It’s a fairly well known fact that the British press can be brutal. They love to heap up the praise when things are going well – but as soon as things take a turn for the worse they will rip you to shreds. The media also enjoy raising expectation levels in a potentially damaging way. Think Andy Murray ahead of Wimbledon or England ahead of the next World Cup.
The media may think they are doing a service by talking up the chances of England winning the next World Cup – but in reality we know it’s highly unlikely to happen. Therefore, we have the inevitable press conference of what went wrong? Where was the spirit of '66?
We all admit that Wayne Rooney had a poor World Cup – but were the media at least partially responsible for this. Was too much pressure and expectation placed on Wayne Rooney’s shoulders? Was he carrying the weight of the Nation?
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This level of pressure and expectation is not reserved for major international tournaments every 2 years – but circulates the back pages every day. Fernando Torres has struggled for form since his £50m switch from Liverpool to Chelsea. The Spaniard still hasn’t scored for his new club and the longer that spell goes on the harder it’s going get. The media is already speculating about his ability and suggesting his is amongst one of the worst signings of all time. But let’s be fair Torres is a quality striker who is suffering a loss of form.
There is no doubt that Torres is at a low point in his career and his confidence and self belief is very low, he may start to question his ability to score goals. However, I remember when Fernando Torres burst into the Premier League playing for Liverpool against Chelsea and scored a quite brilliant goal that day. Surely the media should focus on how great he can be and remind us all of what a positive impact he has had in the Premier League.
So here we ask, what is the media’s role? And do they help or do they hinder?
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