Maybe, I'm sure every country wishes they had an easy piece of piss passage to the semi's of the world cup.
The "England have had it easy" narrative
- Thread starter Alex99
- Start date
Or in your case, the chance to come bottom of the group?
Got to actually get to the World Cup finals first.
Yeah if only we had to beat Denmark at home to secure qualification. That would of been easy.
Can't you guys enjoy your performances instead of moaning about why everyone doesn't like you while stuffing your success in everyone's face? That's so "new" winner.
So you aren't sticking to your point? You are not making a great case after the OP you posted.
You are making the point that you won't buy in to the 'England have had it easy narrative', I counterpointed with a simple reason why they have, and your response is to invent imaginary scenarios. Maybe you should have stipulated within the OP 'Non England supporters need not respond'?
What would you like, maybe we should write off this world cup as not really counting as a world cup coz a few of the traditional heavyweights got knocked out early?
Hell maybe we should just abandon it!
Looking at it through that kind of prism of bullshit cheapens the whole thing and ruins what has been a magical world cup.
Leads to an inevitable conclusion that a bit of saltiness is probably at the heart of it. You should prob admit it to yourself
If you look at the quality of teams they've faced then they have had it easy. Doesn't mean they aren't here on merit which they absolutely are.
That’s not what he said ffs
If you can’t see you have had an easy route then your deluded. It’s not your fault but you haven’t beaten a decent team yet at all so get over yourself
Doesn’t lessen the fact you are where you are not England’s fault
Well since you’ve brought it up, not only has England had easy fixtures, they’ve also been lucky on top of that and they play a relatively cowardish and uninspiring type of football considering the individual quality available.
The ‘football is coming home’ is the most annoying thing since those vuvuzelas, and the manager looks like a wanker with his colonial fashion sense.
I wish you all the best though, and honestly wouldn’t mind England winning it!
Please bite
The ‘football is coming home’ is the most annoying thing since those vuvuzelas, and the manager looks like a wanker with his colonial fashion sense.
I wish you all the best though, and honestly wouldn’t mind England winning it!
Please bite
Precisely. The paranoia and entitlement is just laughable.Can't you guys enjoy your performances instead of moaning about why everyone doesn't like you while stuffing your success in everyone's face? That's so "new" winner.
We get it, you guys sucks ball for a long time and now are enjoying it, but it doesn't mean everyone else with no affiliation to England have to give a feck.
England had it easy just like Brazil and Germany had it easy in 2002 but you can only face the teams who won their games.
Well you didn't counter with anything did you? You repeated the very thing I argued against. You offered absolutely nothing in way of a counter argument to my post. What did you want me to do, just copy and paste the OP back to you?
The only thing you've said is "Croatia are the first test" which is only true if you're happy discounting Sweden and Colombia. Doubtlessly, should England win on Wednesday, they won't actually have been tested until the final because, after all, Croatia needed penalties to see off Denmark and Russia. Given the whole "real test" thing seems based entirely on reputation, the potential scenario of England beating Belgium to win the World Cup will inevitably see people say England won the World Cup without facing "a top team".
England or non-England supporter, if you're only counter is to basically ignore everything I've said in this thread and go "yeah but Croatia are actually the only good team England have faced" then, yeah, jog on as far as I'm concerned.
Hey, maybe you'll get to be the 33rd team in 2026.
Think the whole of this thread's point is about debating the nature of 'easy'. There's definitely an element of 'it must be easy coz england keep winning'. Coz we all heard how great Sweden were before we played them, they beat France in qualifying, they finished top of the group with Germany, yet when beaten with ease they are suddenly barely a championship level team. It's obv done to cheapen and play down a decent tournament showing from England.
Doesn't take that much to see there is a hefty element of this here and thats what england fans are reacting to.
They are the same in Rugby, it's absolutely insufferable. While I have a certain level of affection for England in football, in Rugby I enjoy all their losses like a win.
Yeah basically this.
