- 3 Jun 08, 09:00 AM
At the end of April, Italy coach Roberto Donadoni was invited to London to be a guest speaker for Birkbeck College. During his talk, he was asked what he most admired about English football. Pausing for thought, he came up with this answer: "Spirit."
It's not an untypical response from a European reflecting on the English game. Just before England played France in Fabio Capello's second game in charge, I interviewed Gilles Grimandi. The Frenchman said one of the things he had enjoyed most about playing in the Premier League when he was at Arsenal was that English players were more relaxed because they had less time to prepare as there were so many games to be played.
"In France, there is a strong emphasis on the preparation for the weekend's game - physically, technically and tactically," explained Grimandi.
"But sometimes I felt we expended too much energy before a game and because of that I felt we didn't do ourselves justice when we played on Saturday.
"When I came to England I discovered that the most important thing is the game itself. In a way, there is greater enjoyment of the game among the players in England, and for that reason players are more relaxed. That's important because it makes you feel comfortable."
While Europeans have been keen to embrace this English joie de vivre, it is questionable whether English players have adopted Europe's more cerebral approach to the game.
I've worked as a sports journalist for 12 years and whenever I have interviewed a player from abroad they have invariably been more articulate and more analytical than their English counterparts. That has often left me wondering whether English spirit, particularly in international football, invariably comes up short against European guile.
It is hard to imagine an English equivalent of Vikash Dhorasoo, the footballer turned filmmaker, or Shakhtar Donetsk's Italian striker Cristiano Lucarelli, who has invested over a £1m of his own money in setting up a newspaper in his home town of Livorno.
In the dim and distance past, I visited a training ground of the one top four clubs. As the players warmed up, two former England internationals were way off the pace at the back of the group, larking about. They were players who had forged successful careers for themselves, but you couldn't help wonder whether had they maximised their talents for both club and country.
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I remember interviewing Marc-Vivien Foe when he was at West Ham before his tragic death in 2003. A Cameroon international who had spent much of his career in France's Ligue 1, he had chosen to live in a house with a swimming pool. He swam huge distances every day but asked me not to mention that fact in any piece I planned to write because he was afraid what the club might say. He also revealed that he used to get up a 5am on the day of a match in order to get his body clock ready.
Arguably, England's most talented footballer is Wayne Rooney, but in his brief career so far there is a strong suggestion that his heart all too often rules his head. Rooney's dismissal in 2006 probably paid a large part in England's World Cup quarter-final exit to Portugal. Already, England coach Fabio Capello has expressed concern that the Manchester United player needs to channel his natural aggression. Eight years earlier, another piece of petulance, this time from David Beckham, did little to further England's World Cup hopes of progress.
Interviewing Gary Lineker recently he talked about his time at Barcelona and about how much he had learned from his experience in Spain. "I became a much more intelligent player," said the former England striker. "It's just common sense as playing abroad helps you adapt to different styles. We tend to be a nation that doesn't travel very much. We travel on our holidays but in terms of living abroad we find it hard to familiarise ourselves."
The same could be said of English managers as well. Who would be the English equivalent of Arsene Wenger or Jose Mourinho? Two of the most intelligent managers I have interviewed - Stuart Baxter and Roy Hodgson - have spent much of their working life abroad. Hodgson is now back in England with Fulham, but Finland coach Baxter remains off the radar of most English clubs. Likewise, another forward-thinking English coach, Bobby Houghton, who is now in charge of India, has spent the majority of his coaching career working abroad.
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Nothing can be really done for it. Most Englishmen seem not to be intelligent and clever enough. Of course there are exceptions like David Beckham but most intelligent ones are “dumbed” down.
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I don't by the hype that the influx of top-quality foreigners in England at the highest level of the game is a problem for the national team. A bigger problem lies in not enough England players having the interest to ply their trade at one of the top clubs abroad.
British footballers may well have spirit, but, due to our out-dated coaching methods and poor attitude towards tactics that young footballers are taught, there is much we can benefit from by learing from our overseas experts.
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It's more the case of trying to form a team spirit, rather than having spirited individuals.
