Football and Entitlement

It's nice to look forward to the World Cup final on Sunday without especially supporting either of the participating teams. Most people in Europe quite like both the Dutch and the Spanish, so can just sit back and enjoy the match and hopefully some entertaining football from two teams who deserve to be finalists.

Seeing the progression of these two deserved teams, throws the progress and attitude of the England football team into sharp contrast. In almost every tournament of this level, England turns up with players and fans expecting to win, almost with the sense that they are entitled to win. And every time the team under-performs, or perhaps does perform to its level of ability - a level of semi-capable mediocrity which very much reflects much of the country from which the team hails.

It is easy to attempt to disown the team as not truly representing England, or being a bunch of over-paid out-of-touch megastars. The reality is that - yes, the members of the 'team' are for the most part a collection of selfish, greedy, sociopathic narcissists; but in saying so we hold up a mirror to ourselves. For this description quite fairly reflects the spirit which permeates through far too much of the English country and culture at this point in history.

The sense of entitlement is evident in England from the dole queue to the football star: the sense that one deserves something for nothing, and has no need to earn or work for a wage, or a prize, or anything else. At the dole queue, one expects money for not working; on the football pitch, one expects to automatically win a tournament without particularly doing anything special at all, even though there are far better players and teams from other countries there to act as agents of wrath on those carrying such a sloppy philosophy.

It is time to cast off the moronic concept of entitlement that has been built up over the last decade or so, and realise that if one desires success, one has to earn it and fight for it. In business, the Chinese know this. In football, the Dutch and Spanish know this. So let us watch the final on Sunday and take inspiration, and let it infuse our own minds and spirit with vigour and courage once again.