Letter to all yee fans of England

England fans always come out in full force but their team plays below par. Photo by AFP 

In Summary

PERENNIAL UNDERACHIEVERS. This year England celebrate a rare Golden Jubilee – 50 years without international success. Such is the pain, 1966 is a distant memory.

Dear fans, it appears that after years of make-believe, reality is starting to set in. These are hard times indeed and your team has been dumped out of yet another major competition at which they arrived as favourites, just because you pay the highest wages in the game.
Admittedly, the English Premier League (EPL), has over the years been a global benchmark, albeit for reasons other than the quality of football. Still the interest in the brand, and the obscene amount of monies that it has generated by bloody-minded marketing men is the stuff that legends are made of.
However, a nation of more volcanoes than footballers eliminated you and you are horrified, yes. But humiliating as that is, this is not unfamiliar territory.

Remember this year you are celebrating a rare Golden Jubilee – 50 years without international success. The memories of 1966 are now lost in the mists of time so just get a grip otherwise all attempts at rectifying this situation will fail.
Right now the temptation to jump onto the band wagon that is writing the obituaries maybe huge but nothing suggests to me that this situation is beyond repair. What you should be debating is not why you could not get past Iceland, but why the nation that gave the world football or that has the largest resources, still plays like Neanderthals.
If you asked me, I would say it’s because you value braveness over finesse, and brawn over brain. The thing, though is, football has evolved and the only thing tireless running and full-bloodied tackling will get you is ridicule.

All over Europe academies are teaching kids how to win, retain and use the ball. They are being taught to put learning before glamour, that money will follow football success but not necessarily the other way round. Those kids will grow up into men with the patience and skill to pick defences. It will not happen overnight.
Education is a gradual process and mind sets doesn’t dissolve instantly in the face of new methods. But rest assured that if you at least applied the same obstinacy with which you have stuck to old methods, you should be fine.

And the foundations are already there. Because England is footballs best resourced nation financially, its shores have attracted the best coaches and players that money can buy.
There is a lot to pick from such people. Furthermore, England actually has a transitional but very promising squad. However, Marcus Rashford Eric Dier and Delle Alli, cannot do it alone, because they already tainted by old ways. It is the mind sets of all those kids running around academies right now, that will have to be nurtured into the ways of the continent.
So, if I were you dear fans, I would not fuss about all this. I would instead be in awe at the genius of those who built a footballing brand that refuses to go away despite years of underachievement and instead see it as an opportunity to put things right. Yours truly, me.
banturakim@gmail.com