How the Three Lions lose lustre as fear of failure takes a hold

Does any country shoot itself in the foot with such consistency as England?

It feels as though, at every tournament, there is an overwhelming urge to make things as difficult for themselves as possible. Last November, England beat Spain, the reigning world and European champions, 1-0. At that point, England’s prospects for the tournament looked, if not bright, then at least cautiously optimistic; as it is, they will begin their campaign against France today with expectations lower than before any major tournament for which they’ve qualified since the 1982 World Cup.

Not only that, but the air of scandal that hangs over the squad this time is particularly toxic. This isn’t a player’s alleged dalliance with a local tour rep, as in 1990, or the brewing storm over Wayne Rooney and his prostitute, but something far more fundamental: race, as manifested in the continued omission of Rio Ferdinand.

On ability, of course Ferdinand should be in the squad. Perhaps he cannot, as his club manager Alex Ferguson suggested, cope with the demands of two games in four days, but as a reserve centre-back he probably wouldn’t have to — and he did rack up 29 Premier League starts last season. Given he has played only two and a half games for England since the World Cup, his outrage at his non-selection rings hollow but not as hollow as the continued insistence from the England management that he has not been picked for “football reasons”. Leaving him out for Gary Cahill or Joleon Lescott, even Phil Jones, is justifiable on football grounds, but for Martin Kelly?

The perception is that Ferdinand has been left out because he cannot play with John Terry who, on July 9, will stand before a magistrate to face a charge of racially abusing Ferdinand’s brother Anton. If that is the case, though, then it seems desperately unfair that it should be the brother of the alleged victim who misses out rather than the alleged perpetrator.

The problem, really, came with the FA’s response to the initial offence last November. I asked a headmaster of a school near Middlesbrough what would happen if one of his teachers were accused of racially abusing a teacher from another school. He replied that if there was reason to take the accusation seriously — certainly if it became a police matter — that teacher would be suspended, pending a disciplinary hearing. That is not to prejudge the case, it’s not to impinge on the presumption of innocence; it’s standard practice to protect the deeper principle of racial equality and tolerance.

That is what the FA should have done with Terry. Playing for England has an honorific role; to an extent the character of a national team is a representation of the personality of a nation. To strip him of the captaincy was one thing, but he should have been banned from internationals until a verdict had been reached. Had that happened, it’s fairly safe to assume Terry wouldn’t have had the case postponed until after the Euros, however good the lip-reading experts for whom he is supposedly waiting. If he were found not guilty then he would probably have missed, at most, the friendly against the Netherlands in March. If guilty, then he could be banned for the appropriate period.

As it is, with the case unresolved and Terry cast as Schrodinger’s Racist, England, after taking an admirably hardline stance on other racists issues, are left looking hypocritical.

Hodgson took a pragmatic choice in selecting Terry over Ferdinand. Subsequent injuries have left him looking both a little foolish and, perhaps unfairly, cynical; if he had not selected Terry, though, he would have been accused of pre-judging his magistrate’s hearing. If the FA had been more decisive in November and explained its logic, citing standard employment practice, the decision wouldn’t have been his. Then again, if the FA had been more decisive — and had involved Fabio Capello in making its decision — the job probably wouldn’t have been Hodgson’s. Yet again, a concern with image over substance and a muffed attempt at media management has undermined England’s chances.

Of course, things had begun to go wrong even before that game against Spain. For England, build-ups to major tournaments are characterised by injury worries. In 1982 it was Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking; in 1986 and 1990 it was Bryan Robson; in 2002 it was David Beckham; in 2006 Rooney; in 2010 Gareth Barry. This time Rooney took the uncertainty out of the process by ensuring he would miss the first two games through suspension after a stupid, inexplicable red card against Montenegro for kicking out at Miodrag Dzudovic.

There has been bad luck, too: the loss of Barry, Cahill, Chris Smalling, Frank Lampard, Jack Wilshere and Kyle Walker have, without question, undermined England and there’s not much Hodgson can do about that. The weird hostility to Capello that alienated him even before he was left out of the process that stripped Terry of the captaincy didn’t help either. But mainly England damage themselves, almost as though the team is a psychiatric patient who, unable to deal with the potential pain of failure when there has been a genuine possibility of success, deliberately undermines its own chances.