Yep, every game will be nil if we go on like that. Zaha looks our only hope of scoring. (yes I did just say that)
A worrying lack of agility and flexibility from positional play. Italy carved us apart and were by far the better team. Can jonjo Shelvey trap a ball in less than half a metre? It will be interesting to witness Stuart Pearce's tactical genius play out in the next game.
Stuart Pearce is a woeful manager, honestly think he's barely non-league level. Despite the FA spending millions on St George's training facilities, the fact remains that it appears many of the coaches of the various England youth set ups are substandard and just as one-dimensional as the old "football by numbers coaches" they used to churn out. They may do ten times as many coaching badges these days, but like many "qualifications" the more who have them, the more its value is cheapened.
Clyne had a very poor game, he is usually much better. Some of the key players missing, Zaha, Ince, Rose - they should provide much better options up front. Wickham and Jonjo, well they are so bad it's beyond words
Stuart Pearce has actually been a successful u21 manager in qualifying, but we always do poorly at the tournaments because we don't take our best players. Bet he wishes he had Oxo.
When will people start to realise what the real problem is? I'm almost sick of the sound of my own moaning. I've been on this same damn soap box for years. I am not one but surprised that our best youngsters looked inferior to our first opposition. Our problem is simple: we do not develop players technically, properly at young ages and continue that technical development through to 16, 17 or 18. The solution is not simple because it simply isn't British: we must change youth football wholesale. I see it every weekend and in fact saw it last night with a couple if new parents turning up to watch their sons train with my team. The parents stood talking while they watched, until the ball was near the goal and then they suddenly shouted, "hit it". The kid with the ball panicked and mis hit the ball. Every week I see parents and coaches scream an shout at the kids to "get rid of it" "hit it" and "knock it the channel" and so on. I try in vain to tell parents to stop screaming instructions and let the kids develop and make their own decisions on the pitch. Every week I watch coaches berate the officials and their players because they are desperate to win. I tell them but it does no good. We must stop parents, coaches, clubs from shouting contradicting instructions at the young players and teach them technically. I am no sandal wearing lovey; I am a highly competitive person, however we have to sacrifice personal gain (coaches and parents) to develop players properly. Forget the squabbles over a kit, a badge, the value of a player or the corporate image of our club, this is the single biggest problem in our game and has been for years. I call it "The English Disease" I am travelling today so can't pick this up in detail but tomorrow or tonight will get back on it.
Spot on. I was talking about this the other day too. When I used to play, and now when I referee, the parents are far too obsessed with their kid winning everything. They have to be winning from an early age. It's amusing because at the same time, I've been refereeing and helping out with a team that a couple of my parents friends run. When the team started at 7-a-side, they were absolute garbage. One or two good players. They got cherry-picked by the better teams. The training is technically pretty heavy. That's all they've pretty much worked on from 7's to 11's (and offsides). The club they were with just wanted to take the decent players every season, so the parents agreed to have a breakaway and go elsewhere. Since then, keeping the group together and coaching them just in technical skills, the lads have just won the B division (Prem, A, B, C etc.) in their 2nd season on 11-a-side. Pretty damn good. Especially as the two coaches coming into it were just two Dads wanting to help out. Despite not thinking they know everything, they have disciplined their team into not just pumping it. Too many times when I referee I see a big lad at the back, a little boy up the front - and boom, up it goes, chase after that. In fact, it reminds me of when I spoke to Mark Wotte for an interview (plug), and he told me coaching of youth should be solely technical until the ages of 16-18. Playing small-sided games with increasing numbers and the like to improve awareness, passing and how comfortable the players can be with the ball. So on the whole, I agree with everything you've written. Having been on one side of it with being a player in teams, to refereeing and coaching - it's still the same. Until it changes, I can't see anything happening.
#EnglandU21 Team v Norway: Butland, Smith, Caulker, Dawson, Rose, Chalobah, Lowe, Henderson (c), Ince, Redmond, Zaha England playing the spanish system? No striker.. Unless zaha is playing the role.
