Everyone else have improved since 1966. More countries take football seriously (back in 1966 I doubt Iran could have given Argentina a decent game for example) and has increased and improved their local coaches and when going through spells of poor results, has had a complete overhaul in their youth football, pretty much ripping up the manual and starting again (most notably Germany & Spain) yet England have just plodded on the same old, assuming that because our domestic game brings in so much money and is up there with the best, it must surely at some point help the national game.
Agreed, but the nepotism at the FA down the years and their lack of investment at grass roots level has backfired on the national game big time. I used to help run kids football teams and like every associated club had to pay our sub's to the league who in turn pay for membership of the County FA who in turn pay to be a member of the English FA, they rake money in from all over the country and put very little back in terms of facilities for the kids. Foreign owners bypassing the youth system and buying success with foreign players also keeps our game in the dark ages.
hasn't english footall plodded since 1950.. hasn't it got shocked so many times? hungry for example.. usa 1950.. god knows how many world cups. I mean individual clubs and eras have risen but at international level a home tournament in 1966 aside... SF once? 1990?.. 24 years ago.. Hasn't England always been qf also rans? its harsh i know but its a serious question not meant to get anyones backs up
I am going to go against the majoroty of what has been said on here, but here it comes. I believe most of our problems come from too much coaching. Clubs take a lad in who shows some talent/ability and then immediately start to "coach" him to play football in a set way. We should take talented kids and let them play their game and allow them to build confidence in that ability untill at least the age of 16 and then start to point out slight deficiencies in their game which they could work on to improve the overall team performance. Let talented players use and develope their talents and then educate them in tactics. You don`t teach/coach people like Messi, Ronaldo, Cruyff or Pele how to play, but you can help to improve them with a finer knowledge of team tactics.
I would extend this to all owners and managers. There is too much money involved now and all Premiership clubs expect/demand immediate success as is proved by the manager merry-go-round we see here.
But then you could say you need to train the coaches so they are aware of when a player needs "coaching" at a young age because they are an exceptional natural talent... or when to let them get on with it and then teach them game awareness at a later date.
To use tennis as an example in what you have highlighted, Andy Murray chose to develop his skills in Europe when he was 17 or 18 rather than use the LTA, so I think you have a very valid point!!
Whilst we are on the debate I wonder if Luis Suarez had specialist training at an academy when he was a youngster. I doubt it in his native Uruguay as there isn't the money. Is it then in the DNA of other countries to produce better and more skillful footballers? Not if you think when England has produced such great talents down the years as Alan Ball, Kevin Keegan, Paul Gascoigne and to a lesser extent Paul Scholes. As some have said on here it is about a philosophy in the game. As Brian Clough tried to inculcate into his teams "learn to love the ball." I believe Liverpool in the 70s and 80s had a similar attitude - keep the ball, love it and when you lose it regain possession as soon as possible. Barcelona latterly adopted the same attitude. Love the ball!! That has to come first.
Most natural football players do love the ball, they want it all the time. This can have a negative aspect on the possession side of things when a player try`s to do too much and looses the ball. This is where education/coaching comes in at a later age.
I think the best players learned to play kicking a cup champions plastic ball around a street playing against every lad in the street including the lads twice their age I bet Suarez played on broken glass, kicking a rock and dribbling round rats and such Kids in full kit with mommy bringing then to the shiny indoor all weather whatever playing v other such aged kids with a ref that forbids contact of any sort produces a different quality player IMO
no ball games allowed every where we don't produce a dalglish,best, gazza etc any more as they probably learnt the game totally different to how they do today. i used to be quite skilfull with a ball, but that's because we used to play round the back of garages etc right near where i lived where space was limited, not walk 2 miles to the nearest playing fields and just run around a pitch. certainly learnt more doing that than playing on a full size pith where the ball was mainly lumped into space. if you have ever watched dynamo (magician) and the episode in rio where he was playing with youngsters, that's the type of space i am talking about, emphasis on skill not pace.
yeah the entire spanish game is predicted (well I exaggerate) on one touch drill every player does in england but never apply in a real game.
Loving the ball has always been a basic basketball philosophy - love the ball and it will love you back! You see it in football with players who are very skilful with a ball like [going back a bit but really stood out for me at the time] Sinama - great skill on the ball and in a 50/50 the ball would always want to be with him so he would come away with it - weird I know but you get what I mean. [OT - youngsters learning bball are often told to take the ball to bed with them, part of the learning to love it process!!]
I think all the stuff about academies and nurturing young talent are all ok. And that we should spend money on all of these especially now that the TV deals provide so much money that the league and FA have no idea how to spend the money except to fill the pockets of already rich players. The point in question why do we so regularly underperform in tournaments as a country. I think we should look at the way we build the national team. Yes we need to play our best players but it seems to me that most England managers are paid huge salaries to 1. Identify the best English players in each position 2. Get them to play together to a system. To me not enough has been done to build a proper team that can compete. The manager needs to identify what's the best system for us , for our football, for that tournament. Then get the best players to form the BEST TEAM not the other way round. Too many managers have picked the best English midfielders at the time and found that only one could fit into the squad. Do we need a lampard when there is a Gerrard ? For every team there is a place for a viera, a Deschamps, a Lucas : the proverbial water carrier to let the talented maverick play. Hodgson should build a proper team and not try to fit square pegs into round holes. Why play Rooney on the left when there must be better players on the left ? Just because he is Rooney ?
I'd agree with that Carl. It always seemed bizarre to me that Gerrard & Lampard both thrived in a 3 man midfield at their clubs, given freedom to attack and not so much defensive responsibility. That means England's managers naturally decided to play them together in a midfield two for the national team. When you think about it, its really ****ing stupid.
They've also been with at least every male aged 15-40 in a 25 mile radius. As for the football team.... Should have took carrick. Carrick alongside henderson would have worked much bwtter. Its not a lack of talent, but preference for the hollywood heroic types that costs us. Want a defensive midfielder who can launch attacks from deep, is vert good in tgat holding role and good cover for tge defence... We left him at home.
Anyone seen the Harry Redknapp comments on the BBC website? I'm on phone so cant give a link etc. He makes a good point about foreigners in the English leagues but mainly the youth setups at clubs. This for me is the big issue. Foreigners in the PL makes no difference as the cream always rises, the top English players will still make it to the top because they are good enough; aka Gerrard, Carragher, A.Cole, Lampard, Terry, Walcott, The Ox, Sterling, etc, etc... If the youth setups are full of foreigners the then the English lads chances of rising is vastly reduced.