Even if England were to beat France in the final, it'll be all "France weren't themselves, the real France would have trounced this England team"
I hope England wins it, but it would be the 2nd easiest route to the WC final after Germany 02.
This really isn't a made up narrative. So what. You would be happy anyways right?
This really isn't a made up narrative. So what. You would be happy anyways right?
We have but in that case, so have France. A piss easy group with no big guns followed by a piss poor Argentina (one of the worst teams to play at this World Cup) and Cavani-less Uruguay. Not much in it between the opposition England faced.
The irony here is most of them would have no problem poking fun at Liverpool for the same flaws.
Well this is the thing. Why come on England supporting threads with the sole aim of cheapening and belittling their success then? And then getting huffy about it when England fans don't like it
That's what's laughable, leave us to our merry delusion if it's not about saltiness.
Easiest run to a Semi final I can remember. You can only beat who you are given though so fair play. They have a good chance of getting to the final. The jump up in quality will be evident against Croatia I still think. Yeah they are fatigued but they have way more quality that the others they faced. They wouldn't get out of the quarter finals if they were in the other side of knockouts, in my opinion. I'd like to see the United boys go far and even win it, sorry but the British media are sickened bstards. Utterly charmless and the entire it's coming home is boarding on embarrassing now. I'm torn, wanting England to go all the way but would prefer the best performers to do it. I personally like Belgium and they gave never won it, be great for Lukaku. Just think playing Croatia to get a world cup final is crazy, Colombia missed James and Sweden were rubbish. I never thought I'd see an easier run than Liverpool to a final in a major competition(except facing City).
There is nothing easy on reaching a semi-final. In a tournament when favorites were competing with each other who will get eliminated in a more hilarious way, England has been one of the very few consistent teams. Had Germany done it job, England would have faced them in quarters. Had not Spain embarrassed themselves against Russia, them would have faced England in the semis. So, why on Earth it is easy to face Sweden and Croatia than Germany (one of the worst teams in WC who finished rock bottom in a not that strong group) and Spain who seemed incapable of attacking?
England has reached semis on merit, and I don't think that it would have changed much if they had to face past-it shit teams with big names.
England has reached semis on merit, and I don't think that it would have changed much if they had to face past-it shit teams with big names.
If people didn't give a feck then why are so many desperate to go "well England have had an easy run"?
There's no entitlement. I envisioned an embarrassing group stage exit, or at the very best being humiliated in the knockouts against Colombia or Germany.
As soon as an England fan expresses any joy in their performances at this world cup they're met with a barrage of "you've played shit football" and "you've not played anyone good". It's boring, unnecessary, and stinks of bitterness.
Pointing out that you have a comparatively easy route to the semi isn't 'belittling their success'. It's stating fact.Well this is the thing. Why come on England supporting threads with the sole aim of cheapening and belittling their success then? And then getting huffy about it when England fans don't like it
That's what's laughable, leave us to our merry delusion if it's not about saltiness.
As many people have already pointed out, who cares? If you win it, 50 years from now no one will remember how you did it, just that you did it.
The paranoia in itself is cheapening your success. Nobody likes a sore winner.
Fair enough. As an England fan I despise our media from the bottom of my heart. It's coming home started off as a harmless meme and a joke and has been taken too seriously.
There was a very interesting documentary just prior to the start of this World Cup, 'The Impossible Job', about England managers since '66. A major theme of it was the way successive managers and squads were undermined by the UK press, particularly the tabloids. You even saw it before this one with the whole Sterling 'scandal'. So as an England fan I would largely agree with you about the corrosive impact they can have. Of course they're on the bandwagon now...
I truly don't get the criticism: "why does the english media focus on England? It's annoying for everyone else"...
You can stream Colombian or Brazilian broadcasts instead, where they focus on, wait for it... the Colombian and Brazilian NTs instead!
Every country focuses on their own NT. England is not exempt.
You can stream Colombian or Brazilian broadcasts instead, where they focus on, wait for it... the Colombian and Brazilian NTs instead!
