It stretched on interminably, night after night, until with the news looming, Lineker made us an offer: “We’re going to talk about England a bit more on iPlayer, so join us there if you like.” I’ll confess: I did not like.
But the panel’s uncommonly honest assessment of England stirred up trouble, and the players bit back. Modern footballers, pampered beyond all comprehension, seem to believe that if they play badly, people should say they played well – anything else is “negativity”, which they “don’t need”, and what they need is the only thing that matters. So as a side loaded with talent formed a human pyramid in their own goalmouth, pundits were expected to
As an England side loaded with talent formed a human pyramid in their own goalmouth, pundits were expected to treat them like the Royal Family, and lie about what everyone could see, out of deference to their privileged status treat them like the Royal Family, and lie about what everyone could see, out of deference to their privileged status. Lineker proved himself to be an insightful pundit, when allowed; once cowed, they all rowed back and pretended the first half against Switzerland was brilliant. Still, in this frivolous context, we could all have a laugh at the suppression of objective truth by powerful millionaires, which I suppose we’ll have to get used to, sooner or later.
Before the final, Lineker asked Juan Mata what it was like to win this competition, and he said it was “really nice”. Kelly asked Gareth Southgate how preparing for this final compared to preparing for the last final, and he said that was “a very good question”. The outcome seemed inevitable: this was a boring tournament, set up for boring winners. But then, just when it looked as though defeat might have eluded England, the one authentically exciting team to make it to the later stages stole the prize by being exciting, and by doing exciting things. A slightly unorthodox, rather old-fashioned approach, but not without merit – the BBC, too, may wish to consider it. Especially as some day soon, boredom may become an unaffordable luxury.
REVIEW EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2024 WSC 3
