Euro 2016: England 1- 2 Iceland: 'Brexit 2.0'

Euro 2016: England 1- 2 Iceland:'Brexit 2.0'

The most shocking and embarrassing day in English Football history was confirmed as they lost in 90 minutes to Iceland in the last 16 of the 2016 Euros, with manager Roy Hodgson resigning minutes after the final whistle. A lot of fans will feel as if this reality check has been coming for along time, maybe even since we failed to reach Euro 2008, but the awful display that I saw against Iceland was a combination of a lot of factors coming together to ruin what should have been a positive tournament for England. Before I get into these factors, here are some facts between England and Iceland to summarise the contrast in expectations on paper:

- There are 4.1 million registered Footballers in England. There is just 20,000 registered Footballers in Iceland.

- England's manager, Roy Hodgson, was paid £3.5 million a year by the FA (making him the best-paid manager at the tournament). Iceland's manager is a part-time dentist.  

- The overall cost of the English squad that went to France this summer is £175 million.

- England's population is approximately 66 million people. Iceland's population is approximately 330,000 people.

With those headspinning facts there for you to read over and over, the factors that came together to cause this loss aren't that shocking when you look at them in detail. There are three factors that lead to this disaster. The first being Roy Hodgson and his 'tactics'. Now, I've written three posts about England's previous games at Euro 2016 and I've vented my frustration enough at Roy, who resigned minutes after the defeat, but the fact that he started Raheem Sterling instead of Jamie Vardy, instructed to Harry Kane to take free-kicks, didn't take Wayne Rooney off until the 86th minute and subsequently only gave Marcus Rashford four minutes to get an equalising goal. The fans could spot these mistakes as the game unfolded and yet Roy just rubbed his chin when Iceland moved closer and closer to the biggest-ever victory. On top of this, there was no concrete selection of the starting XI and therefore lead to the player's not knowing what their role was in the system, which is the opposite of all the top international teams.

The second factor being that the majority of the players didn't display a unity and passion for winning the match and ultimately didn't perform to the best of their abilities. The only players that played with any sort of passion and commitment were Jamie Vardy, Eric Dier, Kyle Walker, Gary Cahill, Adam Lallana and Chris Smalling. Joe Hart made two huge mistakes during the tournament, the second against Iceland to allow them to make it 2-1, Harry Kane looked exhausted, Dele Alli wasn't as effective as we all expected him to be. Why is this? Maybe because they care about their holidays than they do about representing their country. Yes, fitness is a factor but you could see the lack of leadership when they went down to Iceland. They all just dropped their heads down and hoped someone else would take on the role of leader.

The third and final factor that contributed to this defeat is that the overall mentality of the English FA, media and management. They seem to think that because we have good players, we should ultimately expect to have a fantastic tournament. How can we do this when we haven't had a good run at a tournament since 1990? The media should stop picking individuals' talents and talk about the squad as a whole to create a cohesive feeling within the team. I know it's a lot to ask for but that's what needs to be done in order to take a step forward from this tournament.

What's next for both teams?

England will head home and keep their heads down until the start of August, when the anticipation for the Premier League reaches unreal levels on Twitter. Iceland will head to the quarter-finals to face the hosts, France, at the Stade de France on Saturday.