LET’S MAKE SURE THIS DOESN’T HAPPEN AGAIN, YEAH?
It’s been 50 years and 24 major tournaments since England’s last success, and we’ve identified a lesson to learn from each one of them. Roy: fetch your notepad
RETALIATE AT YOUR PERIL 1968 EUROS, ITALY
Alan Mullery earned England’s first ever red card in their 1-0 semi-final defeat to Yugoslavia, but it wouldn’t be the last time they had a player sent off for lashing out at the opposition (David Beckham in 1998, Wayne Rooney in 2006) or the referee (Ray Wilkins in 1986). Silly boys.
IT AIN’T OVER ’TIL IT’S OVER 1970 WORLD CUP, MEXICO
With England leading their quarter-final 2-1, Bobby Charlton giving Franz Beckenbauer the runaround and the Fat Lady clearing her throat, Alf Ramsey chose to give his ageing playmaker a rest with 20 minutes to go, even though his side had just conceded. Der Kaiser was freed and West Germany won 3-2 in extra time. Oops.
DON’T GET LEFT BEHIND 1972 EUROS, BELGIUM
The game had moved on by the time England’s next meeting with Beckenbauer & Co. rolled around. A Gunter Netzer-inspired masterclass at Wembley during qualifying – the 3-1 win is regarded by many Germans as their greatest ever performance – showed just how much.
DON’T MOTIVATE THE OPPOSITION 1974 WORLD CUP, WEST GERMANY
There’s no doubt that being called a ‘clown’ by Brian Clough inspired goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski’s heroics in 1973, as Poland qualified for the finals instead of England after holding on for a memorable draw at Wembley.
STICK WITH A SETTLED SIDE 1976 EUROS, YUGOSLAVIA Don Revie was single-minded at Leeds but indecisive with England: for instance, Alan Ball was made captain for six games in the spring of 1975, then dropped without explanation, never to play again. Don’t chop and change.
GOALS WIN GROUPS 1978 WORLD CUP, ARGENTINA England missed out on the 1978 World Cup by scoring three goals fewer than Italy. They were playing catch-up after their first two qualifiers against unfancied Finland, winning 4-1 away but only 2-1 at home. Italy beat the Finns 3-0 and 6-1 – and there are your three extra goals.
BEWARE FATIGUE 1980 EUROS, ITALY With a staggering 21 European Cup winners’ medals shared between a squad led by double Ballon d’or winner Kevin Keegan, England were hotly fancied at Euro 80. But all that club success had taken its toll, Keegan carrying a knock and Trevor Francis ruled out while a young, fit Bryan Robson was left at home.
PEAK AT THE RIGHT TIME 1982 WORLD CUP, SPAIN A 3-1 win over France, 2-0 over Czechoslovakia, 1-0 over Kuwait… you see where this is going. By the second group stage, Ron Greenwood’s side had run out of inspiration – and goals. Two 0-0s and it was ‘adios’ to Spain 82.
DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE 1984 EUROS, FRANCE “England on easy street,” cried the Express as they were drawn with Luxembourg, Hungary, Greece and Denmark. England didn’t qualify.
BE PREPARED TO GO FOR BROKE 1986 WORLD CUP, MEXICO With key men out of form, banned or injured for the do-or-die final group game, Bobby Robson made four changes and stumbed across his best team, progressing to the last 16, then the quarters. Lesson #2: nobble Diego Maradona.
DON’T LOSE YOUR OPENING GAME 1988 EUROS, WEST GERMANY With games against the Dutch and the Soviet Union to come (the two eventual finalists), defeat to the Republic of Ireland proved fatal.
PRACTISE PENALTIES 1990 WORLD CUP, ITALY See also: 1996, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2012. PICK IN-FORM PLAYERS 1992 EUROS, SWEDEN How to avoid being called a turnip in Britain’s biggest tabloid: don’t leave Ian Wright and Chris Waddle at home after their best seasons.
DON’T STAR IN A DOCUMENTARY 1994 WORLD CUP, USA That said, An Impossible Job was the best thing to come out of the USA 94 qualifying campaign. TAKE YOUR CHANCES 1996 EUROS, ENGLAND England’s most avoidable shootout defeat saw opportunities wasted in normal and extra time. If you don’t like penalties, don’t let it get to that. TOP YOUR GROUP 1998 WORLD CUP, FRANCE A careless last-minute defeat to Romania in Group G left England facing Argentina in the last 16. Ten men or not, it was always going to be a tough ask. Win your group and chances are that your second-round draw will be more favourable.
BE 2000 TACTICALLYEUROS, NETHERLANDS FLEXIBLE & BELGIUM As often Bobby need Robson different illustrated formationsat Italiaif you’re90, youto go deep under into Kevina tournament.Keegan was England’spainfully exposed.rigid 4-4-2 IF YOU CAN’T STAND THE HEAT… 2002 WORLD CUP, SOUTH KOREA & JAPAN ...or, for that matter, the humidity (admittedly less of a problem in France than in the Far East), put more stress on fitness and acclimatisation.
STRENGTH IN DEPTH IS CRUCIAL 2004 EUROS, PORTUGAL When Wayne Rooney hobbled off against the hosts in the quarter-final, England’s hopes went with him. Plan B must be better than Darius Vassell. Sorry, Darius.
PUT SQUARE PEGS IN SQUARE HOLES 2006 WORLD CUP, GERMANY What England, with Rooney not fully fit, would have done for a top playmaker – somebody like Paul Scholes. If only he hadn’t retired already because he’d been stuck out on the left wing. DON’T PANIC 2008 EUROS,
AUSTRIA & SWITZERLAND For example, don’t give a young keeper – in this case Scott Carson – his competitive debut in a crucial qualifier just because your regular No.1 has made a couple of mistakes. Oh, and if somebody offers you an umbrella, don’t take it.
ENJOY YOURSELVES 2010 WORLD CUP, SOUTH AFRICA England’s training base in South Africa, run like a boot camp by Fabio Capello, left them cut off from the outside world, bored and frankly sick of the sight of each other – and their manager. Amid such misery, team spirit fell apart, they were humiliated by Germany in the second round and went home without even being able to say they saw some of the country.
BE FRIENDS WITH THE BALL 2012 EUROS, POLAND & UKRAINE Losing on penalties was understandable this time, because it’s a miracle England were able to stand for the shootout after giving Italy 63 per cent of possession over 120 minutes. The most common pass combination by England was Joe Hart to Andy Carroll, who only came on after an hour. If you can’t keep the ball, you can’t expect to win. Unless you’re Greece.
NOBODY IS UNDROPPABLE – NOBODY 2014 WORLD CUP, BRAZIL Among others, Steven Gerrard and Phil Jagielka were poor in Brazil, while Adam Lallana was bang in form yet given only two brief cameos before England were out of the tournament. Rooney was excellent in qualifying for Euro 2016 and is still the team’s captain, but if he’s not fully fit and firing, well…