http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...-footballs-power-brokers-push-for-change.html Apparently now we need a winter break as the England players suffer when it comes to major international tournaments! I don't think so, players such as David Silva, Nani, Mertesaker, Balotelli et al have all got through to the semis of Euro 2012 and all play in the Premier League as well as the Europa League/Champions League. It's just looking for an excuse. Also, the teams that really suffer from the lack of a winter break are the teams in the lower leagues who can't play because the pitch is frozen. They really suffer due to the money they lose from a postponed match day. They are also the teams who aren't as match fit and suffer from a lack of a break.
i said there'd be calls for this! happens every single time. this idea of a winter break is all very well, but when the hell are they going to fit all these games in??? if they want players playing less then how about they drop the league to 18 (won't happen and shouldn't in my opinion) or even better and most sensible of all, STOP HAVING ALL THESE BLOODY FRIENDLY TOURS PRE-SEASON TO ASIA AND AMERICA. if there is a winter break, all the major clubs will travel abroad for prestige friendlies anyway - then they'll be even more clapped out.
....totally right, in fact it's a wonder they aren't leading the call for a break for that very reason.
So having a break 5 months before the Euros would make the difference between us winning and going out in the 1/4 haha. Still end up playing the same number of games, if not more with clubs travelling to play friendlies as mentioned. Makes more sense to reduce league size of number of matches in Europe but that will never happen. Nice way to cover up our deficiencies though.
Well Rooney had a nice long break before he laced up his boots in this tournament so he should have been fresh as a daisy but as we all know he was absolutely crap and yards off the pace, embarrassingy so for somebody supposedly 'world class'. What's the betting he's spent those thirty-seven days or whatever it was he had between games propping up the bar in his local working man's club/whore house rather than getting his body in prime condition for his big chance to finally shine on the world stage? It certainly looked that way.
The only thing that will make a difference to the England team is when the FA focus on skills training, rather than throwing money at building a new Wembley or bidding for World cups. It was painfully obvious watching the Euros that we are very much 2nd class postage and being left miles behind by the likes of Spain & Germany who are investing more than 3 times what we are in terms of skills coaches for the youngsters.
Obsessed with winning things at a young age is one of the problems. Why are there competitive leagues at under 11? Parents on the side lines screaming and baying at kids, threatening to rip their throats out if they don't win. Poaching kids from other clubs just so they win a trophy. Kids shouldn't be competitive until they leave school. Concentrate on skills and awareness. Leave the tactical coaching until later. They will suss that out for themselves anyway.
Agree one of the biggest issues is the coaching and mentality towards coaching kids although there is much more to improving football in this country. If these issues are not addressed soon we are in danger of slipping even further down the international pecking order. IMO there are plenty of countries, previously considered much inferior to ourselves that are very close to exceeding our current level and in some ways we should be as concerned by this as how close (or not) we are from winning a tournament.
Look let's face it, winter break or not , I can't see England ever winning another major tournament again. Certainly not in my lifetime anyway. We definitely won't get anywhere near the next World Cup final which is a home banker if ever there was one
The statement that does my head in the most is when people say "we're not technically as good as etc etc etc" as if that's an ok excuse for not being competitive. What that phrase actually means is that "we're not as good at football as etc etc etc" and therefore we need to completely rip up the training manual and start again, possibly learning from the success of other football associations such as Germany or Spain where an under-14 year old would never be seen in a full sized pitch, however we chuck our kids on them from the age of 11 and then wonder why all we know what to do is lump the ball up the pitch - it's madness!!
Slightly off topic, but can anyone name just ONE England outfield player that would get in the Spanish, German, Italian or Portugese first eleven ? ...............thought not
Here's a question, how old will Paul Scholes be before people stop suggesting he should be an integral part of the England side? I'm going for about 52
there's a good post on the ipswich board (i know, crazy!) about why england cannot pass the ball, well worth a read... http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/153253-Why-can-t-England-pass-the-football
If we had a winter, spring and summer break our players would still be exhausted after 60mins playing the way Hodgson insists we do.
Maybe John Terry? He was excellent all tournament, and whatever goes on off (And sometimes on!) the field aside, he is a brilliant footballer.
Calls have come for England to produce some good players. After the recent poor performance in euro 2012 calls have once again come to produce and pick good players. Roy Hodgeson responded to this criticism by saying, "Any player who plays for Liverpool must be a good player", but he did concede that in-fact the Premier League may need to produce some good English players. Once again football commentators, leading politicians and the Pope (Record breaking Defender of the Vatican's starting 11 with 132 international appearances, 11 Goals and 2360 Hail Mary's) called for England to produce a good team. Looking at the English game Pope Benedict XVI stated " I cannot fathom why Germany consistently produces good players for tournaments and England doesn't", He went on to say "Perhaps getting rid of second rate foreign players in the premier league may free up space for English players to flourish". Richard Scudamore of the Premier League however disagreed and lambasted anyone who disagreed with him “How dare anyone say we don’t produce good English players in the Premier League! They are payed at least £50,000 a week and most play for Liverpool, so they must be good!” Later in the stinging personal attack on Angela Merkel he said that she in collusion with other powers working to “actively disenchant English supporters to make them not turn up to tournaments and so save time and hassle with banning orders”. Scudamore was later taken to Bethlem Royal hospital where he was treated for delusions, mental ******ation and paranoid schizophrenia. He continued his rant, finishing with a final salvo calling for the FA cup to be scrapped, the league cup to be banned and all the money be given to the top 6 in the premier league to attract the world’s best foreigners to the league. Meanwhile the rest of us live in the real world.
To be honest, I'm not too bothered about international football, club football is all that matters to me. Sad really.
i've put money on uruguay to win 2014. brazil aren't 'all that' anymore and its certainly not a home-banker
