When Roy Hodgson named a youthful squad for Brazil 2014, the nation was excited about seeing the next generation of young players gain valuable experience, without the pressure and expectation of success. But then, just two games later, the squad had sagged badly under the usual weight of expectation, losing to a poor Italian side and to a spirited, tenacious Uruguayan side that were yet to taste their controversy, and Roy Hodgson's men were unceremoniously dumped out of the tournament, with footballing heavyweights Costa Rica advancing to the group stages. So just how then did the team that had no pressure to succeed manage to not only fail to meet expectation, but to cause an entire nation to roll their eyes and collectively smack their hands against their foreheads in despair? Yes, this is England, and England seem forever doomed to repeat the gloom of every past failure at big tournaments, but it can no longer simply be a matter of accepting that the team's losses are as inevitable as death and taxes. England in general and the Football Association specifically now face a post-tournament tribunal, and now that the dust has settled and emotion has been replaced with logical analysis, it's time to look at exactly why England failed in Brazil. It is no easy task to change a culture of losing, but there are things - 10 of them in fact - that can and should be dealt with ahead of the next tournament, and if we can take one thing from the tournament, it is that the following mistakes were so costly that we will never see them again. Hopefully, at least.
I have been described as a sportsman with the brain of an athlete and the body of a scientist. Since it was established that playing wouldn't work out for me I have taken to writing.