The latter may look like they're working hard, chasing the ball, but it never seems to get us anywhere.
It would be interesting to drop those that "wear their hearts on their sleeves", the Rooneys and Gerrards of the game, and see where we get with a bunch of solid "club captain" style players.
Finally, I don't think it's down to a "dumbness" in the English game. England has its own style, it's worked in the past: 1990, 1996 and 1998. It's just that at the moment it's not working with the players that are picked.
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"Nothing can be really done for it. Most Englishmen seem not to be intelligent and clever enough. Of course there are exceptions like David Beckham but most intelligent ones are ?dumbed? down."
this is a lazy generalisation. it's not that the Englishmen are statistically less intelligent, that's obsurd. the problem is the 'lads culture' anyone in football adopting a cerebral approach is more likely to be derided.
btw i hope the exception you used in David Beckham is ironic.
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It is very difficult for players raised in English football to cultivate an intelligent approach to the game because when they try to apply it on the pitch they will not be protected by the referees and the crowd will boo them for being too soft. In Europe they plead with refs about their decisions; in England they snarl and swear in their faces, which kind of sums it all up.
One of the most dangerous mis-conceptions in English football is the notion that you should try as hard as possible to stay on your feet. This allows over physical and incompetant defenders to flourish because they can get away with more fouls (and then have the nerve to blame the player for diving). How can a player develop intelligence in such a climate?
The Premier League is a business but the style of football can best be described as car-crash. They have to allow teams to get away with so much because frankly they aren't able to produce quality passing moves. Look at this year's goal-of-the-season competition: where are the disguised intricate passes? the 10+ pass build ups? Nowhere. I thought the game was built on passing (and I dont mean long-ball passes)? They're all set pieces and free kicks and wonder strikes- big deal. It's damning that over the course of an entire season there isnt one quality goal built this way.
But the money is rolling in because clueless international audiences like a frenzied spectacle so it will never change.
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#2. ". A bigger problem lies in not enough England players having the interest to ply their trade at one of the top clubs abroad. "
I fully agree. The problem is that English players are overpriced so top clubs abroad are less inclined to buy an English player while they can get an equal skilled local player for a much cheaper price.
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It seems to me that playing football is a skill, something that becomes intuitive - like riding a bike - an automatic reaction, rather than a situation where you have time to think about what you are doing. Therefore, the more relaxed version of the game would work better on the day, allowing the player to just do what comes naturally and be more creative, his brain uncluttered with technical details.
However, if he can practice different skills, set pieces, scenarios etc out over and over before the game, then they should, hopefully, become more automatic - sort of like when the batsmen in cricket repeatedly replay their shots with their bats whilst waiting for the next ball.
Of course if the player is at the peak of his fitness, this should enable him to do more anyway.
I don't think it's true that English players are less articulate than their continental counterparts. This just seems to be a stereotype and I've actually been impressed by what some have said. But it is true that no one seems to want to give too much away about their methods or techniques, so I wonder if this is more an English thing.
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Couldn't agree more. I always used to joke that Klinsmann spoke the best English in the Spurs team. For me its the big reason we come up short in the major tournaments - lack of mental strength. Its most obvious in penalty shoot outs. Look at the germans record at penalties - I don't think its any coincidence that men like Klinsmann are far better under pressure. I firmly believe that the reason some of our key players seem to perform so much better at club level is that when they are playing with foreign players with far more technique and intelligence to their play these shortcomings are masked. Gerrard, for example, is an amazing talisman for Liverpool - charging forward, thumping drives in from 30 yards, throwing himself into the tackle - but his play is more about spirit and drive than tactics or intelligence. He'll play the odd fine long pass but otherwise he's often pretty short on ideas - and this is brutally exposed whenever he plays for England. He's simply not up to an intricate passing and moving game and in the end that's why we fail at the top level. The recent Croatia game is surely the most crystallised example of this. Because of the rain, technique and quick passing was all the more important and the English players just weren't up to it. The two teams looked like they were playing on two different pitches - Croatia on a dry, flat surface and England on a waterlogged field!
