ve probably attracted Rice and Grealish for those same reasons. That’s what many don’t want and don’t like. Dedicating hours to a sport for it to only to put you asleep is depressing. Even more depressing when your watching a team with talent be held back. Your reality then gets a little shaking when many feel that was truly great. And you feel sad, when those who don’t understand the game watch and say this is why football is sh*t.
This is not about masculinity either, it’s about entertainment and dreams. Southgate represents the feminine (substance/culture- not females) in a spectacular fashion and that is refreshing, but he does not come across as the ‘reach for the stars’ kind of parent. He seems more like the ‘be an accountant’ kind of parent (No beef with accountants). It’s not what you want, or even suitable to your personality, you wanted rock’n’roll, but it’s a safe bet and it will be fine. After 20 years you will probably be fairly secure, but you will always look back and wonder what could have been. And, that is sadder than any success.
The soul longs for living, not just life.
Calvino (OGS is a nice guy who plays counter attacking football that gets results- sucks. Southgate is a nice guy who plays counter attack football that gets results – rules. Difference? That 3 piece I guess.)
Ranking the summer mood of the 20 Premier League clubs
…I have to laugh when I read all these mails from commentators and fans who seem to think there is some amazing formation which will allow us to unleash our strikers and play football like Brazil ’70. Yes, Southgate is a defensive coach, and yes the team does play quite functional football which isn’t as pretty as some people might like, but the simple fact is, England doesn’t have the players.
We don’t have a Gascoigne, a Messi, a Maradona, or a Best. We have some good strikers, we have a couple of good creative players in Grealish, and Saka, we have a good midfield, but luckily we have a really, really good defence. And the midfield and creative players are really young and inexperienced at this level.
Four of our best players are recovering or have just recovered from an injury – Grealish, Maguire, Henderson, and Kane.
Where are all these amazing players that we are going to unleash? Not in the squad and not left back at home. They don’t exist.
What we do have is players who play very well as part of a team, not the individual geniuses who stand out. But then look at the other teams in this tournament. Apart from Belgium, most of the other teams are good teams without lots of outstanding individual players. And the two other teams with arguably the best individual players, France and Portugal, are out. And look at the two most successful European tournament teams in history, Germany and Italy. Both are noted for functional teams, with strong defences, that never give up and generally don’t have the genius players that stand out. But the team comes first and that is why they win.
And this is where we could be witnessing perhaps the greatest England team of the modern era. We are playing like Germany or Italy of old. Just doing enough to beat the other teams. Not letting the other team score. Bringing on players with that little bit extra to make a difference. Having players on the bench who can come on and play as well as the first team players if we need them. Everyone working for the team, tracking back. Sterling playing like a genius. Saka. Phillips. Rice. An amazing defence. Kane gradually coming back into form.
I’ve been watching football for more than 40 years and all I remember in the past (mainly 80s and 90s) was panicking defences when the other team go the ball, going behind and running around like headless chickens, relaying on some genius, Gascoigne, Rooney, Barnes, Beckham, who were never quite as good as they were made out to be, mainly because we didn’t have the one or two other players we really needed to make a great team. We had great matches, great goals and great moments, but not winners. And all I heard was self-pity epitomised by the song “Football’s coming home”. (“World in Motion” was much better.)
Maybe we won’t win. We need some luck too (but the more I practice the luckier I get). Maybe the team will collapse when we first concede a goal. Maybe we will be well beaten by Ukraine (and all that will mean is Ukraine were better than us on the day – not that England is shit, or that Ukraine were lucky – smaller countries can have great teams too.)
In the last match against Germany we outplayed them. Okay, the Germany team is ageing. But apart from the shot on goal (Sterling made a mistake – but all players do), Mueller did nothing apart from that. Gosens did nothing. It was an amazing match in my opinion. I saw beauty where you saw turgid.
If you can’t enjoy four wins at a tournament and beating the team we love to hate the most I feel sorry for you.
Charles
…I’m a big fan of the young John Nicholson, always have been. Maybe it’s the subtle left leaning liberal in me, maybe it’s the raging corbynister part of me or maybe it’s the fact that I agree with him that the monetization of every facet of our lives is a terrible f**king idea. Either way I usually agree with most of what he writes and feel kinda sorry for the large number of people who seem put out by the fact he values somethings, above and beyond what they’re worth.
