It would seem illogical that England could fall so far from the glory of September 2005 in such a short space of time, especially when you consider that their personnel has remained largely unchanged. It should perhaps not surprise us too much, though, as this does seem to be a very English phenomenon: namely, the inability to cope with success.
We have certainly seen it before. Take our Rugby Union team. In 2003, they couldn't lose. Ever since, and throughout 2006 in particular, they have found it very difficult to win. Injuries and retirements have not helped the cause, but these things happen all the time and are part of the natural process for any team: England have used them as a convenient excuse. Clive Woodward built a side who simply refused to accept defeat, and victory at the World Cup seemed almost inevitable. From the moment that Jonny Wilkinson kicked his winning goal, however, that aura of invincibility has slowly but surely been laid to waste. England's performances in the last six months have been dreadful, and the label of world champions has become an embarassment.
There have been other, less conspicuous examples in recent years. Jonathan Edwards was so far ahead of the rest of the triple-jumping world in 1995 that he seemed to be some kind of Superman, at least equally as dominant as Michael Johnson was in the 200m and 400m. Over the course of the following four years, however, he failed to win any major international titles. Now, whatever psychological demons Edwards was battling, he eventually managed to get the upper-hand, because he won the Olympic title in 2000 and the world title in 2001, and is rightly considered to be one of our greatest ever athletes. From 1996-99, however, something was clearly not right.
Sporting excellence is quite rare in this country, and it would seem that many of our top competitors find success, on the rare occasions that they achieve it, difficult to cope with. I remember reading Linford Christie's autobiography, in which he wrote that getting to the top is hard, but staying there is even harder. One of the things that really sets apart the likes of Michael Johnson, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and Man United FC is their ability to sustain the hunger and determination over many years, regardless of how much success comes their way. Can you imagine Federer winning Wimbledon one year, then going out in the 2nd round to Tim Henman the next?
For many, the sporting Holy Grail is victory in the football World Cup. Maybe, though, the best thing for England would be to NOT win the competition. Maybe a never-ending sequence of quarter-final and semi-final eliminations is the only way to keep the players motivated. If Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard and company follow the example of our cricket and rugby union teams, then they may well win the World Cup. In the months and years that follow, though, it might end up being another case of ashes to ashes.
2 comments:
Nice theory. But you know, I'd still quite like England to win the next football world cup.
Joe, I've just found your blog - I like it!
There seems to be something about the British mentality which just doesn't quite fit with winning all the time. Of course that can change when we do start winning - who knows, a period of international dominance in one sport might just do it for the rest of us. But we seem never to deliver our potential. Perhaps if we re-conquered our commonwealth and turned it back into an empire, we might do a bit better in our sporting events...
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