Its probably also the reason England are so poor at adapting to anything other than 4-4-2 despite the fact that the clubs routinely use other formations. English players limitations are hidden by the far superior tactical and technical awareness of their foreign counterparts.
And speaking of managers, I'll never forget Paul Jewell talking on MotD about the FA's promise of a 'root and branch' investigation into English football's failings. His complaint was that he had never heard of the phrase 'root and branch' and that it sounded a bit intellectual and wasn't how footballers spoke. He felt it was a sign of the FA's being out of touch with English football (He actually said this!!!) And this is a guy considered to be one of our best managers! What a joke! And then we wonder why we always have to employ foreign managers for our international team. So long as football is seen as the domain of mindless idiots in this country we won't win anything at international level.
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Albobo - absolutely spot on.
Benboiling also spot on - yes, why does 1 (1!!) English player currently ply his trade abroad (and in the US of all places!). It is down to the negative side of Englishness - the unwllingness to try anything new or adapt to another culture....by moving there. It smacks of the kind of British holidaymakers who go to Benidorm year on year because the British pubs serve all day fry ups and show re-runs of Only Fools and Horses.
Gary Lineker, one of our few 'cerebral' players, is spelling it out for all to see - if more English players move abroad the national team will benefit. Don't go and sit on the bench at Chelsea - get your agent to tout you round the Top 3/4 of Italy, Germany, Spain, France and to a lesser extent; Holland, Portugal, Turkey, Greece.
Albobo is 100% correct in his/her assessment of the English players at Club Level - their deficiencies are masked by Foreign talent which, when taken out, leaves you with 'English Grit' the football buzzword(s) of the 21st century. Unfortunately English Grit is woefully limited at International level - see our abject performances in WC 06 (2-0 in the last mins against a Caribbean Island and two rather lucky 1-0's via Beckham's boot).
Sorry to rehash an old discussion but this ties in with the recent 6 + 5 rule....
This will simply not work. All that will happen is the Top 4/5 will buy the 'top' English players at inflated prices (thus actually making it a Top 2 as only Man U and Chelsea can afford £18m for the likes of Carrick). The rest of the league will get worse as they fill in the places left by Bentley, Barry.....(are there anymore?) with Championship players or academy players who are Championship standard and would never make it in the PL normally. The English equivalent of Ronaldo, Fabregas, Cech, Essien, Torres, etc, etc are not playing unspotted on Clapham Common....they do not exist.
This is all very negative but shows just what a mess our national game is in. A full scale review, i.e. the 'root and branch' phrase (The FA may be short of ideas but not buzzwords...) is in order of Clubs Academies and the National Academies. If English players are technically good enough and have the mental strength they will be picked by Arsene Wenger, Benitez and the like. Then the next step is for the ones who don't make the team to go abroad, not sitting on the bench of one of the Top 4 or at a Club not playing CL football. A move abroad if you're not a starter at a Champs League Club should be the first thought not the last (I say last but I don't think it even manages that).
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The Premiership style of play is probably the most entertaining style in the world, given it's popularity with television audiences, but it's our biggest downfall at International level. We believe it's the most entertaining and hence it's the Best, and hence we've got the Best players. Hence we don't look at other nations who do better than us at International level (which is a lot of nations) and work out how they play to achieve success.
It's quite arrogant, really.
It's compounded, by our success at European Club level. We've always done well. So why do we never win, or get close, in a EURO or World Cup.
It's because we try to play Premiership style football. It's the only thing we know. This might be okay if we were playing in Winter, but you cannot pass long and run hard for 90 minutes in 7 or 8 games in 4 weeks when it's 85 deg C.
Every time we make it to the competition, we get the usual Journalistic platitudes. "End of a long hard season". "High temperatures" etc. But guess what ! All the tournaments that we want to win are always at the end of a long hard season, and they're always in the Summer - so it's going to be hot.
In the Premiership, ball retention is not paramount (other than for the top 3 clubs) so we carry this through to International performances. But the reality is that when you don't have the ball you have to run harder, and get tired sooner.
