Thursday, September 6, 2012

(Opinion) Sir Bobby Charlton England 2014 prediction: not the hardest prediction to make




There are many things wrong in football, most of it off field of play, but what is a major indicator of thing being out of order and place is when it ruling body places a nation that couldn’t make it past the quarterfinals (England) of euro 2012 over countries that did (Portugal and Italy) and places a very poor Greece national side one place ahead of five time world cup winning Brazil[1]. The FIFA world rankings have always been strange but none stranger than Sir Bobby Charlton obvious prediction that England will not win world cup 2014 in Brazil.
His observation to support his claim are the same reasons offered for every failure since England last moment of triumph in 1966 (particularly in last 20 years) such as the influx of foreign players and the lack of quality among the English ranks (almost inextricably linked to the influx of foreign players)[2]. He did throw a tiny morsel of hope citing conditions the England national team haven’t managed to reproduce since he was still playing stressing that if “the right group of players come together and stay together for a while and gel into a team, with the right manager, then perhaps it might happen, but I have to be honest and say it's a way off”[3].
Sir Bobby Charlton will have long wait for such conditions to come into fruition, a wait that unfortunately he is unlikely to survive. With a manager whose methods were innovative when Elvis was shopping for a demo deal and a team dominated by talented individuals who play like they missed a toilet break they really needed whenever against opposition south of FIFA top 100 countries and look like Sunday league amateurs when confronted by any occupants of its top 10.
In 2014, most team will blood a younger generation in a bid to win the 2014 world cup but trust England to blood the same of group who have for the most part choked when it really mattered. If Roy Hodgson is anything, he’s is consistent and will overlook new talent where is plenty, contrary to the common opinion by many football writer and pundit.
In sum, While Bobby Charlton prediction of England not winning the 2014 World Cup in Brazil will bring little in the way of disagreement. It does bring into focus the lack of quality in current England ranks and the lack of optimism in the general public over England’s prospects as England look set to add another fours of anguish to glory-famished England fans.






[1] FIFA, 2012, FiFA/Coca Cola World Ranking,
http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/index.html
[2] Guardian.co.uk, 2012, England will not win 2014 world cup, says Sir Bobby Charlton,  http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/sep/04/england-world-cup-bobby-charlton
[3] Ibid

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