England football team and their continual downfall has been the biggest talking point during every indolent international break. Although Gareth Southgate’s boys have shown some promise following a monotonous scoreless draw against Slovenia last time and thrashed their rivals Scotland by a thumping 3-0 margin, it is no surprise that their performance has been under scrutiny once again despite a convincing scoreline.
The over-hyped English teams have often failed repeatedly in big occasions in spite of being star-studded and one of the favorites to challenge for the title. But the group stage elimination in FIFA World Cup 2014 and chaotic round of 16 exit in UEFA EURO 2016 after a humiliating defeat to minnows Iceland has further lit up the controversy and criticism surrounding the English superstars of Premier League and more specifically English managers who have failed big time since the resignation of Fabio Capello back in 2012.
Fabio Capello was appointed by FA on 14 December 2007 following the sack of former English manager Steve McClaren due to his failure of qualifying for 2008 European Championship. But the Italian was neither a success as his side suffered a controversial second round exit over Germany in 2010 World Cup. After parting ways with Capello, FA relied on Englishmen once again and appointed Roy Hodgson as the next England manager.
Hodgson was a controversial selection after a dismal campaign with Liverpool even though he had a good spell with West Bromwich Albion. FA, the governing body of English football, mostly relied on his coaching experience across countries and success with Fulham in Europe. However, the inception was not that bad either, he took the Three Lions to quarters of 2012 European Championship before being knocked out in tie-breaker against the runners-up Italy. Since then, England had a constant downfall and did nothing worthy of mentioning barring some victories in Euro and World Cup qualifiers. Hodgson’s failure hit new low when they got eliminated by minnows Iceland in the round of 16 tie of Euro 2016 which forced him to quit as England manager.
The prestigious baton was handed over to Sam Allardyce, another English boss who has been immensely popular in domestic circuit with mid-table premier league outfits. But his tenure did not last long and ended in bizarre egress, following an investigation by the Telegraph, after 67 days and one match as England manager. Gareth Southgate, the England U21 manager, was put in temporary charge of the senior England team on 27 September 2016.
While FA are again in search of someone who can prove to be a worthy successor in order to make them world’s best once more, we have tried to analyze the complications of England football team.
Players playing with huge reputation in the most prestigious football league of Europe have failed to live up to the expectations during international duty. They are not short on talent, but the excessive pressure from English media puts them in real compulsion before every major tournament.
The domestic managers they have chosen in past five years are not up to the standard of the likes of Joachim Loew, Fernando Santos, Jürgen Klinsmann, Vicente Del Bosque or former Italy boss Antonio Conte. Also, they remain under immense pressure while selecting the team and are afraid of trimming big name players who have passed their prime.
Arsene Wenger, the legendary Arsenal manager, has expressed his desire to manage England ‘one day’. Also, current U.S.A manager Jürgen Klinsmann’s name has surfaced repeatedly for the vacant managerial role. England need characters like them who might take the Three Lions up to next level with some bold yet indispensable steps in order to reestablish them at the world stage.
