Everyone has an opinion on the direction the FA should take with England’s future. The press, ex-players, Premier League chairmen, the man in the street. This is mine.
Firstly, and above all else, we as a nation must accept that right now, this very moment, we are not very good. Despite all our hopes, despite the quality of the Premier League and the performances therein by English players, ENGLAND are not very good.
We must accept, all of us, that the second round of the World Cup is our level, that is how good we are, that is the measure of us. Accept that then, and only then, can we look to get better. Because without doing so it doesn’t matter who is coach or who is picked, they will be so weighed down by unrealistic expectation they will never achieve better than we have now. Which is NOTHING.
Say it to yourself. England have achieved NOTHING in 44 years – and even then, with a home crowd behind behind us and seriously poor opposition until the final, we only just did enough to win our solitary trophy.
So let us abandon the idea we can compete with the likes of Brazil, Germany, Spain and Argentina and instead look to how we can start approaching their level.
Let us put a decisive, non-compromising plan in place now to target the 2014 World Cup – or even the 2016 European Championships. Certainly, let us sacrifice the 2012 Euros in favour of building a footballing foundation that will last for generations, not one competition.
This is simply not in our nature, of course. As Englishmen and women we are pre-programmed to believe we are the best, or at least up there with them. It goes against our grain to think otherwise.
That’s why the first change that has to be made is a complete restructuring and downsizing of the FA and the appointment of FOOTBALL men to the very top. Men who have the right vision to take English football out of the 1960′s and into the 21st century.
There are plenty of men around with that vision, believe it or not. Sir Trevor Brooking and Howard Wilkinson are just two. Neither fit the bill on other requirements, however.
It is they who should be given the task of guiding the direction of football in this country, backed by another man. A man who has the strength to stand up in the face of fierce criticism with the longer term in mind, a man who will not bow to the money-backed Premier League and their selfish demands, a man who will ignore the press and their ‘blame games‘ until the press realise they back the long term or don’t matter. It is here I have draw a blank, to be honest. Where do you look for THAT?
There are a few names that spring to mind, but their likelihood is almost nil. Sir Alex Ferguson would be one. Arsene Wenger another. There would likely be the xenophobic outcry at appointing a foreigner to the top job in English football but that view is outdated in my opinion.
Only then can we get that damned National Football Centre built in Burton and stop fannying about. Make that the focal point of developing truly capable coaches ready to nurture the next generation of England players, even if it takes a couple of years. I read a stat recently that numbered just over 2,000 qualified coaches in England compared to over 20,000 in Spain and Germany. Ok, the populations are different, but that’s a shocking disparity nonetheless.
I’m not just talking about the future managers and coaches of football clubs here, I include youth coaches, Sunday League coaches, kids team coaches…anyone and everyone that wants to learn. The National Football Centre should be a school for all, as logistically challenging as that may be.
Burton will begin to address that disparity I mentioned. It should also be the home of every national age group so a Team England philosophy can truly be developed (Henry Winter of the Daily Telegraph‘s idea, not mine, but I wholeheartedly agree).
Within this centre of footballing excellence those future coaches and managers should focus on developing and nurturing ball skills, flair, individuality and less on results. Kids can worry about results when they grow up, while they’re young and impressionable the only thing that should matter is improving their skills and, more importantly, having fun.
Too much emphasis is put on results in this country, you can see it at every level of the game. I’ve experienced it, playing right back for my Cub and Scout football teams with parents yelling at you that you’re out of position, you should have made that tackle, get up the field and support the winger (4-4-2 in those days you see…). The fun was very quickly taken out of playing the game.
In the squad that went to the World Cup there were only two players that play the game with the same freedom as the likes of Messi and Ronaldo – Rooney and Joe Cole. The former was hindered by the lack of support given by his team, the other barely got to play. Fear grips our players and they don’t have the balls to express themselves. This is bred into them from youth. It needs to stop.
That emphasis on how we play and not what results it achieves needs to remain right through each age group, up to and possibly including Under-21 level. I’m a firm believer that given the freedom to play as an individual (never forsaking the fact you’re part of a team of course) results will come anyway – and you will enjoy them more. Nor will you be afraid of defeat, you’ll have experienced it from a young age and realised it is not the end of the world.
What we’re talking about here is not just improving the facilities and the coaching but of changing a mindset that has become so ingrained that it cripples even our best players.
There’s your foundation for the future of the national side in this country and will represent the long term. What can be done in the medium term? Well, FIFA’s plans to limit starting line ups to six home grown payers and five foreign players is a sound one. It has its detractors, of course, not least within the Premier League and there is the thorny issue of European law to negotiate, but over time it will only benefit the national side.
The appointment of an England manager for a significant period of time with a guarantee there would be no knee-jerk reactions to results would also help. There would be no harm in keeping Capello for that matter. Let a man mould the players he is given into a team over several years, not one qualifying period and a tournament. Sacrifice, in this case, the 2012 Euros, see how we do, enjoy what we do achieve and work on what we don’t.
Which brings us to the short term and the dismantling and rebuilding of the current England side from what is available right now. Capello himself has already listed players he would now bring in if he is given the chance to do so by the dithering Football Association.
Some I agree with, some I don’t. But those that MUST go now include, in my opinion, David James, Jamie Carragher, Ledley King, Michael Carrick, Frank Lampard and Emile Heskey. Question marks hang over John Terry and even Steven Gerrard.
What I would do right now is build a team around Wayne Rooney, one that is geared towards getting the best out of him without relying solely upon him. I’m no tactical genius but it seems to me the way to go about this is a variation on 4-5-1, as we really don’t have the players to go 4-3-3.
Let Rooney spearhead the team, supported by Gerrard (I’m not ready to ditch him yet, just get Lampard away from him). Put two defensively-minded midfielders in behind him and some pacy, flair-y wingers out wide. Rebuild the central defence and install Joe Hart for good in goal.
Name names, you cry! They are few and far between, making it difficult, I reply! But as you asked…
Ok, well, Capello has name checked most already, but Manchester City’s Adam Johnson looks ready for the left wing. Aaron Lennon deserves another chance and Villa’s Ashley Young should be given his. If Owen Hargreaves can get fit then he remains our best holding midfielder, no matter how sad that may seem and until a younger version emerges. Gareth Barry would benefit from his presence. Then there’s Arsenal’s young players, Kieran Gibbs and Jack Wilshere. Ben Foster can play second fiddle to Hart unless or until he proves the better option at Birmingham. Everton have Leighton Baines, Dan Gosling and Jack Rodwell to consider.
There are more – but we don’t know them because hardly any Premier League club can afford to take too much of a risk by playing them often. Arsenal do it sparingly, Everton by necessity and even Manchester United with their history of nurturing youth have all but stopped. I bring you back to FIFA’s six-plus-five ideas. There’s the solution to that.
If we’re all really serious about wanting a national side that can compete with the best in the world we need to do all this and more, but it will be for nought if we don’t accept – today – that we can’t and that changes need to be made, not just with football but with how we think about success and failure.
Have you noticed how popular Germany is in England right now? There are even some England supporters hoping Germany go all the way. Quite surprising given our national side’s demise at their hands and the almost century long rivalry between us.
v Everton
