England Move Out to 22/1 to Win the World Cup After Dismal Display Against the Irish.
14 managers have tried, and failed, since Sir Alf Ramsey lifted the Jules Rimet trophy back in the summer of 66, and if England’s bore draw against the Republic of Ireland is anything to go by, the 15th manager, Roy Hodgson, isn’t going to emulate him anytime soon.
The England football team were as lacklustre on the pitch as their fans were off the pitch. The fans expect big things and it shows in the silence that permeates the stadium. But why? The English national football team are the great under-achievers. Multi-millionaire Premiership Footballers who excel week-in-week-out for their clubs, that can’t even bring a ball under control when playing for their country.
With 5’8’’ Shane Long out muscling the centre back pairing of Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill, our only decent centre forward playing in midfield and Theo Wallcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain being about as effective as a pair of chocolate sunglasses on a one eared blind man walking through the desert, it really is difficult to pull any positives out of the performance. The only highlight of the match was another Frank Lampard goal, putting him just one shy of the legendary Alan Shearer, and Lampard is the wrong side of 35.
In contrast the Irish revelled in the Wembley atmosphere as 11,000 fans took over the stadium. They had more energy, more spirit and more determination, and for the first 45-minutes were far and away the better side.
England drifted as far as 22/1 in most bookmakers after the exhibition on watching paint dry. Brazil remain the red-hot favourites to lift the title in their home country in 2014.