England's recent performances against Spain and Sweden have produced decent displays and results against good teams. Two clean sheets and several encouraging debut performances will have certainly pleased Fabio Capello, but as ever with England, we must not let ourselves get carried away. At every tournament, English fans allow themselves to believe, to dare, to hope that maybe this time we can do it. No matter what state the team is in, or however good the best opposition may be, the majority of England fans will believe that not only can we win, but that we should. It is this expectation which I consider to be the root of the problem.
In major tournaments, England always play under immense pressure, both from the media and the general public. Advertisements support the team and encourage patriotism, bringing the nation together in an attempt to kickstart England's challenge. And yet, in recent years we have failed to provide what is hoped for. After England's embarrassing demise in Bloemfontein last Summer, people admitted that we just weren't good enough, that we just didn't have what it takes to compete at the top international level. But now, merely 17 months later, the media is already sowing the tentative seeds of hope. Looking back at recent years, the harvest will be unfulfilling and disappointing.
Journalists and pundits do not help. Innocent comments alone, about England's improvements and future development can cause trouble to a certain extent; but when the likes of ridiculous pundits, such as Adrian "overgrown-baby" Chiles, voice simply outrageous thoughts on national television, England's quiet attempt at resurgence is utterly ruined. After the victory against the Spaniards, Chiles said something on the lines of: "we've beaten the world champions, so in our eyes we are world champions." Yes, beating Spain was an accomplishment, but it does not even come close to putting us on a par with them, let alone winning a major tournament. Chiles' comment was made in jest, or at least I hope it was, but it is the kind of thing that people will remember and all it can do is heap more pressure on the team.
The victory over Spain was an example of how we can soak up pressure against the best of sides and still manage to scrape a win. And it was nice to see a defence that looked at ease, without the lumbering form of 'captain' John Terry adding unnecessary complications to proceedings. Jagielka and Lescott gave a very good show of themselves, begging the question as to why Terry is still in the squad, let alone the captain of our national side. Scott Parker played well in front of the back four, as did Walcott and Welbeck when he came on.
Capello allowed himself to experiment against Sweden, giving Jack Rodwell and Kyle Walker their first starts, both of whom impressed with their desire and tenacity. But England could have been made to rue several missed chances in the first half when Wilhelmsson blazed over right at the death. Similarly, Fabregas managed to expose some defensive frailties towards the end of the match against Spain.
In both games, England defended well for the most part and created chances; most importantly, we have come away with two victories. The cautious optimism and casual expectancy is most certainly a cause for concern however. We have to accept the fact that there are far better teams out there at the moment: France and Germany in particular have a great wealth of young talent and now that Spain have figured out how to win a major tournament, they will be very difficult to beat. England are not at this level yet and until we are, it is unfair for the media to big England up because it will only result in the inevitable, gut-wrenching heartbreak.
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