Is it time now for England to lower Expectations?

With England getting beat two times in a row, and now seeing what it will mean to be in Brazil next summer, perhaps it's time for a change. For every tournament, the English have always had high hopes for their country, hoping to win the tournament. But I think that with the younger English team struggling at the last major tournament, I fear that England are heading into some very dark days. So perhaps it's time for England to eat some humble pie and check their limits at the door before this World Cup.

England go in with their star man again, Rooney. A man who they have been hailing as a mega star and despite his cameo in Euro 2004,  has FLOPPED in every tournament. He's badly off the mark as being the mercurial talent that he was touted as. So really, if Rooney does not AT LEAST show up next year, then he will be resigned to a club player.
 That is the problem. If England are resting their hopes on a player who has missed the mark in so many tournaments, then how much faith can one have in this team?

Then we have "Captain Marvel." Gerrard has past it. He was once a very good attacking midfielder...once. Now, as we have seen in Liverpool's higher stakes games, Gerrard has shown his age. We all get old, and not all of us are Andrea Pirlo. There are those footballers that just get worse as age gets by.
  I truly fear for Gerrard when England will have to face better teams, fitter and younger players who just are hungrier than him. That could really expose England.

It's not all doom and gloom. England still have some very useful players. Call me crazy, but Aaron Lennon is one of England's best footballers. He can dribble, can take on players and has a great footballing mind. The issue is a lack of trust England has in these footballers to play. Fine, Townsend has that trust, but I am not sure how useful he will be against much better defenders. Sorry, Ukraine are not the greatest opposition and Townsend will NOT be as effective against an Italian or Spanish defence. Whereas with Lennon and if someone actually realized the jewel that Joe Cole was, these are the kinds of players that can make England a serious threat at the World Cup.

I just advise England to lower their expectations. They are NOT one of the best teams in the World and they WILL not be one of the favorites. All they should focus on is not expecting much, and perhaps, that will lend the team in playing without any hindrances and perhaps FINALLY see them put in a performance comparable when last they were GOOD.....1990.


HH