The English Premiership. Hailed as the most watched and supported football tournament in the world. Everyone has their favourite team for whatever reason. I lived in Southampton for a few years, so I support them.
The question must be asked: Why has England only won one FIFA World Cup ever? That was way back in 1966 and it is still commemorated with a star on the official England football shirts.
The world watches the FA Cup as well as the English Premiership. I am willing to bet my rickety 2005 Ford Fiesta that at any occasion if you were to ask any football fan to name 10 current Brazilian footballers, they would fail. Ask the same person to name 10 English footballers and s/he would rattle them off in seconds.
I asked the question in 2010 when Siphiwe Tshabalala banged home the opening goal: Which club does Tshabalala play for? Nobody at my table could tell me. It was Kaizer Chiefs. They all knew who Wayne Rooney played for though. Funny that.
After England's second loss in this year's World Cup tonight, it trended immediately.
I jumped online and debated with a few of my friends in Southampton, who were obviously devastated. The general consensus was that the players are paid far too much by their clubs and, as a result, see the English Premiership (for instance) as a bigger prize than the FIFA World Cup.
Why is it that the English Premiership is so popular all over the world? Is it because of the media coverage OR is the media coverage a result of the interest? I wrote a blog during 2010 questioning the obsession with the English Premiership.
I’ll never forget what Chelsea’s former Brazilian manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari said to British journalists quizzing him about the ‘pressure’ of coaching a club of Chelsea's stature.
In a room full of English journalists, Scolari said, “You know how many people live in Brazil? 180 million and I was coach there. You think here is pressure? Here the pressure is zero. Pressure was being coach of Brazil because all the people in Brazil are coaches.” Immaculately put.
In one short response to a simple question, Scolari pretty much debunked the ostensible ‘enormity’ of what lay ahead as coach of an English Premiership club.
What made his dismantling of a ‘truth’ (that until then was sacrosanct), so effective, was the fact that he made a comparison. And, what made his comparison so effective is that firstly, it was probably true, and secondly, I don’t think too many people in the room knew very much about Brazilian football, so didn't even have the intellectual capacity to argue.
Why do we obsess over the English Premiership and yet, when the actual English players get together to form a team, they fail miserably?
Why does the England team fail miserably? Should England regulate the exorbitant salaries the clubs pay players in order to encourage them to focus on the World Cup?
Do you support an English Premiership team? Why? Do you support England? I would love to hear your thoughts on the above.
I found a few interesting Tweets on England's performance too.
England poor at the back again and this was a day Steven Gerrard will just want to forget...although if he does Luis Suarez may remind him.
