Psst, guys, I have a plan
Oh, is that so now? I didn't realize staking one's play on luck and attrition was a viable strategy. While the latter is surely a trait exhibited by recent English sides on the national level, the former has not appeared to accompany their recent tourney campaigns to a commensurate degree.
Nevertheless, as Lampsie points out, there are similarities: missing players due to injury or idiocy, a new manager and less than ideal odds.
But the Three Lions' fortunes have been inversely correlated to those of the sides playing in the Premier League for the past decade. A point Roy Hodgson understands all too well.
Roy's Boys have managed to con the pundits and the nation previously (hello, World Cup 2010 build up), and Hodgson is weary of the prospect again. There's always the possibility that Ashley Young is on to something (and the fact that Le Blues are recovering from their own, arguably worse, train wreck doesn't make them the most fearsome opponents), but, in the meantime, you'll have to excuse me if I anticipate more of South Africa 2010 than Munich 2012.
P.S. Wouldn't it be refreshing if Lampard lived up to his own words the next time he were to put on the English kit? As they say: you can talk the talk...
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