With every medal hung round the neck of a British athlete in Rio de Janeiro, another entry is surely scrawled into the grand catalogue of notes the FA must be taking this summer. Team GB’s astonishing Olympic success comes directly on the back of another dismal showing by England at a major tournament, so why is one team flourishing while the other is floundering? That is the case study.
Indeed, the contrast between Great Britain’s glittering success in Brazil this summer—Team GB currently sits second in the medal standings—and England’s exit to Iceland at this summer’s European Championship is stark.