To ask why the England team (the men) keep falling at the final hurdle, (well virtually at the final hurdle,) at the football World Cup ... and The Euros too?

[GorgeousSpringtime]

Not an England-team bashing thread, but why, oh WHY do they - the men - keep falling at the final hurdle (well, virtually the final hurdle,) every time at the football (soccer) World Cup - and the Euro Cup too...?

They do so well, and get so far, and then BANG they're out. Nearly always in the top 8, or top 4, (and the top 2, in the World Cup once, and a couple of times in the Euros I think,) but never the winner. (Not since 1966 anyway!)

Is it nerves? Is it that they're so anxious to win that they keep making silly mistakes? Are they just not quite good enough? WHAT IS IT? Why do they keep getting so close, but just never manage to get the win?!

As I said, I am not bashing them, and they did well, and I am proud of them, but I just get so frustrated that they can't quite ever get the win!

!

Probably because they feel the massive pressure from the media and fans, some of those blokes who watch the games are horrible abusive men who shout and scream at a tv, so you can imagine how they are at games when the players get back to league games.

Footballs coming home? I’d say it really doesn’t want to.

Becsuse the competition gets harder the further they get and whilst they are good they are not quite good enough to win.

@Minusone
Because it’s hard to be the best in the world at something and they are not the best in the world. I’d say this is the best England team for years but just not quite good enough - I didn’t agree with TT’s tactics last night but that’s not why England lost. At the end of the day Argentina are a very good physical side and messi is an amazing playmaker.

@JHound · Today 09:06
I did not watch it so going by reports. I think lack of confidence when they face a team to be dominant.
So it’s like they allowed themselves to be intimidated by Argentina and the minute they went one up they resorted to playing like scared chickens (overly defensive) instead of the aggressive attacking style they showed against Croatia, Mexico and even Norway.

@GirlsInGreen · Today 09:06
The seeding i think, we get seeded too high, put in a relatively easy group & then fall flat when we meet class teams.
Really enjoyed watching them.

I think quite a bit of this pretty much nails it. I enjoyed watching them too! I just get sooooooo fed up of them not winning. I was so sure they'd win this time. But yes, they did really well, but as has been said, there were a few superior teams.

You think making substitutions to have 6 outfield defenders was a nervous reaction by the players to having a 1-0 lead?

The tactics were appalling, as many have already said.

You don’t give up the midfield with 35 minutes to go and hope Messi et al will not be able to penetrate your defence with 88% possession.

Also we never looked as good as France or Spain (and maybe Argentina, but I hadn’t see them play until last night).

The English seem to think they have a god given right to win the world cup. Beating all the other best teams in the world is actually quite hard to do especially when you aren't the best team in the world. I am English btw.

Sounds crazy but English players are not, and never have been, comfortable on the ball, compared to top teams. They cannot keep possession against a top team and kill the game which is what they needed to do for that last half hour.

And in none of the edits does the OP say “fail”.

i’m sorry you cant read the difference between fail and fall.

Pickford is not that good.

Also they did exceptionally well which should not be ignored. They are 4th (or 3rd) of 48 teams competing.
They have played at altitude, in intense heat and humidity etc. Not everybody can win and sometimes your opponent is just better.

It’s simply because other teams play better. England have some amazing players but combined can’t often pull it together without relying on a series of fouls or luck. They played really well last night and Argentina played dirty, they were absolutely horrible to be frank and I hope Spain smash them.

The issue was, once they got the goal they decided to start taking attackers off the field and subbed for defenders. I guess Tuchel did this because Argentina always historically pull it back in the last few minutes. The tactic obviously didn’t work and Argentina still succeeded.

But yeah, the Argentinian team are not good sportsmen.

The other team played better football.

Like Belgium Vs USA, the Argentinians might have been a bit more geed up about flashing their banner at the end.

But they had to play better football to achieve that.

OP didn't say fail, she said FALL

Yes, that's true, and that's what I said in my OP. They did well, and I am proud of them, and they did well to get to the quarter finals, but I do agree with some people that what it boils down to is that a few teams are just better than them.

Exactly this. Far too risk averse after the goal, meant we spent the end of the match basically playing in our own penalty box and it was only a matter of time before we conceded.

Because they do what they always do when they go one up, play on the defense instead of attacking

Becuase they face the other really good teams at this stage

The minute the coverage went back to the pundits in the studio I was really pleased that Joe Hart was so positive about the team over the whole tournament and wouldn’t let the others get in with negativity about the match. Maybe I’m weird but I felt so emotional and proud that our players weren’t drawn into Argentina’s tactics in the first quarter. I like a bit of drama but it’s a sport.

Also we are not alone in this. Most countries lose most times they play in the world cup.

True.

@3luckystars
It's not the op's fault you read 'fail' instead of 'fall'.
Also you can read the edited post as well - it doesn't mention failing either.

They just aren't as good as the other teams. Spain haven't had a lose in 90 minutes against them in 37 games and Portugal were the first to score and Spain were still the much better team. France had been playing similar and strong defense and fell apart against Spain. Argentina aren't playing great football but England bottled it and tried to defend a early lead and gave them way to much space to play.

They’ve played incredibly well, like others I question whether it could have gone differently if the defensive decision wasn’t made so early. But the players really put in so much.

This. Also I don't think Argentina were the better team overall; the decisions made towards the end/substitutions made/not made by the manager cost them this time.

They did brilliantly.

I really hope Spain win now!

They came up against a team who are ranked higher than them, who know how to win the big matches, who never stop, never panic. Till now they’ve won against teams that they theoretically should win against without ever being totally convincing and the manager for some reason decided to try and defend a one goal lead for 35 minutes against a team who seldom fail to score at least once, in more general terms, they are good , but they are not the best, no matter how much the media tries to give that impression