World Cup 2018: Any Reason For England Optimism?

There was a time when the build up to a major tournament meant national hype, anticipation and a good deal of optimism. Nobody actually expected England to win, but most harboured a hope, however forlorn, that it just might be possible.

In recent years, that good feeling seems to have dissipated entirely. Now the general feeling is one of resignation or worse still, complete apathy. It’s a shame, but perfectly understandable after their recent tournament record. Nobody will forget the misery of the Capello and Hodgson tournaments easily.

But now that we have a new era and a largely different team, is there any reason for England fans to be optimistic ahead of Russia 2018?

What Do The Odds Say?

I often like to use the betting market as a vague guide of how things are likely to pan out. Obviously it’s never going to be 100% reliable, but the bookies spend a lot of time and money researching their odds so it pays to take some notice.

England find themselves around 7th favourites to win the World Cup at 16/1. To be honest, that sounds about right. The likes of Germany, Spain, France and Belgium do have better squads than we do. Brazil and Argentina do as well, although it’s worth noting the commonly quoted statistic about South American side’s record in Europe. And if they don’t like the conditions in Europe, they sure as hell won’t like them in Russia!

Making The Quarters

The odds for England to make the Quarter Final are 4/5 and that looks a decent bet. Assuming we do get out of the group – and we’re not counting our chickens by any means, but that should happen – you’re only asking Southgate’s men to win one more game to make the quarters.

Let’s also assume Belgium win the group as most people expect. According to the schedule, that would leave England, as Group G runners up, to play the winners of Group H in Moscow on 3rd July.

Group H is fairly open, but it’s also one of the weakest on paper, with Colombia, Poland, Senegal and Japan. As a first knockout match, you couldn’t really ask for a much nicer draw.

Now nobody should be getting ahead of themselves – remember that Iceland looked like a nice draw as well 2 years ago. But in theory, the chances of England making it to the quarter finals look pretty decent. And I think that in light of recent tournaments, that would be seen as a reasonable target. Not success exactly by any means, but par, certainly.

Southgate’s Chance To Show What He Can Do

I want to like Gareth Southgate. What he’s done so far has been as good as you could ask, and he does seem to have settled on an identity and style of play, which is something his predecessors never really managed.

He’s not blessed in terms of personnel, certainly compared to some other nations, but you make the best of what you have. We do have some decent players, and if they actually turn up, then a place in the last eight should definitely be achieveable. And from there, who knows?

So reasons to be optimistic? I’d say yes there are, more than in recent year anyway.