Capello constantly witters on about mental strength as if something psychological were the problem. It isn't. The problem is that football players who aren't good enough and a manager who is clueless. All England football fans want to see is some drive and passion. Have a go, play without chains, direct, quick. If they lose but have a good go, much better than watching the past 2 international campaigns. Spain Vs Lichenstein are similar placed teams and Spain were thrilling with their football. England, drab and hard to watch.
The best solution to this problem that most have heard anywhere is to pick a squad consisting mostly of ManU players and then fill in the gaps with a few others. Result, quite a young side. Everyone knows one another and gets along. More understanding on the pitch. Greater chance of picking a team that plays as a unit. However, over the past few years no other side in the Premiership has turned as many games around in the last five minutes. At least that's a sort of mental strength. When England play badly the fotball players and manager must assume responsibility. The problem with blaming the media and pinning the reason for their poor performances on media expectations is a pretty miserable side step that avoids the fact that the other team have played better.
One thing they might dispense with is the equally disingenuous they pay you six million a year to get results line, since they know perfectly well they are part of an unacknowledged campaign against the country and its institutions. Journalists who say anyone desperately wants England to do well are so transparent they'd blush if they weren't devoid of any conscience. Consider however the account of former Blackpool and England star Jimmy Armfield. In his autobiography Armfield relates how players actually had to make their own way back from the 1962 World Cup in Chile because the FA couldn't afford to get them all on one of the rare flights to Europe via the U.S. and elsewhere out of a then comparatively isolated South America. See you back in London was the cheery farewell. Armfield's is a measured account of a life in the game. One thing only makes him angry he saysthe sight of the England captain's armband tossed casually to the ground, during player substitutions. Symbols that are as vital to everyone as the air they breathe. They speak to anyone. They invest life with meaning. Symbols stand for things like institutions, nations, kinship, belonging for who everyone is. It isn't enough to regard playing for England as a source of professional rather than personal satisfaction. The norm among black footballers unfortunately it is increasingly the attitude among English football players as well, and they cannot be surprised if even their own choose money and adoration over personal abuse, albeit abuse of a fairly polite sort, orchestrated by nice public school types who light the blue touch paper before standing well back and disclaiming all responsibility for what follows. It must be hard to focus on the game when they have to worry about all that money, women and whether their status as a football star will be enhanced by buying the McClarren or the Aston Martin. Football is a business and it should be regarded as such. They are selling a product and if some don't like the product then they shouldn't buy it. But don't force the rest of the people to lament this. And in that regard, the England side clearly aren't as good as the competition. The problem is simple to analyse and will afflict all international football where clubs pay players massive sums of money. They are under strict orders from their club managers not to take physical risks which would injure themselves. The clubs have too much cash invested in them and the players main source of income and fame comes from club football. Years ago to play for your country brought prestige and a cash bonus from the fame that could ensue. The money sloshing around football and the way it is packaged, sold, delivered and reported on is out of all proportion to its actual merit. It must put incredible pressure on the players. The media doesn't help in fact the media are most of the problem. Wholesale redundancies across large swathes of the media would be no bad thing, but that's for another time. From what most have heard the North Korean coach was forced to public humiliation and hard labor. That is just sad to see maybe North Koreas most football, smart coach being a nobody slave worker at a random field or somewhere like that.
Also the common people could never believe that Capello earned 5,000,000 more, in US Dollars, more than the second highest paid coach. Wembley doesn't help. Great stadium but dreadful atmosphere. Full of corporates. England were great when they went on the road around the country and real fans could watch them. Many football supporters would be interested to see the viewing figures for this match. It is very feeble minded to blame the medias reactions for a teams failure. It is up to the manager and the team to build a winning football mentality, if they are more interested in what the media will report then they got the mindset wrong and have failed in delivering the potential of the team. This kind of weakness of narcissism is precisely what stops the manager and players assuming responsibility for their performance. The media create the fantasy, it is up to the manager and the football players to see beyond the fickle fantasy creations of the reactionary media.