The sad fact is that although we have the spirit (which shouldn't be totally underestimated), we are nowhere near as skillful as many European nations (and I include Croatia in this comment, for those arrogant fools who said that none of the Croatian team would get into the English team), in the key skills of short passing, finding space for receiving, instant control, ball retention. NOT "running lots".
They're making the ball do the work, rather than running (eventually crawling) around like headless chickens, or punting a hopeful long ball which is gratefully received by the opposition, who then make us start running again. This is particularly obvious in our defence. How many times have we heard the comment "Great Defender, but his distribution isn't the best". Unless the defenders can pass out of defence, through midfield, we're simply giving the ball away. This isn't an issue when you're playing the teams in the bottom half of the league, cos they'll just give it right back to you, but it becomes blatantly obvious when England play games and end up with less than (sometimes a lot less than) 50% possession.
I saw our last World Cup win so I've been watching footie for a while now, but I'm afraid that I cannot see a time in the future where English kids are moved to "skills based" coaching rather than the current (last 50 years) fitness based regime. Whilst all our players are playing Premiership style football, and whilst there is no change at the grass roots level, I'm afraid I can see no chance of ever (in my life time) seeing England win a EURO or World Cup.
The "Golden Generation" showed just how inept we are at playing in a Summer competition. Though Beckham's on-field vomit did show the commitment and spirit.
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Personally I think the game peaked during Italia 90 - without doubt the finest competition I have ever seen in my 50 years.
It's just England have gone downhill faster but the others will catch up
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10. "90 minutes in 7 or 8 games in 4 weeks when it's 85 deg C. "
Forcing players to play a 90 minute match when its 85 deg C. is inhuman, I think they would all collapse after 5 minutes or so and die shortly after.
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12. Damn ! Spoiled my arguement with a schoolboy error. I've only cut across from Fahrenheit in the last few years, as well. To be fair there are a few prima donnas in the prem at the moment where "inhuman" would be the order of the day.
Maybe I'm conclusive proof about the "thick" Englishman. I should have asked Klinsmann.
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I think most of the posts here have hit the various nails on ther heads!
A couple of things though: the chap who said that English football is the equivalent of a car crash misses the point. The EPL is more exciting to watch, absolutely no doubt about it (especially compared to Italian football). You may get great passing goals, more individual flare etc abroad but that is like comparing Mozart to rock music; it's not always about technique when the viewing public are concerned, it's about excitement.
And regarding English players abroad, I'm not sure that they are unwilling to try playing abroad just due to cultural differences, it's probably a combination a) the money English players get in the EPL, and b) the fact they know that on a technical level most are inferior to their foreign couterparts.
I agree the game seems to have gone downhill since the early 90's as a whole. The last WC was shocking, with only Germany and Argentina at the beginning playing anything like decent football.
Finally, I've seen various posts on the BBC website that it will take two generations to get English players up to speed. But look at the great work that has been done in Wales and Scotland over the last four years. Get kids in early teens playing right and 4-5 years later it will start paying dividends. I remember my football training on saturday mornings as a kid, most of it spent running around the pitch with our arms out building strength and stamina - I'm 29 so would have hit my peak a couple of years ago, if all English kids of my generation had that training up til early teens it's not wonder there's a void in the skills department! I had to work on my touch in my own time and when playing with mates! Although France were in the wilderness for 10 years after Mexico 86 and look what they did in that time. I'd be prefectly happy to wait a few years as long as I felt progress is being made.
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And by the way, re my comment about hitting my peak a couple of years ago in my previous post, I was never saying I was or close to being a pro footballer; just making a comparison to my age and Lampard/Gerrard etc!
Although I think I could kick a ball twenty yards more accurately than some of the jokers out there. I'm looking at you Wayne Bridge!
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Doesn't this whole problem comes from the fact that club football for youngsters and other amateurs isn't that well developed in the UK!?
Where i grew in Holland there seemed to be a club in every district of the city, and i joined one, aged 6, and spent the next 11 years playing there.
