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!

!

but you can't do that anywhere. That is assault.

You don't know more than I do. You clearly think that you do, which is a sign of a huge ego. But you don't.

Your point is nonsense.

The final isn't composed of teeny men, as any cursory inspection of the squads reveals.

The Spanish outfield squad has 11 men over 6ft , the squad average height including the goalkeepers is 5'11''.

The Argentine squad is slightly smaller at 5'10" but still has 4 outfield players over 6 feet.

Generally strikers and central defenders tend to be tall. Goalkeepers obviously.

Full backs and midfielders/ wingers can often be shorter but there is also room for players like Rodrhi who is 6ft2.

There is opportunity for people of all height in the game, but generally it is rare for players under about 5'4" to make it to the highest levels of the sport these days (I doubt whether there is anyone in the prem under about 5'4"), probably because people are generally getting taller, the game is getting faster and short people generally have less speed (although they do probably have better acceleration and turning ability), and don't normally have the strength to hold off taller players. Maradonna was a notable exception as he was very stocky and there are others like Messi and Bernado Silva who do brilliantly at a relatively short height, but it tends to be the exception rather than the rule.

Football these days is highly selective. If there was a significant benefit to being short or tall all the players would trend towards that physical characteristic.

Not a huge ego at all - that’s your internalised misogyny talking. Just a fact. You didn’t even recognise the signing of the GFA didn’t mark the end of the violence, FFS. You don’t even know what you don’t know!

What you lack in knowledge you more than make up for in dogged persistence, though.

I take your point but, at the risk of splitting hairs, there are many jurisdictions around the world where extreme provocation is a viable defence.

Just reading a very interesting article on why Messi who seems the opposite of a footballer profile works and it's because he scans and observes before he gets the ball and this is where he is ahead. .
In an article in the conversatation it states that when training youngsters and doing experiments people who see the lay of the land before they get the ball have fewer passes etc. ..

So his game is more cerebral than pure athleticism.

I shouldn’t worry: @mindymoo11is an expert on absolutely everything, including the criminal justice systems of all jurisdictions of the world.

Ah, so if the Scots don't support the English, they're awful. But if they wind up the Argentinians over England, they're also awful? Ah, got it.

You can keep saying there's been no trouble with the English, but unfortunately doesn't make it true.