Does National Pride Colour Our Judgement?

[Milo]

A couple of weeks ago I was firmly of the opinion that Spain and Brazil were big favourites and that England have a fighting chance like any football team in a cup competition does. I ranked our chances alongside the likes of Argentina, Germany, Holland and Italy. But as the tournament gets closer I find that I'm being sucked into the euphoria of believing that England really does have a great chance. As I watched England play Mexico and looked at the bench with the Chelsea players on, I started to believe that this is a really good squad with a really good manager.

It seems it's not just me. At the time of writing there are 17 teams entered into the Supporters Trust World Cup Prediction Game and 16 people have predicted that England will win their first round group and the only person to not predict England lives abroad. Contrast that with only 9 people so far predicting Brazil to win their group. I read in Four Four Two magazine that 25% of German's think that Germany will win the World Cup and 10% of Germans think England will - from the game entries so far 29% of entries have predicted England to win the World Cup and no-one has yet predicted Germany to win it. As entrants to the game are paying £2 and could win cash for finishing first or second with their predictions, these are predictions where people are putting their money where their mouths are.

My guess is that national pride colours our judgement but as one of the 29% in the game who has predicted England to win the World Cup I'm clearly one who can't help myself. How realistic are our chances this year and can we assess our chances objectively?

[The Batman]

the media keep building our team up to be something they're not.

I was born in 1985 so i dont remember 1986 world cup but every tournament has been like this since 1990. (except 94 as we wernt in it)

We do have good players, but they aint gonna win anything.

The best players in the premier league are all foreign and the younger players aint gonna be given much hope for the future. English players dont play abroad in the grand scheme of things, so our players only know our style of play. They don't go to Italy to learn about Defending, Spain for attacking etc. Whereas you look at the rest of the nations, they have players playing all around the world. And it's because we only know our way, that we wont be successful.

Unfortunatly, we put all thinking behind us when the tournaments are on because there is so much hype and excitment around the world cup, especially since we didn't qualify for the last euros.

[Milo]

the media keep building our team up to be something they're not.

I was born in 1985 so i dont remember 1986 world cup but every tournament has been like this since 1990. (except 94 as we wernt in it)

We do have good players, but they aint gonna win anything.

The best players in the premier league are all foreign and the younger players aint gonna be given much hope for the future. English players dont play abroad in the grand scheme of things, so our players only know our style of play. They don't go to Italy to learn about Defending, Spain for attacking etc. Whereas you look at the rest of the nations, they have players playing all around the world. And it's because we only know our way, that we wont be successful.

Unfortunatly, we put all thinking behind us when the tournaments are on because there is so much hype and excitment around the world cup, especially since we didn't qualify for the last euros.

I agree about the media but I think a list of the best players in the premier league would include Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard, Terry, Ferdinand and Ashley Cole. Lack of experience in other leagues may be a problem but the players from the big 4 all have lots of experience playing other European clubs. That said, the uninspiring performance against Japan has lowered my expectations somewhat.

How much of the belief comes from the media and how much is self induced? There's a thread in the main forum predicting next season's tables and almost every City fan has predicted us a top 6 finish and yet Paddy Power have City as 15th in the betting next season. Only one City fan is predicting Cardiff in the Top 6 and yet Paddy Power have them as outright favourites.

[Bris Red]

Unfortunatly, we put all thinking behind us when the tournaments are on because there is so much hype and excitment around the world cup, especially since we didn't qualify for the last euros.

Got to say i disagree about the hype this year, imo it all seems a lot more subdued than usual. I think not qualifying for 08 actually did us a lot of good, it certainly brought us back down to earth.