Obvious answer
‘Where did it all go wrong for England?’ the BBC asks this morning. Silly question.
If you offer two free hits in your penalty area to one of the world’s top strikers, you will be punished. I’m all for giving youth its chance, but if the young guys aren’t as good as the old guys in certain positions, maybe the old guys should have been asked to give it one more try.
There’s an Italian in our extended family and I expect to see him on Sunday; should be a laugh, since England’s survival is to a great extent in his team’s hands.
Categories: Sport
Quintin Jardine's blog 
I’m not a football fan at all and only watch what’s shown on the news. Rugby is my thing but regardless of the game, the problem remains the same. If you keep using older players because they’re stars and good at what they do, younger players don’t get a chance to experience high-pressure matches and, if they don’t, how can they possibly get up to speed? Old means old, even if it’s only 30, end of career and all that. I think Spain has just learned its lesson for exactly this reason. Teams should give young players a chance; of course they’re not going to win immediately but, and this seems to be the important thing, if they manage to form a real team with individual talent, it will work in the end. Look at France, there are 11 individuals but no team and that’s why they’ve been consistently crap since 1998!
Fair point, but it’s about playing your best players in each position, or if not, your best combination, eg Rio and Terry. The Italians are maybe the least ageist side in Europe, Pirlo being the current example, and they haven’t done too badly.
Indeed and I seem to have to stand corrected with respect to France after their win over Switzerland, which I discovered on the radio this morning. Maybe the manager is finally getting it right, after all he captained the French team when they won it. When the mouth opens the foot goes straight into it! Foot and mouth disease, what?