Eight years is long enough that the successes no longer generate quite such goodwill, that the flaws and foibles annoy all the more.
A rattiness was evident in the group stage of the Euros just gone. There was an impatience, a sense of irritation on all sides. Better to go now than to let it fester, to let those complaints about the environment being created fester into something far more toxic following, say, a goalless draw against Honduras in the second game of the World Cup.
But these have been eight extraordinary years for England. It says everything about the changes Gareth Southgate wrought that he has left his successor a hugely difficult legacy: now there is expectation, now people think England should be winning tournaments.
Which, when you consider where England were when he took over in 2016, is a remarkable achievement. England had lost to Iceland at the Euros, but that was only the culmination of a miserable decade. They'd been drab at the World Cup in 2006 even if they did reach the quarter-final. They'd failed to qualify for the Euros in 2008. They'd been terrible at the World Cup in 2010, the Euros in 2012 and the World Cup in 2014, when they were eliminated after two games.
For a decade there hadn't even been the solace of a dramatic exit, even penalties had lost their sting. They happened. England lost.
Then there was Sam Allardyce's one-game reign, the "pint of wine" and the Telegraph "sting".
Denne historien er fra July 17, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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