on England

 
Another set of average, insipid displays has seen England be dumped out the Euros and without a manager. As ever, the London media knives are baying at the door of the man in charge (Hodgson), with the occasional reference to a lack of footballing identity and the FA's unbreakable ability to fuck it all up.

The FA has been fucking things up for English football for a long, long time. Anyone who has played the game at a grass roots level understands how poor the coaching of young talent is, and it's really no surprise to see the likes of Wilshere, Rooney, Lallana and Henderson repeatedly fail to work up a 70% share of possession into a scoreboard mauling. Shearer (Carney had it right - and I wrong - in saying that he's improved as a pundit before the tournament started) summed it up with something like: "we overrate the Premier League. We're blinded by it. We think it's the best, and let me tell you this, it's not. Our players are nowhere near good enough, and our League relies on the glamour of foreign players for its glitz and shine". When forced to work together, to think quickly and cleverly and to orchestrate the rhythm of attack in high-pressure moments, English players have proven utterly abysmal at delivering the goods over the last 20+ years.

That being said, I do think England possess a small handful of very talented players, with the potential to crack on over the next few years and compete at the very highest stages of the domestic game. Last season, the Tottenham core of Kane, Ali and Dier performed with a game intelligence and intuition beyond their years and beyond the reach of many of their seniors in the national team. Players such as as Stones, Barkley and even Sterling have flashed with moments of skill and undeniable talent, at different times over the last 2-3 years. The key point, as everyone keeps banging on about, is to draw this talent together effectively. What could help here is to bring The FA closer to democratic control - to bring it close to Parliament, or to just have actual real fucking people running in public elections for the senior positions. The main point here is transparency, of which The FA I think has very little, and to stop The FA being enfranchised by what Owen Jones would probably call The Establishment, and all of the top-dog, fat-cat bullshit that comes with it (I mean, how the actual fuck did Greg Dyke get that job?!) Elections of some sort would force candidates to present their plans for footballing development to the public and to assume office on the basis of knowledge and intent, rather than nepotism and reputation, as per now. As Balague (yeah) put it, the problem with the England national side is its farcical tendency to miss the key kick, to fail to plan - every time a tournament comes around, the hope is for things to just 'fall in place', which of course, they never do. 5-year election cycles could help ensure that plans are formed and followed through.

But anyway, fuck all that. Iceland. What a tale. 330,000 people. Size of Preston. Thanks very much. See you later chaps. Mwah. and Eidur. Fuck me Eidur.