Poncho wrote:I love how Colombia are suddenly not a decent team.
Yes what revisionist history happened here
The only poor sides England played were Tunisia and Panama.
Colombia, Sweden and Croatia are all good sides. Sweden are thought of as a bad side, but they qualified ahead of the Netherlands, beat Italy in a play off and finished top of a group that contained Germany and Mexico.
I’d agree England were in the “easier” half of the draw, but it is laughable to suggest they didn’t play any good sides.
Photek wrote:Possibly, hate is strong but dislike is more appropriate. They're not as good as they make out, beating them in Cardiff last year was glorious.
Corazon de Leon wrote:I wouldn’t underestimate the ultimate joy of schadenfreude. Not just in football, but in life. Those of us who are not happy love to see the misery spread.
This probably sums it up best. It's not difficult to empathise, I'm sure there was a fair bit of schadenfreude from England when Germany crashed out.
Overall I think England have got to be very happy with the tournament. I think the point not to be underestimated is they've really generated a good team spirit and got a lot of disinterested fans back, they need to ensure that doesn't fizzle out now as it can help keep momentum going. There are things to work on (e.g. they need a bit more creativity from midfield in open play) but it's a relatively young team and they should go into the next Euros stronger and far more experienced than they are now.
The thing is, you look at the make-up of the UK and obviously England is by far the most populous country, comprising about 85% of the entire population. Moreover, most of the national media are located in London. They have the most fans within the country and historically are the biggest and most "successful" team.
It's only natural the media focus on England so much, when it's 85% of their readership. Especially when they are the only home nation in the tournament.
I presume focusing on the team with the most fans, most interest and most "success" isn't on when it's England at the expense of the other home nations, but is fine when it's centred around Liverpool, United, City, Arsenal etc during the league season?
After all, why do the media focus on the likes of United and Liverpool? Because they have the most fans, there's more interest in them from the readership and they are more successful.
How you feel when you see people talking about England, is how fans of the other 15 or so Pl clubs (scratch that, how almost every other club) feel about the media's relentless focus on the same three or four at the top. And historically, within the UK, England has been "top". That hasn't mean we've always been the best or that we've been particularly good but that's just how it is.
The media stir up interest as it gets people reading their newspapers or watching coverage. They are there to whip up a story or an event. It's why transfer sagas get drummed up every summer (Pogba and United for example).
And there is interest in the other home nations. Wales got a lot of focus when they performed above expectations and got to the semi-final. And without sounding harsh, it's hard to give other nations coverage when there isn't anything to cover. When they do make tournaments, they get coverage though, again, if 85% of the population are English, what do you really expect? It's the way the fans are stacked, and as I have said, something say, Middlesbrough fans, or Burnley fans, or Ipswich fans, or Bournemouth fans, have to accept on a weekly basis.
And clearly the "it's coming home" stuff was basically just a viral meme that was intended as a bit of fun. It became a reason to stick it in almost everything. If you think every single person who posted it was deadly serious in believing we were actually going to win, you're deluded. We obviously had a kinder draw and people could envisage the final, but it was still a hashtag more about supporting your team than it was of proclaiming England world cup winners.
And I think the Germany comparison isn't entirely the same as "ABE". There will be some fans who are like that with Germany but, as I said at the time, Germany have knocked us out of 326 different football tournaments so was more of a rivalry in that sense. Bar the Euro play off in 1999, I don't think England have knocked out a home nation for quite a while (maybe Scotland in 96?). We don't meet that often in tournaments. And Germany were due to be our quarter final, so they were a team that potentially were impeding our progress in the competition.
I'll miss the It's Coming Home memes and whatnot. It was like that first summer when Pokemon Go came out - everyone seemed just a little happier. Apart from the strange people who didn't get the memo that it was tongue-in-cheek.
Poncho wrote:I'll miss the It's Coming Home memes and whatnot. It was like that first summer when Pokemon Go came out - everyone seemed just a little happier. Apart from the strange people who didn't get the memo that it was tongue-in-cheek.
“Did you enjoy the World Cup?”
“Oh god yes, it took me back to those days when Pokemon Go first came out ”
When Ireland beat Italy in the Euro's a good few of you here were really happy about it and I've never forgotten that. I don't think I've been Anti England at all in this thread apart from being amused when it goes awry but it didn't, England got the the WC semi finals with one of the youngest teams in the tournament (was it the youngest?). As I said before the Sweden game, they should come home Hero's and I'm sure they will.
Poncho wrote:I'll miss the It's Coming Home memes and whatnot. It was like that first summer when Pokemon Go came out - everyone seemed just a little happier. Apart from the strange people who didn't get the memo that it was tongue-in-cheek.
“Did you enjoy the World Cup?”
“Oh god yes, it took me back to those days when Pokemon Go first came out ”
And both ended up becoming a bit of a disappointment after a month.
Harry Kane and Maguire both qualify to play for Ireland btw, Kane's relations down in Kerry had England flags all over the pub and even a signed England shirt from Harry himself.
Yes England is the biggest country, the most populous country and generally the 'best' country when it comes to football, and a lot of other sports. I I think it's easy to see why that can generate some resentment in the other countries, it's basically an inferiority complex.
In terms of the media, I've got no issue with the amount of coverage England got, as you say it's to be expected given that they were the only British team there, so in that sense I think it's slightly different from the media's coverage of club football which I agree is ridiculously biased. I did find some of the pundits a bit dismissive of the other teams sometimes, particularly Croatia, but I can put that down to excitement and confidence rather than arrogance.
I found the "coming home" memes hilarious. I think most people's annoyance came from the oversaturation than anything else.
Wales have met England five times in my lifetime, and we've lost every single one. Even in our most successful tournament ever (of the two we've ever made ) we still lost to England. I understand that we're not much of a blip on England's radar but it's definitely a rivalry from our perspective. This is probably fueled further by rugby culture - Wales v England is a massive rivalry in rugby, but whereas the majority of Welsh people grow up watching rugby and so carry that over to football, a lot of English have no interest in the sport.
To clarify, I'm not an 'ABE' supporter, I'm just trying to offer a different perspective.
Photek wrote:When Ireland beat Italy in the Euro's a good few of you here were really happy about it and I've never forgotten that. I don't think I've been Anti England at all in this thread apart from being amused when it goes awry but it didn't, England got the the WC semi finals with one of the youngest teams in the tournament (was it the youngest?). As I said before the Sweden game, they should come home Hero's and I'm sure they will.
Always had a soft spot for Ireland and it's a shame they didn't make it this summer, expect to see them in the Euros though.
Scotland and Wales, on the other hand, can strawberry float right off.
Photek wrote:Harry Kane and Maguire both qualify to play for Ireland btw, Kane's relations down in Kerry had England flags all over the pub and even a signed England shirt from Harry himself.
Is this a recent thing?
Always though support for England in Ireland would've been blasphemy.