Is the power of the English hype machine so great that it controls Barcaforum too? Because when the vote was put up, more people here predicted England to win the tournament than any other team.
We have been guilty in the past of massively overrating our players for sure, but Foden was player of the season in England, Bellingham was the player of the season in Spain, Palmer and Watkins were putting up great numbers, multiple treble winners in the team and Harry Kane was top scorer in Germany... why wouldn't we think we had good players?
I wasn't here when that vote was put up but I said England would be lacking in cohesion before the tournament.
Obviously England have good payer - it's foolish to say they don't. The problem is other nations do too yet the English media talked like England had by far the best players in the tournament. Then seemed flabbergasted when this was proved not to be the case and they weren't hammering everyone.
Also, what players do at club level when surrounded by foreign team-mates doesn't generally hold much water when they get together in the national team. Synergies are different. And especially so because England have a history of lacking structure as a team unlike Man City and Bayern. Real Madrid are a cheat code with their voodoo (and Bellingham tailed off the second half of the season) and Palmer is just a high quality player shining in a Chelsea team that was unstable. The way Villa play suits Watkins more than the way England play, though he's a good forward.
Like I say, good players in the main - a few very good. But it doesn't matter when they're all thrown together.