My coach used video, got old pro's to teach us (thru a system of the dutch FA)...like Rob Rensenbrink (hit the post in '78) and every training we spent at least 15 mins making 'triangles', and this was in the 80's, mind.
Of those boys i played with then, 8 have a coaching licenses, not to coach big cubs, but just little amateur clubs like the one we used to play for...some of them tell me they bring video's of EPL/Liga games to a training and let their pupils analyse them........and they are only 10/11 years old!
All my english mates here in the UK played their footy either in school, or in the park five-a-side; which they still do and some of them even with their little boys.
All of this is nice, but isn't really structuring a deeper understanding of the game.
Correct me if i'm wrong, but unless the FA sorts out their grass-roots policy, nothing will change!
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In relation to my comments above, here's an article i came across whilst on the Guardian Blogs (thanx MannekenPis)
http://www.ajax-sc.nl/voetbal/kuper.html
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I've got news for you, MOST Europeans are more articulate and better mannered than MOST English people.
Get out of the UK more often, stay away from the English bars and you'll see what I mean.
(I know, people will say it's not true - but that 'head in the sand' routine is the first part of the problem).
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English players are not very good and do not have the same skills as their foreign counterparts. If Rooney is the best . What does that say?
He can often look clumsy and he runs around like a headless chicken. Yet somehow the English media eulogise about him. Foreign commentators and players know he is nothing special.
The culture of English football is unsophisticated. The players are not too bright ditto most of our managers.
Our commenatter and pundits are no better they get it wrong most of the time. they live in a parallel universe where Rooney and Gerrard are the best in the world and England are always unlucky.
The only tactics they know are "get to the byline and get some good quality in the box"
The rest of the world does not speak or play like that.
We did not deserve to qualify it was not an accident. The Croatian players are more skillful and deserve to be there.
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Most comments here are indeed spot on.
Pluck, endurance and 'getting stuck in' are the main characteristics of English football. What's worrying is that these were also the main attributes when football was first invented in Britain in the late 19th century. Why haven't we managed to see our glaring deficiencies, look to other systems and adapt accordingly?
I've lived abroad for several years and have played football in Belgium, Germany and Spain (amateur. mind). The differences were startling: in Belgium, our Saturday team was always banging on about ball retention, short passes in triangles, movement - long ball hoofing was a definite no-no. In Germany, on immaculate billiard table pitches - they obviously invest a lot of money here to provide the best facilities possible - almost every player was able to retain possession and pass the ball, with tactical nous to the fore.
In Spain, where they grow up on gravel pitches and therefore concentrate on staying on their feet rather than 'diving in', where they stress skill and creativity and encourage it, the quality on display was clear to see. I also watched a 5-a-side game once involving under 10s in a park in Argentina - the skill level was incredible and would put a lot of English professional footballers to shame.
The FA really needs to pull its finger out and carry out an in-depth study from the bottom up. Why are 9-year-olds still playing on huge pitches when they should be honing their skills on smaller pitches playing 4 or 5-a-side instead of 11-a-side? We need to teach kids that football is no longer about getting stuck in, crunching tackles and a good engine, it's about ball retention and the ability to unlock defences with an intelligent pass.
It's no coincidence that foreign clubs don't have any English players in their teams (apart from Gifton Noel-Williams at Elche...) - why play over-inflated prices for an inferior product?
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I agree with just about everything said here, and I was really pleased to hear from people with actual experience of the situation of the grass roots in Europe. It's what I'd always assumed. Indeed feared.
What 19) said about the media / journos is really important. I watch Wayne Rooney every week, and whilst he is capable of some sublime touches, a sublime touch is only a 50-50 possibility (rather than, say, 9 out of 10 for Berbatov). But the perceived wisdom (ie what Hanson and Lawrenson spout week-in week-out) is that he's got the best touch in World football.
Every week from John Motson you get "another sublime pass from Stevie G." rather than the actual, "He's gone long again and given the ball away".
It's never changed. You'd have thought that Beckham never missed a free kick from 20-25 yds, but I can tell that his ratio was worse than 1 in 8. (The actual ratio in the Greece 2-2 game). Even "on target" was aroound 1 in 5.
