England is currently ranked 9th in the FIFA World Ranking. It is often argued that a country's world ranking sometimes does not reflect the quality of the squad. The fact that Belgium is the number one team in the world ahead of heavyweights like Germany and Argentina would raise a few eyebrows.
However, in the case of England, the current ranking can be regarded as justifying their quality. It can be viewed that England are better than most others but not one of the best in the world. In spite of a stellar qualifying campaign, even the most ardent English supporters would not be viewing England as one of the favorites to win Euro 2016.
One of the best examples of this was the recent friendly between England and Spain. There was a sense of frustration among some of the English supporters and media where they witnessed England getting totally dominated by a superior team. The match did not delineate anything new to a general football supporter. Spain dominated possession as Spain usually does.
England was trying to keep their shape to the maximum and just hoping that they can nick one on the counter. It was more of hope than belief and in the end it was inevitable that Spain would break them.
The match reminded me of how West Ham have been so effective in their counter attacking football this season. In the match against Spain, there were some moments where England could have actually scored. West Ham have been successful in winning against the so called big teams this season with the help of this style. England, though, were not able to replicate the same in terms of the result.
However, it just reminded us of the fact that the best way England can hope to win a major tournament is to play the West Ham way rather than opt for the Arsenal way.
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| Xavi and Phil Jones |
One of the best examples of this was the recent friendly between England and Spain. There was a sense of frustration among some of the English supporters and media where they witnessed England getting totally dominated by a superior team. The match did not delineate anything new to a general football supporter. Spain dominated possession as Spain usually does.
England was trying to keep their shape to the maximum and just hoping that they can nick one on the counter. It was more of hope than belief and in the end it was inevitable that Spain would break them.
The match reminded me of how West Ham have been so effective in their counter attacking football this season. In the match against Spain, there were some moments where England could have actually scored. West Ham have been successful in winning against the so called big teams this season with the help of this style. England, though, were not able to replicate the same in terms of the result.
However, it just reminded us of the fact that the best way England can hope to win a major tournament is to play the West Ham way rather than opt for the Arsenal way.
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