1966 and all that....

Football or Soccer was invented in England or at least the formal rules were first applied and set the standard for the modern game.
England however have only won one major tournament the 1966 World Cup - some would say England are the most under achieving football nation.
In an interview I vaguely recall some time ago Alex Ferguson (the most successful British league manager of all time) said that had England lost the 1966 World Cup final they could have been more successful in later tournaments which baffled the interviewer. He justified this opinion by saying English football is overly preoccupied with grit and determination and not skill or finesse which is generally at least according to him at the time of this interview the recipe for national success. He believed English football had they failed would have taken a more continental approach to the game in an effort to become successful.

So my question is what would have happened to England's football fortunes had they lost the 1966 World Cup?
 
Well England were more likely to win 1970 than they were 1966 as the team was better and most of core players older and wiser. A lose in 1966 would I think be a sore point till there is a victory, I don't think a POD in 1966 changes the way the English game is played ,I think you need an early embrace of Fifa and also more continteal players coming into the league which is harder in an age of local players and much smaller budgets. I think you need some English manager, maybe somebody who managed outside England still a rarity,theres only few like Bobby Robson and Roy Hodgson who have been notable. This manager whether played or managed takes this contiental style and dominates English game and wins the first division and soon more team copy it.
 
If England lose then their supporters are less arrogant and as a Scottish resident born in July 1966 , I get a lot less jokes about it
 
Personally I think there has always been too much emphasis on grit, determination and the "big man upfront" which at School level still seems to be the case.
 
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