What's the joke then lads?

The World Cup has been a welcome distraction from the frustrations of supporting Pompey recently but our national team did little to entertain us during the summer break from the league. It was bad enough to only reach the last sixteen but the pain was worsened by the fact that it was at the hands of old rivals Germany. And the manner of the defeat rubbed even more salt into a very open wound.

Expectations were understandably high but it is even clearer now that the level of wages paid to English players equates far less ability levels when compared to many others. As far as English players are concerned, at international level, you don't get much for your £60,000 per week. The pre-tournament friendlies against Mexico and Japan flattered to deceive, the results simply providing a smokescreen that hid various frailties. The likes of Rooney and others look very! good in The Premiership when they are up against the likes of (with all due respect to them) a Titus Bramble or a Danny Shittu but they have for some time now proven that they can fall way short of the required standard when they pit their skills against players and teams at international level. And at their clubs in the Premiership, the English are often surrounded by overseas talent that do an awful lot of the donkey work that then allows the player to shine and, dare I say it, look better than they actually are.

We struggled against the USA although should possibly still have won; we were generally second best against Algeria - thank goodness they didn't have a striker; and we were far from convincing against the mighty Slovenia before being completely outplayed to the point of embarrassment against the Germans (regardless of Lampard's goal that should have counted).

And to top it all off, the England team travelled back to Rustenburg just hours after the game and we we're presented with the sight of Ashley Cole and Ledley King getting off of the plane laughing their socks off about something.

How quickly do they get over a defeat and the failure to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup!!

The national press (bless 'em) also chipped in with a photograph showing several members of the squad relaxing with cigars and drinks, again very soon after the final whistle. Do these guys actually care enough about winning and losing?

It would certainly be nice if they shared the joke with the rest of us!

Written by Dave_S139.

The views within this article are the views of the individual who wrote and submitted this piece, sometimes solely theirs. They are not necessarily shared by the Vital Pompey Site Journalists.



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