2024 EURO & COPA AMERICA

[n_huffhines]

IMO, England was kind of unfairly pinned as an underachiever for a little bit. Maybe not 15-20 years ago but definitely over the last couple of WC cycles. I feel like they've just now started to shake that off with back to back Euro runners up.

They have far and away the most popular/most financially successful/deepest domestic league, so by extension some people think they should have an incredible national team. But of course the EPL is what it is because of all the great foreign players they attract.

England's definitely been one of the strongest teams the last 6 years or so. Just can't get over the hump.

 

[theFallGuy]

 

[NorCalVol67]

His son was also arrested.

 

[bleedorange0037]

IMO, England was kind of unfairly pinned as an underachiever for a little bit. Maybe not 15-20 years ago but definitely over the last couple of WC cycles. I feel like they've just now started to shake that off with back to back Euro runners up.

They have far and away the most popular/most financially successful/deepest domestic league, so by extension some people think they should have an incredible national team. But of course the EPL is what it is because of all the great foreign players they attract.

For me the only thing they underachieve is their fans/medias outrageously outsized expectations. I’ve followed the sport closely since the 2006 WC, and in that time there hasn’t been a single tournament where a truly objective observer would rate them as the most talented team. Spain, France, Germany, Italy, as well as sometimes Portugal and Holland show up with at least equally good squads, if not usually better.

So they’re always needing something between a lot of luck and an actual miracle to win the whole thing. Yet without fail the English always believe this is the year “it’s coming home”.