Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole has joined the rest of the world in realising that the England team are a bunch of neurotic bottlers…
Cole reckons that England success depends on the team getting over itself and stopping the nervy mistake-laden performances. Cole proclaimed:

“The main thing for England is that you need players who can play under pressure, who can do it under the spotlight, because you know there’s a lot of criticism waiting out there from the public if you fail.”

“You’ve got to deal with that. That’s the hardest obstacle we’ve got to get over as a team - to learn to play under that intense pressure.

“Maybe some players do it better than others. That’s just how it is. England must get over that psychological barrier. Sure, there’ll be games when we don’t play well, but you need to feel that - even when things aren’t going to plan -you’re going to win the game. It’s something we need to improve on. I wouldn’t say that any one player lacks confidence or belief when he puts on an England shirt, but I just think that, while you can improve your technical and fitness stuff, we need to improve our mentality as a team.

“We’re trying to do it. We’re not burying our heads in the sand. We’re going out there and trying to play, getting the ball down and trying to build. We need to stay cool and calm and keep going forward. It’s pigeon steps, going forward a little bit every time. The World Cup isn’t for another couple of years, so we don’t want to be peaking too early. We just want little bits of improvement every time and, by the time we get there, hopefully we’ll be in a better position than we are in now: technically, physically and mentally.” (Guardian)

So why is it that England’s finest resemble a steaming plate of tripe when they assemble on the football field? Is it because the press savage them at a moment’s notice, or maybe because they are all so focused on their club sides that international football is just a surreal novelty to them? Whatever the case, the England side need to pull their socks up soon, or many fans will utterly give up on them…

Watch Chelsea live online