The underperforming English fell at the final hurdle as was absolutely inevitable given the poor quality of manager in place for the last number of years. The best team in the tournament deserved it and landed the prize.
For many years Spain followed a similar trajectory to England. Despite having one of the strongest leagues on the planet and arguably the biggest club side, they regularly underperformed. Like England, the only trophy they had won was in the 60s, a Euros in '64. They famously were effectively knocked out of their own World Cup in '82 by Northern Ireland and lost on penalties to England in Euro 96 in the last 16.
Shortly after moving to Spain, I went see them playing France on the big screen at the fan zone in Madrid city centre during the World Cup of 2006. The Spaniard I was with explained to me that they would certainly lose because they always lose these games. I remember being shocked that Spain were so poor. I always imagined that they were a big team, but no they weren't. One trophy years ago, then many years of hurt.
Things changed. And quickly. The Spanish F.A. made the decision to bring in Luis Aragones, a well respected old timer who had managed at the top of La Liga for years. He inherited a team with a mountain of young talent and he made sure to use them well. Xabi, Xavi, David Silva, Iniesta and Fernando Torres quickly became regular starters and playing a brand of bright, attacking footy. They quickly gained success. They won the Euros in 2008 beating Germany in the final. The monkey was finally off the back. Aragones was replaced by Del Bosque who introduced the team to tiki-taka and they went on to win the World Cup in 2010 and the Euros again in 2012. This team is rightly regarded as one of the best in history, certainly one of the most successful.
It seems totally intuitive to put a team of exceptional young talented players in the hands of older, experienced managers and the success duly came.
England on the other hand, decided to go for a vanilla manager with no experience. They wanted a conservative "safe pair of young, English hands" after the failures of Sven and Capello, and the disaster of Hodgson. And Southgate was a good choice initially. He dispensed with the disunity culture that saw the players hanging out with their clubmates only. He defended the team from the over-aggressive press and he galvanised the team into a group that believed they could win.
But he didn't have the necessary nous to install a style of play that everybody buys into, or to have a plan B when things go wrong. In this Euro cup it was obvious that the front 4 of Saka, Bellingham, Foden and Kane wasn't working, but he persisted when everybody knows that a top manager would have changed things. The quality of the opposition afforded multiple chances to field a new team. He didn't. One journalist reported that during the second half Bellingham approached Southgate and told him to "fucking do something". Shortly after Kane was subbed. I don't know how true it was but it sounds about right.
What will England do next? The pressure is on to get it right or another generation will be lost. For Spain, the hoodoo is well and truly broken. A World Cup, 3 Euros and a Nations League in 16 years is pretty damn good. I was lucky enough to be at the national celebrations at Cibeles Fountain in Madrid in 2008 and 2010 and I know what winning tournaments means to a nation of footy lovers after years of mediocrity. I hope one day England do the same, but the F.A. needs to be bold and get the right man. They had the best squad at this Euros, better than Spain's, and they had the easiest of possible opponents and still couldn't put together 90 minutes of good footy.
Something better change.
This is my last article as sports writer for The Pensive Quill. I would like to thank Mackers for the opportunity and to everybody who read the blog and commented. It has been a pleasure.
For many years Spain followed a similar trajectory to England. Despite having one of the strongest leagues on the planet and arguably the biggest club side, they regularly underperformed. Like England, the only trophy they had won was in the 60s, a Euros in '64. They famously were effectively knocked out of their own World Cup in '82 by Northern Ireland and lost on penalties to England in Euro 96 in the last 16.
Shortly after moving to Spain, I went see them playing France on the big screen at the fan zone in Madrid city centre during the World Cup of 2006. The Spaniard I was with explained to me that they would certainly lose because they always lose these games. I remember being shocked that Spain were so poor. I always imagined that they were a big team, but no they weren't. One trophy years ago, then many years of hurt.
Things changed. And quickly. The Spanish F.A. made the decision to bring in Luis Aragones, a well respected old timer who had managed at the top of La Liga for years. He inherited a team with a mountain of young talent and he made sure to use them well. Xabi, Xavi, David Silva, Iniesta and Fernando Torres quickly became regular starters and playing a brand of bright, attacking footy. They quickly gained success. They won the Euros in 2008 beating Germany in the final. The monkey was finally off the back. Aragones was replaced by Del Bosque who introduced the team to tiki-taka and they went on to win the World Cup in 2010 and the Euros again in 2012. This team is rightly regarded as one of the best in history, certainly one of the most successful.
It seems totally intuitive to put a team of exceptional young talented players in the hands of older, experienced managers and the success duly came.
England on the other hand, decided to go for a vanilla manager with no experience. They wanted a conservative "safe pair of young, English hands" after the failures of Sven and Capello, and the disaster of Hodgson. And Southgate was a good choice initially. He dispensed with the disunity culture that saw the players hanging out with their clubmates only. He defended the team from the over-aggressive press and he galvanised the team into a group that believed they could win.
But he didn't have the necessary nous to install a style of play that everybody buys into, or to have a plan B when things go wrong. In this Euro cup it was obvious that the front 4 of Saka, Bellingham, Foden and Kane wasn't working, but he persisted when everybody knows that a top manager would have changed things. The quality of the opposition afforded multiple chances to field a new team. He didn't. One journalist reported that during the second half Bellingham approached Southgate and told him to "fucking do something". Shortly after Kane was subbed. I don't know how true it was but it sounds about right.
What will England do next? The pressure is on to get it right or another generation will be lost. For Spain, the hoodoo is well and truly broken. A World Cup, 3 Euros and a Nations League in 16 years is pretty damn good. I was lucky enough to be at the national celebrations at Cibeles Fountain in Madrid in 2008 and 2010 and I know what winning tournaments means to a nation of footy lovers after years of mediocrity. I hope one day England do the same, but the F.A. needs to be bold and get the right man. They had the best squad at this Euros, better than Spain's, and they had the easiest of possible opponents and still couldn't put together 90 minutes of good footy.
Something better change.
This is my last article as sports writer for The Pensive Quill. I would like to thank Mackers for the opportunity and to everybody who read the blog and commented. It has been a pleasure.
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| Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports |
