England always were and probably always will be rubbish at the international level. See my first post (#18) in this thread. Unfortunately you can't use the adjective all the time, it's a bit disrespectful to dear old Blighty...
😉
The idea that the English Premier League is the best in the world is marketing flak. Apart from a couple of teams the quality of football is dire, but if you like your football played at a constant 110mph, passing to the opposition, cloggers kicking forwards, inability to control the ball, and stupid mental mistakes, then the football is exciting because you never know what calamity is going to happen next. Personally I prefer to watch the Argentinian Primera League, Italy's Serie A and the Spanish La Liga, in that order. At least those guys can pass the ball accurately, which is the most basic skill in the game.
Here's a great quote I found in
the LA Times of all places:
"The sad truth of the matter is that England's players, with few exceptions, are an arrogant, ignorant and unpleasant lot. They are paid far too much by their Premier League clubs, where their true allegiance lies, and their ability individually and collectively in an England shirt does not match their swagger."
"It is not too much to say that the worthless and nationalistic English tabloids are reflected in the English team. It's all about drinking, drugs, womanizing, gambling, fast cars and slow minds. Little England written large."
