Steven Gerrard Talks England’s ‘Culture of Fear’ After Euro 2016 Loss to Iceland

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: June 29, 2016

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Steven Gerrard has rejected any suggestion that the current England squad "are not good enough" and blamed the "culture of fear" for the Three Lions' embarrassing exit from Euro 2016 at the hands of Iceland on Monday.  

The former England captain—whose side went out of the 2014 World Cup at the group stage—explained the concerns that would have gone through the players' heads when Wayne Rooney's early penalty in the last-16 clash was overturned by two Iceland goals.

In a column for the Telegraph, Gerrard wrote:

I have been there on the receiving end of this. It was never to the same extent as a defeat like that against Iceland, but I know exactly how those players will be feeling after disappointing in a major tournament.

I can imagine how they were feeling as the second half continued in Nice. They knew what was in store as soon as Iceland scored their second goal.

When England went behind, many of those players will have been thinking of the consequences of defeat as much as what to do to get back in the game.

I hate to say it, but your mind drifts to what the coverage is going to be like back home and the level of criticism you are going to get. You cannot stop yourself. "What if we don’t get back into this? What will it be like if we go out here?"

Gerrard apportioned blame to the inexperience England have as a nation of winning major tournaments:

We are not a side or nation with a culture of winning at the European Championship and the World Cup and the psychological impact of that is there to see at the first hint of trouble.

There is no environment of calm around the national team. There never has been. It is always hysteria. There is a culture of fear within and it has not been addressed.

While the Iceland loss is arguably the most humiliating in England's major tournament history, the...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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