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Originally Posted by demonrail666
Although I've dismissed it in the past, maybe there is just too much pressure on England players. There's an irrational expectancy at the heart of England supporters. It's stuck in some mythical past with no real acknowledgement that the game has changed a lot since 1966. England fans see everything in black and white: either England are the best team in the world, or the worst. Most people are looking for a scapegoat and Capello's the obvious target - especially as he's foreign and therefore "doesn't understand the English way". God knows.
I'm starting to wonder how other nations' supporters think of their team? Is there the same pressure on Holland's players, for example?
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There's some pressure, but nobody in Holland really expects them to win the trophy. what people do expect is "beautiful footbal", "dominating play" and that kind of thing. After each and every game so far journalists and people like Cruyff have been criticising the lack of entertainment, the conservative tactics, etc.... What they want to see is something like Arsenal or Barcelona, what they get is Inter Milan.
Van Marwijk sometimes seems to get annoyed by journalists who keep focussing on good football rather than results. At the same time I think some of the more creative players (Sneijder, Van der Vaart, Van Persie) seem to get frustrated by the lack of freedom they have.
I think one of the biggest differences between Holland and England as far as pressure goes is probably the way that the UK tabloids are always hyping up the England team as being the best in the world in a way that the general public starts believing it.