That all being said what game was he watching on Tuesday night? England were beyond turgid for about 80 minutes of the 90. They were at times woeful. They had no creative spark, no idea what to do with the ball in the German half and played with no rhythm pace or penetration. I loved the fact that we won. I genuinely think we have a fantastic chance of winning the whole thing and given what we have to beat, we could well win the whole thing playing that way for the rest of the tournament. But I can’t believe anyone who writes about football for a living can genuinely say that the side Southgate picked maximised our chances vs Germany.
That was an awful German side. This is a side who in recent years have lost 4 – 2 to the Netherlands, 6 (six) – 0 to Spain, they lost against North Macedonia for christ sake and in this very tournament were held to a 2-2 draw against Hungary. These were no world beaters.
I love Gareth Southgate, he’s the kind of guy I’ve always wanted as England manager, a thoughtful well spoken modern man who shows you can be both passionate about football and not a complete wanker at the same time, but if you have both Grealish and Foden in your squad and you can’t find a way of getting either of them into your team then I’m sorry you’ve picked the wrong team. This wasn’t a tactical masterclass, this wasn’t a great result forged through managerial mastery, the team Southgate put on the park almost certainly reduced our chances of qualifying.
The team at Football365’s may be incapable of anything more analytical than team wins equals good, team loses equals bad (unless they’re writing about arsenal or man utd, in which case they get those two mixed up) but any serious analysis of that game will show that the side with a significantly better squad, that was playing at home played poorly against inferior opposition and won.
I’m thrilled we did and still have loads of faith that Sir Gareth will lead us, and this talented bunch of players, to the promised land but let’s not pretend that playing 8 defenders was a good idea.
A believer. Oxford
Stages of football contentment
I had a similar letter to this published a couple of years ago but I think it’s worth considering again.
I called it my steps to football happiness and at the time it was regarding whether or not fans accept a Mourinho style of football.
To my mind sport is about winning first and entertainment 2nd (obviously I would prefer both).
The steps (1 being the happiest and 6 being the unhappiest) are as follows:
1. Playing champagne football and winning.
2. Play dull football and winning.
3. Playing champagne football and doing ok.
4. Playing dull football and doing ok.
5. Playing champagne football and losing.
6. Playing dull football and losing.
This is the reason I am fine with the way England are playing at the moment. we are sitting at number 2 in this list.
However, by playing dull football it’s easy to drop down 2 levels of happiness while playing great football gives you the chance of jumping 2 levels.
This only stands up when considering the team you support. I want all games in this tournament not involving England to feature 2 teams going gung ho on each other.
You don’t have to agree with my opinion but this is how I feel about it.
Chris
Doom-mongering
Johnny Nic is basically right, and to be honest, it’s one of my favorite things about you lot. The way the press and supporters pile onto your national men’s football team is just so…English. We’ve all seen the Italian, French, or Spanish press hound a loser out of his job, but at least there they celebrate success. And in the US, the only time anybody would ever really badmouth a national team athlete or coach is when a team doctor molests teenaged athletes, a transgender Olympian offers an attractive target to a conservative hatemonger, or when an athlete A) commits a crime at the actual Olympics, B) loses while showboating, and/or C) fails a drug test.
England are unbeaten in ten matches, almost all against credible opposition, and have lost only twice (and conceded only five goals!) in your last 17. But your press would have you dangling out the window like John Cleese in A Fish Called Wanda, which was, I must remind you, *a movie made by British people*! You just seem to do sort of do this to yourselves. Idk, maybe it goes along with Page 3 girls. Or maybe your press has been playing reality games with you longer than it’s been going here. (As unlikely as that seems.) Heck, you’re even doing it to me: I’ve had to swat down the thought, “what could be more England than losing to Ukraine in the quarters qith the rest of their matches at home?” more than once.
Chris Crenshaw, Toon Army DC (Keep going with the wokeness though. That’s basically the right direction.)
Easy draw
I’m amused by the number of people stating that England have an easy ride to the final. Have we learned nothing from this tournament? France was knocked out by Switzerland, Netherlands were sent packing by the Czech Republic and Germany needed a late goal against Hungary just to draw the game and qualify ahead of them. Spain had a supposedly easy group but they couldn’t even finish top of it and were taken to extra time in their last game by a Croatia team that many people said were past their best when England beat them.
It’s certainly better than being on the other side of the draw, but you would have to be willfully oblivious to what has happened in the tournament so far to keep talking about any team having easy fixtures especially at this stage of the tournament.
Turiyo Damascene, Kigali, Rwanda
Some observations
1) I am presuming that a number of mailers support club sides that consistently play forwards all the time and beat the opposition all the time. And those teams never consider tactics that reduce the opposition threat first, to be stronger later in the game. Looking at the stats I am presuming they are all Glasgow Rangers 2020-2021 fans.
