Todays Futon

The state of English football is an interesting one. One the one hand you have a blossoming club scene, with English teams among the most powerful in Europe and making millions of pounds worth of revenue every year. Few could argue that the English Premier League is the most financially successful league in the world as well as being one of the most exciting to watch with a very high standard of play. The last four consecutive Champions League finals have featured English teams, including this years final in Moscow which was the first to have two teams from England go head to head for the greatest prize in European football. However on the other hand you have a struggling international team packed full of stars that are failing to perform on the highest stage. Failure to qualify for Euro 2008 has hurt the image of the nat fullfast review ional game significantly and has left many questioning how it has gone so wrong. The question remains that if these same players can illuminate the club scene and help inspire their teams to European glory then why can’t they do the same with England? Like many when I saw the qualifying group draw for Euro 2008 I was certain England would qualify with ease. While good teams, Russia and Croatia do not have players of the calibre of Barcelona, Inter Milan or Real Madrid, sides that English teams have overcome in Europe. I saw England qualifying in a comfortable first position and taking their place among the seeds for the draw for the tournament, but it just didn’t happen. We all saw how badly the English team played through the qualifiers, losses at home to Croatia and away to Russia being particularly painful to watch.