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Whirled Cup
Thursday, June 24th, 2010 10:37 amWhy don’t the press just report what’s going on, rather than hyping everything and raising expectations beyond reality?
I mean, I sat and watched the England game yesterday and yes, it was an improved performance, though hardly stunning. A 1-0 defeat of a country that isn’t 20 years old yet and has a population of only slightly more than Birmingham shouldn’t have provided any sort of obstacle to even an ordinary England team. Let’s not pretend that yesterday’s display was any more than barely adequate and that had they performed like that against a true contender, the England team would have been at the airport now, checking in for an early return.
I would like the team to progress and I would like, some day, before I am too old to enjoy it, for them to win a tournament – World Cup or Euro Championship, I’m not fussy, but it is a hope rather than an expectation. Before the current World Cup started, I thought that by UK standards, the hype had been remarkably light, but now I see that the media are making up for lost time in pretending that the performance was better than it truly was and that our prospects are somehow enhanced.
Well, if we exit against Germany on Sunday, I hope at least people will understand that it’s the team’s own fault, having been given pretty much the easiest group they could have wanted to qualify from. On the other hand, we could blame the French. I mean, they blamed England for their early exit, despite the fact that they imploded entirely on their own.
I mean, I sat and watched the England game yesterday and yes, it was an improved performance, though hardly stunning. A 1-0 defeat of a country that isn’t 20 years old yet and has a population of only slightly more than Birmingham shouldn’t have provided any sort of obstacle to even an ordinary England team. Let’s not pretend that yesterday’s display was any more than barely adequate and that had they performed like that against a true contender, the England team would have been at the airport now, checking in for an early return.
I would like the team to progress and I would like, some day, before I am too old to enjoy it, for them to win a tournament – World Cup or Euro Championship, I’m not fussy, but it is a hope rather than an expectation. Before the current World Cup started, I thought that by UK standards, the hype had been remarkably light, but now I see that the media are making up for lost time in pretending that the performance was better than it truly was and that our prospects are somehow enhanced.
Well, if we exit against Germany on Sunday, I hope at least people will understand that it’s the team’s own fault, having been given pretty much the easiest group they could have wanted to qualify from. On the other hand, we could blame the French. I mean, they blamed England for their early exit, despite the fact that they imploded entirely on their own.
