So, you were probably expecting a post about England’s flickering attempts to hold the 2018 World Cup? Hard Luck. That’s just some people making some speeches at the moment. So instead I give you, something suggested to me on Twitter earlier.

You’ll never look at him the same again. Let alone give you a [...]

 
Joe has himself a Liverpool jersey – it may well be a good move, but he is still an apt example of the counter-productive manner in which English football treats its creative players. 
English football is full of ill-conceived ideas, but its predilection for heart and graft over art and craft is the most frustrating of them all. This week, with [...]

How can we get success like this?
Tradition dictates that all value judgements made before an England World Cup exit be immediately reformed in the weeks and days that elapse following it. The regularity of the clamber has undoubtedly dampened its effect over the years and, as such, scepticism about the extent to which anything England will change after the latest [...]

 
How can we get success like this?
Tradition dictates that all value judgements made before an England World Cup exit be immediately reformed in the weeks and days that elapse following it. The regularity of the clamber has undoubtedly dampened its effect over the years and, as such, scepticism about the extent to which anything England will change after the latest [...]

And so, on Sunday, Germany will join Argentina as the team we have most faced at the World Cup, as it’ll be the fifth time the two teams have met.* So I figure, now is as good a time as any to have a look back at the previous encounters, nearly all of which were [...]

“Ethan, stop talking about the midfield all the time”. Or what?
England and ‘The Gerrard and Lampard Conundrum’ have been synonymous since the days of Sven Goran Eriksson. After various unsuccessful attempts to crowbar the two outstanding English midfield talents into the same team Fabio Capello appeared to have the answer: placing Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard in the [...]

I posted about Beckham’s most famous sending off on the main page earlier, but thought it was worth re-posting here on the England blog too.
We all know what happened. The 23 year old David Beckham was fouled by Diego Simeone, and then foolishly had a kick at Simeone’s calf in retaliation. The ref saw it, [...]

Let me take you back to World Cup Italia ‘90. England had narrowly won Group F and had been drawn against Belgium in the round of 16. The game was goalless at 90 minutes, and still goalless with extra time about to run out. Penalties loomed.
But in the 119th minute, Gazza dribbled straight at the [...]

So yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and thusly the reunification of Germany. To mark the occasion I watched the rather brilliant film Goodbye Lenin! (recommended, if you haven’t seen it), which basically takes place during the fall of the Berlin Wall, from the East German perspective.
Anyway, one [...]

The documentary “Do I Not Like That – The Final Chapter” follows Graham Taylor, and his disastrous attempt to lead England through qualification to World Cup ‘94.
The documentary is now infamous for all kinds of reasons. Taylor’s use of the phrase “Do I not like that”. Phil Neal emerging as the ultimate Yes Man. Ronald [...]