Media proclaimed the "Best Dead Ball Kicker in the World", United scored from 2 corners in 2 years with Becks invariably never clearing the first man.
The reality is always a mile off the pigeon hole. Hence the term "Golden Generation".
As we know, the media and the pundits are so powerful in influencing the opinion of the public on all matters. Until Motson, Hansen, Lawrenson and Lineker start to speak some of the sense raised in the comments above, then there's no possibility of 16) getting his request for a change by the FA on their grass roots policy. They don't even know that they're doing it wrong. They want to pump some money in to increase coaches. But who's coaching the coaches ? Same old, same old. All they'll do is double the number of drill sergeants.
Come on Gary, Alan, Mark, Motty, Greeny. If you start talking about pass completion, receiving in space, ball control, possession, and criticising players (no matter how "Golden") for poor pass completion, poor ball control, poor possession then you could actually change the face of English football (even down to the grass roots level) and maybe we might be in with a shout of winning something.
Just one final clue for you you pundits. The reason that defenders "go long" (and probably give the ball away) is that the midfield players don't make themselves available for an easy pass. This is what made Vieira, Scholes, Zidane, Riquelme, Fabregas etc stick out from the others. It's not just finding a great pass. It's ensuring there's an outlet so that you keep possession. Notice I've left Lampard and Gerrard off this list. They're great players, but they're not great receivers which is why England defenders hit so many long balls. Rio Ferdinand rarely hits a long pass at Old Trafford, but he does all the time for England.
Please. Start using the term "Receiver" and we'll be getting somewhere.
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I just wanted to say thank you to all of you for posting such detailed comments - one of the most thought-provoking threads I've read in a long time. Last year I took my eight-year-old son to a number of futebol de salao training sessions. At the start the coach told the children that they had a lot to get through in their skills "curriculum" - the first time I have ever heard that word used in relation to football. Unfortunately the course had to stop due to lack of demand, though the coach is now trying to drum up more interest.
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Most of the arguments here I completely agree with but northlondon01 said that
a) serie A is especially boring in comparison to EPL
b) only Germany and Argentina played anything like decent football in the last WC
In response to a), possibly the most boring fixture I have ever been unfortunate enough to witness has been Chelsea V Man U, on more than 1 occasion. Time after time this fixture is stagnant and boring despite the individual ability of the players. Because of the good defences its like watching them running to and fro bouncing off 2 brick walls.
and b), GERMANY!! GERMANY!! what is everone's fascination with Germany?!?! They are average at best, probably the closest team to England on the continent, in terms of style and ability. What about Italy in the last world cup? All season people have rightly been praising Arsenal's intricate and creative passing game, well Italy do it better and did so in the last World Cup.
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I disagree that the fast-paced, sometimes gung-ho nature of the Premier League in England is a problem when exposed to other European styles. The problem arises when the national side, or a club side playing in Europe, tries to play differently than their natural game.
The idea that you have to play more patient, tactical football in Europe or in internationals is a complete misjudgment in my opinion. Our players are used to playing a direct, attacking style, so why have the last two England managers tried to make the team play slowly from the back? I believe it is this obsession with trying to put in a 'professional', tactical performance that has led to the national team's failures in the last years. If England played to their strengths and attacked their opponents, I think there are very few teams in international football who could cope with it.
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MBSOR 24) You are highlighting the main problem.
I agree with you totally that playing a different style at international level to what you do week-in week-out is likely to diminish your likelyhood of success. (Unless, of course you really were skilled footballers who had all the attributes necessary to adapt to any style).
But my contention is that the you cannot play that high tempo, gung ho style in a summer competition. A one off game for the European cup in Barclona, Istanbul, Moscow - Yes. 8 games in a short time period - No.
So the only answer would be to change the style we play week-in week-out in the league to be one where you play (for example) an Italian style. BUT the punters and TV revenues would turn away in their droves.
