Norway Vs England

Simple one for this really. Coaching is the problem in this country. The other problem we have and all England managers have, is the absence of a winter break. We have the fastest pace league in world football, more teams in our top division than many, and still haven't fathomed out why are players look so jaded. We are the kings of burying our heads. Its not only the physical drain, its the mental drain too. Hence we look a bit sloppy around tournament time. But the answer for The Sun journalists and readers is to once again criticise the coaches selections, sack him and discard the old players to move onto the next generation. I'm keen to see more of the youngsters get a chance but you can't pretend some of these are not the best we have. I've heard Ashley Cole mentioned in the past but its farcical. The lad is one of the best left backs in the world, plays out of his skin for club and country. That's without touching on his experience. I can understand people might loathe the media picture of him but its silly really. Leighton Baines is very good but he's not in Coles league.

Technique wise we are starting to produce the right kind of player when you look at the likes of Cleverly, Oxlade Chamberlain and Wiltshire. All three (maybe not Oxlade) would have previously been discarded by our youth systems as too small and weak. Trevor Brooking has done a terrific job of pinpointing the glaring errors in our coaching. He understands we need to get more skilled properly trained coaches, and also the facilities and methods need to change. He is still meeting opposition now about the size of pitches etc. Certain age groups need smaller pitches and fewer players to really teach kids to love the ball. But the old "never did us any harm attitude" from some is fighting against him. We need to pull our socks up and get with the times.

The point about selection is we just need to learn to support our managers. Any manager in world football could pick their squad and nobody would agree/would have issues. Then when we struggle in major tournaments we say "look at the squad he picked and way we've played". The reality is because of things mentioned above it wouldn't matter because no manager is getting a fair crack of the whip.

You mention Scholes and he perfectly sums up the problem with so called England supporters. We have had one of the most talented players in Europe for the last 20 seasons. But our "brilliant" fans made him feel like there was no point. Why aren't we producing more players like this? Coaching. Why can't we give the ones we have a chance, patience. Everything now with football in this country is all about instant success. Of course Scholes was poorly treated by coaches sticking him on the left too instead of just dropping Lampard.

 

Ok, I don't mean to nit-pick people, but I have seen this a few times on here. Can we please start calling him Wilshere. There is no t, nor has there ever been a t.

 

You just know I'm gonna continue to call him Wiltshere now

 

Oh, you think you're a funny guy?! Fair enough!

 

I just wish the ****er was fit to be honest! We'll miss him more than many.

 

So true. Fortunately Barry is injured, so we could have taken someone exciting for the midfield (Personally would have Jarvis over Downing due to his ability to cross and score occassionally unlike Downing). Obviously though, Jagielka will change the look of the squad....

 

For god sake we have no chance and I cant wait until Frnace Ukraine and Sweden turn us over so people finally realise we are **** and the English players are not any good because the premiership is full of foreign players.

 

Yawn, remember this sort of talk before our excellent season, football does throw up surprises.

 

I'd have considered Joe Cole to be honest. He has played well over in France and although 30 he has only had one bad season when things didn't work at Liverpool. He has probably had a much easier season than our other players and will be fresh. I'm a big advocate of taking younger players but I suppose they have to be like Wilshere and good enough. You can see how tough it is for an England manager to get the balance right and manage he injuries.

I wouldn't take Barry anyway and don't really rate him. Fair play though he has had a great season and ran the show up here. I just think he suffers more than most from tiredness anyway because he is not a natural athlete if that makes sense? I thought we were maybe a defender short but I think he wanted more attack options and decided to play on Jones versatility. Now he has drafted in Jagielka (I'd have taken him anyway and left out Terry) we look a midfielder short. Rodwell being injured was a shame as he is a talented lad who could have been taken with a view to 2014.

I'm really looking forward to the summer even if I am a little concerned we look jaded again. We'll have the Sun and general public saying we can't pass the ball and they don't care but its bollocks. These lads do care but you have to be in the condition to perform as there are no mugs at that level.

 

England is utterly baffling. I'm not even sure the issues are coaching, management, etc. I think the main issues in the UK have both already been mentioned - The Sun (or general media) and dimwits (or general public). Sadly, there's nothing at all we can do about that other than improving both parenting and the school system. Yes, that's a ridiculous comment, but for people to spend money in this day and age, when they have children, wives, bills on travelling to a crime-ridden country to watch a country they'll just end up boo'ing is utter, complete insanity.

In an ideal world, every Englishman would hope England could win - like they did - but wouldn't then whine and moan as if we should have ripped Norway apart. The media should have been all about quiet praise for a team that did what was necessary, but they weren't - they complained, they poked fun at "Woy", they claimed his selection was wrong because Carrick wasn't going, etc. Did The Sun, with it's large Chelsea 'Ooligans Club reader base, deride the Blues when they literally defended their way to a Champs League victory? Nope - but when England do what's necessary and win, it's somehow a problem.

It's the ignorance of the thick masses, and the pandering to that ignorance by the media, which cause the problems in this country. The solution is either one of such staggering grand scale that an apocalypse is more likely, or one of such staggering simplicity that anyone can do it. I've already explained the former, let me reveal the latter - don't read the Sun, don't listen to Talksport. Job done. Or if you have to pick it up or turn it on, please bear in mind that it's all designed to illicit some kind of provoked response and laugh at it, then look at your family, look at your job, look at your life and realise what actually matters.