"The death of a dream team
Rio Ferdinand was thrilled when he was selected to play for England in 1997. But it wasn’t long before the public’s expectations started to get to him. “It weighs on your shoulders, the fear of losing, the repercussions of not being successful as a team or individual.” It was particularly intense because he was part of a golden generation of English players, says Ben Machell in The Times. They were a “dream team” – yet they didn’t deliver. It seemed mystifying at the time, but now Ferdinand, 39, can see why they failed. The players were on the same side, but they were bitter rivals. “I considered the Premier League to be my title,” he says. “So I was never going to walk into the England dressing room and open up to Frank Lampard, John Terry, Ashley Cole at Chelsea, or Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher at Liverpool, because of the fear that they’d take something back to their club and use it against us.” Ultimately, this proved toxic. “It killed that England team, that generation.”
So we all know the Lampard and Gerrard pairing didn't work (and some worked it out much faster than others) and now we know why! What I really want to know is why tf so many press and media 'experts' didn't suss it and worse still why successive England Managers kept slavishly picking them for over a bloody decade!!! As Einstein famously stated..."The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" Tossers the lot of em and unless I'm very much mistaken we've another one in charge right now!
Rio Ferdinand was thrilled when he was selected to play for England in 1997. But it wasn’t long before the public’s expectations started to get to him. “It weighs on your shoulders, the fear of losing, the repercussions of not being successful as a team or individual.” It was particularly intense because he was part of a golden generation of English players, says Ben Machell in The Times. They were a “dream team” – yet they didn’t deliver. It seemed mystifying at the time, but now Ferdinand, 39, can see why they failed. The players were on the same side, but they were bitter rivals. “I considered the Premier League to be my title,” he says. “So I was never going to walk into the England dressing room and open up to Frank Lampard, John Terry, Ashley Cole at Chelsea, or Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher at Liverpool, because of the fear that they’d take something back to their club and use it against us.” Ultimately, this proved toxic. “It killed that England team, that generation.”
So we all know the Lampard and Gerrard pairing didn't work (and some worked it out much faster than others) and now we know why! What I really want to know is why tf so many press and media 'experts' didn't suss it and worse still why successive England Managers kept slavishly picking them for over a bloody decade!!! As Einstein famously stated..."The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" Tossers the lot of em and unless I'm very much mistaken we've another one in charge right now!