TanRank 23) already stated that the Chelsea - United FA Cup final was dull for the impartial observer (it never is when you're a fan of one of the clubs) and that would be the kind of patient build up football you'd be getting.
The fans don't want that. We want the fast paced, up and at em football.
That's why I said the Prem is our biggest problem for international success. We don't want to give it up. As you rightly say, it's not great to play a different style to what you play week-in week-out, BUT you can't get through an entire Summer tournament at the end of a long hard season playing normal prem style.
In other words (and here's the bad news) "England will NEVER win a EURO or World Cup unless we get cleverer footballers who can adapt or the tournament is played in a cool place.
Maybe a EURO final in Iceland or a World Cup deep in the southern hemisphere (I'm afraid South Africa will still be too hot)"
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That was a bit of a rant, i feel a little harsh on Germany, they are above average but don't think northlondon01's comment about the world cup was fair or accurate.
Anyway, I'm glad to see grassroots facilities being discussed. My Dad is Italian and therefore I have spent lots of time there. Not only in larger cities but also in nearly every small village i've come across, they have had an astroturf pitch with full size goals and nets. Whatsmore, the gates are never locked and you do not have to pay to use them.
I have grown up in a fairly affluent suburb of Bristol. My local facilities are a park in which the goal posts are locked away in the clubhouse until match days and the grass is always long and another park which was exactly the same until about a year ago when a 7 foot spiked prison fence was erected around the entire park to keep everyone out. (its owned by the local school).
Brilliant.
The nearest 'facilities' are leisure centres with indoor courts which cost £20 an hour and are not in walking distance. Or there is a football academy where to use the pitches you must be part of a team, 16+ and willing to pay £30 a game.
Remember when your a kid watching football at the park, ref blows for half time and you and your mates run straight to the goalnets for a quick kick about? or praying that at the end of the match the someone might forget to take the goal away at all so you might actualy be able to have a whole afternoon playing in a real goal?
that is the sad state of affairs that typifies the problem with grassroots football in this country.
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i agree that more players will better their game, playing abroad than in the premier league.
i look at colin-kazim richards who although plays in a much infereior turkish league, looks a more accomplished and confident player on the international stage and in the champoins league.
i doubt he would be half of this had he opted to stay in england
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I think the comment saying that football peaked in Italia 90 is absurd.
England had a memorable tournament in 1990 and that truly was the Golden Generation, but the tournament as a whole was ruined by diving, time-wasting and poor refereeing. The adaption of the backpass rule came in to react to this.
USA 94, France 98, Euro 2000, and Euro 2004 were all excellent tournaments in my opinion. The last 15 years has seen smaller nations improve and move closer to the established nations in terms of quality. I don't think that the major nations have declined, more than other nations have caught up with them tactically and technically.
England have never been a major nation on the world stage. In the 1970s England did not qualify for two World Cups. England have regularly embarassed themselves on the world stage. What has changed recently? Nothing. England's failures have nothing to do with foreigners in the Premiership, more of them or less of them. English football has always struggled to produce technically gifted players. Ocasionally there is an exception: a Finney, a Matthews, a Charlton, a Hoddle, a Gascoigne, a Le Tissier, but usually these players are treated with suspicion. So what has changed? Not a lot in my opinion. I think the points about the Premiership are a red herring. English clubs have been successful in international competition. Mostly because they haven't exclusively relied on english players.
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Is the old adage 'football a game for Gentlemen played by ruffians and Rugby a game for Ruffians played by Gentlemen' ever more true in England?
i love the game but the attitude shown week in week out to refs, other players and the ridiculous lifestyles ordinary blokes who can kick a ball about seem to enjoy in this country is in stark contrast to the professionalism you hear about with some of the foreign imports and clubs. The game is so hyped over here that we all read opinions of English players that beggar belief when you see the lack of vision, basic ball control and poor discipline on the pitch. i hope Cappello does sort the squad out, get them playing for each other and more to the point, England. In fact whilst never a great fan of Beckham, he has shown the right work ethic and commitment to the English shirt that we need in a captain. We also need a more dynamic defence (like the Holland of old) than we always seem to go for.
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