I think it’s good the England players are speaking up for themselves. I think fairly reasonably defending themselves from some of the criticism from former players doing the punditry, some of whom seem to be trying to relive their failed tournament careers vicariously. Or something.
Definitely expectations are way out of kilter at the same time as Southgate deciding to impose a mad system on players clearly not suited to it. If a player had right back on their CV that’s where I’d play them, regardless of how good they can pass etc. It’s ridiculous. It’s like playing your midfielders as strikers just because they can score from midfield. You are weakening both positions.
Don’t know whether it’s true or not and something I heard from a recent podcast but for the countries that can and do win these competitions, the average fans still don’t ‘expect’ to win, just that it’s possible and they will have a good chance.
Some of the games have been fantastic and also for a bit of nostalgia the iplayer retro Euros channel is brill if you can’t get enough footy.
