Why Is Playing Defensive Football So Frowned Upon By English Fans

Why does the England team play such bad football?

Let's go through all the major positions England have been doing well in, and where they lag. (It tells a story)FORWARDSOne of England's greatest strengths is that they have a world class striker in Harry Kane. They also have Rashford who is a decent player and Vardy, who is adept on the counter.WINGERSThe wings are an important attacking position. In this case, only Sterling can lay claim to even being remotely world class. He will have a crucial role to play in the 2018 World Cup.Sterling: Key Player in World CupMIDFIELDThis is where England lacks creativity. Dele Alli is a good, stylish player, and I'm impressed with the likes of Delph and Dier, but they do not have a star player who can create chances seemingly out of nowhere.DEFENSEIn the 3–4–1–2 formation under Southgate, the defenders play a key role in stopping opposition attacks and bringing the ball forward. Manchester City pair Walker and Stones offer great solidity, with Kyle also having the ability to attack. Danny Rose has done well in the EPL. Also, Trent Alexander Arnold is an exciting prospect.Walker and Stones have combined well in MCIGOALKEEPERSAnother glaring weakness. If your #1 plays for Everton, a team that's never won the Premier League, there's something wrong. Pickford is decent, but he isn't any De Gea or Allison. Hart has completely lost form, evidenced by his loan spells to Torino and West Ham.Now, the major conclusion from the above is that the England squad is not talented enough in the goalkeeping and midfield departments. However, there is a slightly less obvious reason as well.The English Premier League's clubs have a much higher earning than most clubs from other countries. So they are able to purchase players from other countries in weakened departments. There isn't as much need to develop English players in the Premier League, which has led to a dip in quality.There you go! Any edits welcome

Why hasn't England been more successful in international football?

One could write a weighty tome on this issue, but here are a few reasons worth mentioning:Inability to be comfortable on the ball. Apart from Paul Scholes and a few other exceptions, very few English players of the last few decades have been comfortable on the ball, which has meant that superior sides such as Brazil and Portugal have found it easy to dominate them. That is why they haven't beaten a major nation in the knockout stages of a tournament since Euro 96 and even that was on penalties. Yes, there have been exceptional one-off results against Germany in 2001 and Holland at Euro 96, but England's failure to coach players to be comfortable on the ball from a young age has had a serious effect on the national team's success rate. Sadly, there are few signs that anything is being done to change this pattern, which makes success at a major tournament even less likely in the next twenty years. They are awful at penalties. World Cup 90, Euro 96, Euro 04 & World Cup 06 saw England lose on penalties on all four occasions. Whether it is the inability to cope under pressure, insufficient practice or simply bad luck, history suggests you will face at least one penalty shoot out en route to winning a tournament. It is worth nothing that Spain had a similar problem until they beat Italy at Euro 08, so this is a problem that could be resolved sooner rather than later.Unnecessary media pressure. The English football media is a feral beast that devours all before it. I sometimes think they prefer it when we do badly as it helps them sell more papers. Sure, other country's media organisations are hardly tame, but the English media have a habit of creating a tempest in a teacup on the cusp of every major tournament.