A serious question....

[Sarb]

Why is it that England perform so badly at games they are supposed to have invented.

Focussing in particular on football and cricket. I mean you invented 20/20 and you've performed really badly. Football...all those talented players yet they never seem to do much when it matters

Is it a lack of winning mentality, arrogance on the part of certain players or something else?

[Gordy Boy]

Why is it that England perform so badly at games they are supposed to have invented.

Focussing in particular on football and cricket. I mean you invented 20/20 and you've performed really badly. Football...all those talented players yet they never seem to do much when it matters

Is it a lack of winning mentality, arrogance on the part of certain players or something else?

We invent these sports to keep the lesser nations entertained. We then send out slightly weakened teams to lull johnny foreigner into the false impression that they are better than us.

In reality we could crush any team at any sport whenever we want. We're just toying with you.

[AFII]

So that's why England hasn't beaten Sweden in Football since '68.

[Gordy Boy]

So that's why England hasn't beaten Sweden in Football since '68.

Yes. The Swedes are a particularly fragile bunch and need all the encouragement they can get.

[AFII]

Yes. The Swedes are a particularly fragile bunch and need all the encouragement they can get.

I know that you had a good answer to why Isaksson is always out injured

[Tee]

Too much criticism, expectation and pressure IMO.

[bobbyfallon]

ah its great being irish, never expected to win **** all and sure enough we dont

so we achieve whats expected of us woohoo !!!!

on a serious note, RORY MC ELROY, will be europes no. 1 golfer inside 4 years. trust me

[dww]

I suspect that a large part of it comes from the culture of allowing old duffers or maximium cash interests to decide on developmental policy and a lack of basic facilities that are open for free/cheap use.

Look at how we have gone down hill after the rugby world cup win. We allowed a top coach with firm ideas on game management to do the best forms of preparation and gave him a good long tenure and he won the world cup. As soon as we did that the RFU wanted to get rid of all of his innovations and to take more control and now we are ****.

Look at the criticism Trevor Brooking gets every time he tries to get focus on grass roots development in this country. Not a sensible debate but lots of people trying to protect the way they get to do things (usually the PL clubs).

That and we have a culture where people get the impression they have arrived at a very early stage and then get pressured if they don't instantly win the top prizes. This leads to a lot of lost potential like that seen in Kieron Dyer and in a different realm Mark Lewis-Francis.

[Red_Polo]

So that's why England hasn't beaten Sweden in Football since '68.

Which is of course, the England's sole ambition. Just ahead of wreaking havoc in squares on the continent.

[Joe King]

England are just **** at producing talent. All of our domestic sports are ruled by money and instant success. The fat cats pump in money into their teams and by any means possible want to see their team succeed therefore managers and directors decide to bring in foreigners so that their teams become stronger. I have nothing against this, I just feel their should be better and more academies across the country and schools should have a bigger role to play.

[mersey86]

Compare the British government's focus on sports and development and that of the Australian government. Worlds apart.
We also compete in so many sports our talent-base is somewhat diluted. Has any other nation won the rugby World Cup and the football World Cup, though?

We're still the best at darts though. Try as he might, Johnny foreigner can't beat us there. Now that's a real man's game - throwing sharp objects while partially inebriated, there is no truer test of manhood.

[Parm]

I suspect that a large part of it comes from the culture of allowing old duffers or maximium cash interests to decide on developmental policy and a lack of basic facilities that are open for free/cheap use.

Look at how we have gone down hill after the rugby world cup win. We allowed a top coach with firm ideas on game management to do the best forms of preparation and gave him a good long tenure and he won the world cup. As soon as we did that the RFU wanted to get rid of all of his innovations and to take more control and now we are ****.

Look at the criticism Trevor Brooking gets every time he tries to get focus on grass roots development in this country. Not a sensible debate but lots of people trying to protect the way they get to do things (usually the PL clubs).

That and we have a culture where people get the impression they have arrived at a very early stage and then get pressured if they don't instantly win the top prizes. This leads to a lot of lost potential like that seen in Kieron Dyer and in a different realm Mark Lewis-Francis.

I'd go with that. i think there is also a problem with allowing young players to develop properly, all of a sudden the young kids are built up and thrown into the deep end and expected to perform. As soon as they fail then the press, fans, management are all over them.