What Next For England?

By Jeptha, 27th Jun 2010 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/r5zgk.y0/
Posted in Wikinut>News>Sport

Another World Cup, another disappointing display from the English national team. So what needs to change?

Four More Years Of Hurt
Faith In Fabio
The End Of The 'Golden Generation'...
... And The Start Of A New One?
A Foreign Concept
A National Disgrace

Four More Years Of Hurt

So, here we are again, analysing England's deficiencies after crashing out of another major competition. It is different this time though. Four years ago we were unlucky to lose out on penalties to Portugal, it was the same story two years prior to this, and in the 2002 World Cup we lost narrowly to the eventual winners, Brazil. This World Cup however saw us struggle to gain second place in a relatively easy group, then collapse against a far less experienced German side. On paper, England should have had enough to beat all four of the teams they played in this year's tournament and progress a lot further; however, football is not played on paper. Be it the formation, the tactics, the players or a deeper inadequacy in English football, it is clear that something must change.

Faith In Fabio

To many, the knee-jerk reaction to any footballing failure is to sack the manager, and already predictions are being made that this will be the case with Fabio Capello. His nonsensical substitutions, stubbornness in playing and leaving out certain players irrespective of form, and peculiar tactic of only divulging his chosen line-up to the team at the last minute, have all drawn criticism, and can in part be blamed for England's woeful performances. However, it must not be forgotten that this is a manager with an incredible record, winning six Serie A titles, with three different clubs, the La Liga title twice, plus the the Champions League. He is also a manager who implements the authoritarian tactics with his players that many feel are needed to deal with the over-paid prima donnas the modern game has created. This, plus the fact that there are no ready replacements, demonstrates that Capello is a fine leader to take the English national team forward.

The End Of The 'Golden Generation'...

If we are consequently accepting of the fact that Capello is not the problem, then it can be assumed that the squad is. This supposed 'Golden Generation' of Premier League stars simply do not work together, and future success lies in emphasis being put on the team rather than individuals. The well-drilled European Championship winning Greek side of 2004 prove this point, as does the success of Spain, a team who leave out the outstanding individual talent of Cesc Fabregas for the less than emphatic Sergio Busquets who simply fits in the team better. England's insistence on accommodating big-name players at the expense of the team's effectiveness is a clear reason for their failure at this summer's World Cup.

... And The Start Of A New One?

England must therefore attempt to rebuild, start from scratch, and specifically bring in a new set of young players. This youthful set up is already working well for Germany who look to go far in this World Cup, and if not, then most certainly in four years' time. Capello has recently acknowledged this issue, naming nine young players who he believes can turn around the fortunes of the English national team. Some of the players he named, such as Everton's Jack Rodwell and Arsenal's Jack Wilshire certainly look promising for the future, though the fact that he included the thirty year old Bobby Zamora, and the somewhat over-rated Gabriel Agbonlahor in his 'nine for the future' demonstrates a deeper inadequacy in the set up of English football. We simply are not producing enough international standard players.

A Foreign Concept

Many blame the presence of such a high number foreign players in the Premier League, who make it difficult for talented English youngsters to break through. In reality, however, this argument holds little weight. 45% of the Premier League's players hail from outside of the United Kingdom. This may seem a lot, but in fact, this is only 9% more than the German Bundesliga, where the majority of the German national team's young members play their football. Further contradiction of this argument comes through the comparison of the current make up of the Premier League, and at its inception in 1992. Almost two decades ago, only eleven foreign players featured in the starting line-ups of the first round of Premiership games, while today it is uncommon for a whole starting eleven to comprise of non-native players. Yet 1992 was also the year which England failed to make it past the group stages of the European Championships, with failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup coming only a year later. Clearly there is no correlation between the lack of young, English footballing talent, and an increase of foreign players playing in the English top-flight.

A National Disgrace

What it must come down to therefore, is the way football and young footballers are managed, and allowed to progress in this country. While domestic football, at least in my eyes, is more of a priority than national football, there must be more of a balance between the two. England's Under-17s and Under-18s need start entering not only European, but World tournaments in order to gain more international experience, yet the Premier League teams who own these players are reluctant to let them go, so the Football Association refrains from pushing the idea. Moreover, numerous young players, such as Theo Walcott, move to clubs where they get little time on the pitch, clearly stunting their growth as football players. The reason for this: money, the sole issue which controls everything within English football.

While the FA were delighted to plough a billion pounds into a new Wembley Stadium, designed for the corporate 'fan', the National Football Academy, designed to create young talent at grass roots level, remains an abandoned building site. For the sake of English national football, this fantastic facility must be completed in order for England to keep up with the other European footballing powers such as Germany, France and Spain, who already have such national centres of excellence. As well as improving young, promising players, it would also help to shift the power away from selfish domestic academies and put more impetus upon the national team. Yet funding was cut as a direct response to the spiralling costs of building the new Wembley.

The FA has clear priorities, and the welfare of the English national side certainly is not one of these.