Every country focuses on their own NT. England is not exempt.
ffs you lost to the only good team you faced and when you come up against the next best team in your journey their best player is injured. Its just the way it is. If you beat Croatia then France/Belgium then fair play.
you lost to the only good team you faced and when you come up against the next best team in your journey their best player is injured. Its just the way it is. If you beat Croatia then France/Belgium then fair play.Maybe because you did? Obviously you can only play what's in front of you but how is it not the easier route? Was our route to the CL final in 2011 not an easy one? Marseilles, Chelsea, Schalke.
I just find the need for validation really weird. Everyone think you play shit football, so what? You've not played anyone good, so what? Just take it on the chin. If you enjoy the performance of your team, why outside opinion matters, like, at all?
Which threads are those then?Well this is the thing. Why come on England supporting threads with the sole aim of cheapening and belittling their success then? And then getting huffy about it when England fans don't like it
That's what's laughable, leave us to our merry delusion if it's not about saltiness.
I've seen threads for discussing England's team, threads for discussing their group, threads for discussing their games, threads like this for discussing their fixtures and even a thread for laughing at them. Which threads are we only supposed to show support in?
So are posts like the one below not cheapening England's tournament success so far?
Come on ffs it's laughable that that isn't the case.ffs
It's not even close..... Australia is way better than Panama. Peru is way better than Tunisia. Don't know about Argentina and Colombia without James. Uruguay without Cavani is better than Sweden. Belgium is better than Croatia.
Well you can only play who's put infront of you and England have done that, but is it true the route has been particularly easy if you compare it to some others past and present.
Tunisia and Panama anybody should be brushing aside, a loss to Belgium, managed to only beat Colombia without their best player on penalties and Sweden just aren't good, nobody really stands out for them since Ibra's left. That's just the reality of it but at the same time there's nothing England can do about that than just play and try to win, which they have, and so they're in the Semi's, pretty simple. I do however feel like they will fall short to Croatia, and if not, well i'm betting France to go all the way personally.
Alot of goals have come from set pieces and penalties to, as opposed to from open play.
Tunisia and Panama anybody should be brushing aside, a loss to Belgium, managed to only beat Colombia without their best player on penalties and Sweden just aren't good, nobody really stands out for them since Ibra's left. That's just the reality of it but at the same time there's nothing England can do about that than just play and try to win, which they have, and so they're in the Semi's, pretty simple. I do however feel like they will fall short to Croatia, and if not, well i'm betting France to go all the way personally.
Alot of goals have come from set pieces and penalties to, as opposed to from open play.
And France aren't exactly praised on this board, so it shouldn't really matter.
Unfortunetly the national TV stations of any given country are going to talk about their own national side above all else in the later stages of a tournament.
If you wanted to get the feel of the country you do support, perhaps a holiday there would have provided you with the experience you were after.
Think I just give up. England are shit. We've fluked our way to the semis through cheating and hoofball against pub teams. That song is abominable, fecking Brexit...
am I doing it right?
Yes Columbia and Sweden aren't pushovers but let's not act like they're Brazil, France etc.
England have had an easy route but at the end of the day, who the feck will remember that?
All people remember are the team who won and who they beat in the final.
England have had an easy route but at the end of the day, who the feck will remember that?
All people remember are the team who won and who they beat in the final.
If before the draws come out you are given the choice of Tunisia, Panama and Belgium in group, then Colombia in R16, Sweden in quarter and Croatia in the semi of the WC, how would you describe it?So are posts like the one below not cheapening England's tournament success so far?
Come on ffs it's laughable that that isn't the case.
Sure, I get that it can be galling to hear that your team is not all that, but sometimes it's just the truth. I accept the same of our CL run in 2011 and Europa run 2016, but maybe that's just me.
I'm just saying, you're on a Manchester United forum, not an England forum. I don't know why you'd expect threads about England to be free of people critiquing the side or indeed actively wanting them to lose.