2) Euro 96 was a disappointing draw with a Swiss side more limited than the 2021 version; 2-0 against Scotland, same as the 2021 Germany result; the wonderful outlier of the Netherlands game; then the turgid 0-0 with Spain, who were certainly not a great side. Plus the 1-1 with Germany. Not a big upgrade on 1990 and not ground breaking. I thoroughly enjoyed 1996, but a benchmark it wasn’t. 2 wins, 3 draws in normal time. 3 wins 1 draw, nothing conceded so far 2021.
3) Multiple comments from Euro’s and World Cups in the past – “we are lacking the technique of the other teams”, ” we are lacking the tactical know-how”, ” we gave it our all, but lost out to canny play and the dark arts”.
4) There will be people you work with who get paid more, and some that get paid less. If any of you are more or less tired, or out of sorts according to your pay, then your industry has got the responsibility balance correct. Given the last 18 months, it is perfectly acceptable for them to be a bit off it at times. Yes, they are very, very well paid, but they are still humans.
5 ) If competitive sport was purely entertainment, the Harlem Globetrotters and WWE would dominate. Unless your team has never had a 0-0.
As others have pointed out; the management have a plan, the players are being used according to their strengths, availability and fitness, and they are looking to win.
Well done England. Looking forward to the next game.
Stu, N.Yorks
Dear, Duck
I was thinking about Duck’s email and his comment about England ‘doing’ a France 98. I don’t really have an opinion about whether that’s true but it got me thinking about the players at France 98 and the players of today, a mere 20-some years ago. A short list: The real Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos, Zidane, Desailly, Thuram, Bergkamp, Overmars, Seedorf, Davids, Stam, Roberto Baggio, Maldini, Vieri, Cannavaro, Nesta, Michael Laudrup, Hierro, Raul, Klinsmann, Mattaeus, Hagi, Stoichkov, Shearer, Owen, Scholes, Beckham, Mijatovic, Stojkovic, Batistuta, Veron, Zanetti, Prosinecki, Boban, Suker.
What in the ever-loving f*ck has happened to football? Compare to the selections of the Euro 2020 sides plus the Copa sides being played right now. Gawd we were spoiled back then.
Dylan, Seattle
Rivalries
I hope you will permit me a chance to retort to Ironman, as I feel his comment of having “to forgive and forget my friends” necessitates one. I will, of course, be measured, and don’t believe there was any ill-will or disrespect intended, but just ignorance to the historical – and indeed current – relationship between the Irish and the English.
Firstly, England did not declare war on Ireland to fight a noble and just fight against a facist dictatorship. They were not part of an allied force that fought against the tyrannical reign of one government regime, and ceased fighting when such a war ended. England invaded Ireland, colonised Ireland, and to many, still have not left Ireland. British (or English, as they are pretty transferable in this case) rule lasted roughly 800 years, and was fought against constantly by the Irish people. We did not gain true independence from the Crown until 1949. And even then the relationship was fraught for the majority of the 20th Century. Our culture, our land, our language, and our people have been decimated at the hands of the English. It has been argued that attempted genocide was committed on these shores at the hands of the British, and with a pre-Famine* population of 8.5 million, a strong case can be made. For 800 years our entire history has been built around fighting the British, rooting against the British. It is part of our culture, almost part of our DNA. While, of course, you yourself and all modern day English were not involved in most of the above – although the Tory government seem to be trying their hardest to stir shit up again – we will never not love to support against England, and cheer when they lose.
And this leads me onto my second point. The Irish rivalry with the English is very similar to the English rivalry with the Germans; as in one side considers it more of a rivalry than the other. What I believe adds to our intense anti-England stance against your national teams in all sports – and our feverent desire to beat you and ‘get one over on the English’ whenever we play you, is because you don’t view the game with the same passion; you don’t consider us equals. You have other rivals; the French, the Scottish, the Germans. We only have you (and now Luxembourg!). You barely recognise the rivalry, much like as a nation, you barely recognise the history. And we might even hate that more than the 800 years of oppression. Similarly, the Germans have other rivals, arguably bigger rivals. And while they have been so instrumental in your football suffering throughout the ages, you have barely been on their radar. You’re just another team to beat. It adds fuel to your fire.
Néill, (*look up the British involvement in the Famine), Ireland
Jack is all grown up
Wait…is Jack, 27, London…
Jack, 18, London?
F*ck me I feel old.
TGWolf (been here a long time) THFC
