4 Reasons England vs Iceland shouldn't be replayed

Millions want us to replay it. 

'If only they'd known the despair it would cause' said Bob on 5Live.

Roy losing his job.

Grown men crying on the radio.

A nation shamed.

Gary phoned TalkSport and cried, 'If only the team had known the effect it would have on their country perhaps they'd have tried harder'.

Here are 4 reasons why some believe we should replay the game and my response:

1. 'The players didn't fully grasp the consequences of losing '

The shame. The embarrassment. Fans will be out of pocket. BBC/ITV will lose viewers. Our world ranking will drop. 

Come on UEFA,this could be catastrophic. Don't let a minnow like Iceland ruin things! 

Now we've lost and know all this,surely the players would try harder next time? 

We can't argue for a reply on this basis. 

The signs were there. We've performed poorly up until the game. And with hindsight it's not such a surprise. We've not progressed in Europe for years. 

The players did know - they've grown up watching us fail. They were petrified of losing and didn't put forward a positive case on the pitch to remain in the competition.

And yet the consequences will be short lived. In 2 years there'll be another manager. We'll recover. Let's take a deep breath and gain perspective. The Premier League will carry on,we'll negotiate some other games beyond Europe,and one day we'll come again. 

Furthermore,more English players should go and play in Europe. Our lack of understanding of the game there has led to problems. We don't know the footballing language and culture. Now we're out perhaps everyone may benefit from our team playing the way we know best suits us, which I believe will mutually benefit teams across the continent. 

2. 'Millions want it replayed '

How dare Iceland have the nerve to beat us? We'd go much further in the competition! Indeed before the game all the experts said England should win, surely they're right?

And so I bet if we held a petition we could get millions demanding a replay - there, surely we can't ignore that! Iceland only have a population of 330,000!

The thing is,we lost. I don't like it. But this is how it works. The rules were clear,the playing field level,the consequences of losing outlined. And we still lost.

3. 'Iceland are a pub team,we'd beat them 99 times out of 100'.

The problem is,if we replay this game,what precedent does that set? 

If you are the underdog,don't bother,because those who know best will demand a reply until he 'correct result' is achieved.

I honestly think the majority football world would be devastated. You know, places where corruption rules,betting lords have influence, and associations will annul results riding roughshod over the players.

 

We must respect the system we have, where a game that takes place in safety, players are paid enough to not need to throw games...and so on.

We can't change the rules because we don't like the result. 

This principle is more important than our exiting the European championships! We played the game,took a risk,and lost. But let's not undermine the rules,because that would be to do worse than lose in the first place.

4. 'Iceland,Slovakia,Russia and their negative methods'

I have often heard the complaint that teams have used dodgy tactics to win. Parking the bus. Not playing, just defending. If they would only play some football,have some ambition - then we might win, insinuated Roy.

The fact is, both teams tried to do what it took to win. Both sides bent the rules at times.And yet England made all sorts of errors. Like trying to play 4-3-3 with no in-form wide men in the squad. 

Perhaps most tellingly we failed to really understand Iceland (and Slovakia and Russia before) and assumed that because we wanted to play, we'd win in the end. 

I think we need to work harder at understanding the methods of other teams and address them at source. Then we can stop this talking across one another at press conferences and maybe even learn something from each other before we label teams negative and 'anti-football'.

Finally, we are still in Europe. Our teams will still employ players from all over the world. They are welcome. We're not about to 'send players home' because we're out of the Euros. There's an exciting future ahead....now let's enjoy the rest of the tournament!