Friday 25 June 2010

England v Germany: on first thoughts

For my father, who preferred rugby to football, leaving me, at the age of eight, to decide whether to support West Germany or England during Italia '90.

Much has been said by the English media about the disappointing displays of England throughout the World Cup. But the biggest con is the English media for constantly elevating England's chances and then kicking them all the way back down to earth when they fail to meet the high expectations set for them.

The general consensus among the English media - both newspapers and TV - is that despite Lampard's disallowed goal Germany played far superior football and would have won anyway. Confidence in such an assertion by so many people seems a bit chips and fishy to me. At two goals apiece it is impossible to say what the final result would be.

If England were to again win the World Cup, many English people would almost certainly buy one or more newspapers the following day to keep as a memento. But the English football press would have less to write about than if England lost as usual - where did it go wrong? Should Capello stay? Who will play in Euro 2012? Who will play at the World Cup in 2014? How can England change to win in future? The list goes on and on like a Duracell Bunny at Fusion Festival.

The media write at great length about the mistakes Capello and the England players made, yet throughout qualification and in the run up to the World Cup the press were shoving piles of nutritious praise on England and Capello. I still read much of it with great interest but that is because I am half-German and so can distance myself from the pathetic nature of it all.

Nevertheless, some key points:

German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer's assist was the first by a goalkeeper in a world cup since 1966. That means Terry and Upson cocked up that one.

In Raphael Honigstein's excellent book Englischer Fussball - A German's view of our beautiful game, when discussing the British footballing press, he points out that "it is all about movement, a constantly evolving narrative. Newspapers deliberately write off teams, coaches or players so that their eventual rise can be even more dramatic; or suffocate a team under a blanket of superlatives until they can dance on its grave."

The Premier League, being a separate organisation from the English FA, has next to no interest in developing English talent. It wants to continue to stage the best league in the world.

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