Premier League responsible for England’s woes
Roar Rookie By Prak, 13 Jul 2012 Prak is a Roar Rookie
- Tagged:
- England Football, EPL, Euro Championships, football, Football World Cup
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When I was last coaching the English team, I had just defended winning the European championship. The team had won the World Cup twice, and the European Championship twice, been ranked number one in the world for the last six years and had been undefeated in all competitive games.
Of course, it is a lot easier to win when playing the excellent Football Manager game, when the players are playing to their potential and there are no egos or WAGs involved.
In real life, there are a other factors. Things like the captain being stripped of his title because of racial abuse and the most talented player of the team banned from playing until the last group game. For a country with one of the top four leagues in the world, England perform like a third-world country. I firmly believe this is because of the standard of coaching and playing talent in England, and the reason for this is the Premier League.
Here are the facts: In the EPL, only three coaches out of the 20 are English (not counting Harry Redknapp who was sacked at the end of last season). Compare this with the other three big leagues in Europe: 14 out of 20 Spanish coaches in the La Liga, 19 out of 20 Italian coaches in Serie A, and 13 out of 18 German coaches in the Bundesliga.
No English coach has won the Premier League since it started in 1992, or even the UEFA Champions League since 1992. The managers who have won the Champions League have included three Dutch, four Italians, two German, three Spanish, one Portuguese. No English coach has even won the UEFA/Europa Cup since 1992. In fact, you have to go back to the early 80s to see an English manager winning either one.
When talking about dominant players in Europe, there is no one in the current English squad or in the immediate future who can be considered as one. No controlling midfielder who can control the tempo of the team or the game. Of the top six Premier League teams that qualify for the European club competitions, there is no standout English player who the team can be built around.
The underlying problem is the Premier League. With the amount of interest generated by the League and the money involved, it makes more business sense to try and pay for success rather than cultivate it in your own backyard. Forget the top 6-8 teams that are consistently in the mix of European action.
The other 12-14 teams are happy to try and replicate the process without actually replicating the success. Unless there is massive injection of funds to a club a la Manchester City or Chelsea, there is no way of improving from mediocrity.
And unless the English FA or the Premier League start focussing on not just English players in the league but also managers who can compete with the best in Europe, there is no way of seeing England getting past the first knock-out round in major championships (outside of the Football Manager game, of course).
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The Crowd Says (7) | Page 1 of Comments
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- England Football, EPL, Euro Championships, football, Football World Cup
July 13th 2012 @ 3:39am
Roger Rational said | July 13th 2012 @ 3:39am | Report comment
“When talking about dominant players in Europe, there is no one in the current English squad or in the immediate future who can be considered as one. No controlling midfielder who can control the tempo of the team or the game. Of the top six Premier League teams that qualify for the European club competitions, there is no standout English player who the team can be built around”.
But the Chelsea team that just won the Champions League is built around Terry, Cole and Lampard.
Gerrard practically won the Champions League single-handedly for Liverpool in ’05.
Rooney was the fulcrum of the Man Utd team that won in ’08 and reached the final in ’09 and ’11.
There are aroun a dozen contemporary English players with Champions League winners’ medals (Terry, Cole, Lampard, Cahill, Gerrard, Carragher, Rooney, Ferdinand, Carrick, Scholes, Sturridge, Bertrand).
How many Germans can you name with Champions League winners’ medals?
July 13th 2012 @ 8:36am
Matt F said | July 13th 2012 @ 8:36am | Report comment
I’m not sure why this is the Premier League’s fault? Unless there is some grand conspiracy among the Premier League clubs not to pick English players and managers then logic would dictate that they aren’t getting a chance simply because they’re not good enough. That sounds like a failing of junior development and coaching education which is very much a lower level issue.
If we assume that this is true, and they aren’t getting chances because they’re simply not good enough, then forcing clubs to increase the number of domestic players and coaches in their ranks won’t help the national team. It will just decrease the quality of the Premier League.
It’s not as if England are a declining superpower either. They’ve never been a consistently great team at international level and have have been losing international tournaments long before the Premier League began.
July 13th 2012 @ 11:16am
Steve said | July 13th 2012 @ 11:16am | Report comment
Agree with the comments above: the Premier League is fast becoming a scapegoat for a wider range of problems. It does create some problems, that’s true, but it also offers solutions and opportunities. Holding it as ‘responsible’ for England’s woes just gives the English an easy cop-out from dealing with their issues.
I think there could also be an argument that having English kids grow up watching players like Balotelli and Torres should be of benefit to English football. Let me put it another way: if the EPL were to expel foreign players (for the sake of argument), do you think English football would grow into the progressive game it needs to be, or regress to the stone age?
Let’s try it another way: if the A-league were to grow into the world’s most popular, well-supported, well-loved and richest sporting competition, would it really have a negative effect on the Australian national side?
English soccer has problems, but they go beyond the Premier League.
July 13th 2012 @ 8:53pm
Fussball ist unser leben said | July 13th 2012 @ 8:53pm | Report comment
A good piece of self-analysis, Prak.
From what I gather, Euro2012 has finally made the FA realise changes need to be made from the lowest levels, where kids with football technique need to be nurtured, promoted & championed.
There are enough technically gifted footballers in England. But, it seems, their technical proficiency & football brains have been undervalued.
July 13th 2012 @ 10:33pm
UK Steve said | July 13th 2012 @ 10:33pm | Report comment
I think Rooney, Gerrard, Hart and Cole are dominant players at the moment. I personally feel they have been a bit unlucky in big tournaments over the last 20 years or so, though maybe not so much in the last couple of tournaments.
They have never quite managed to get that perfect midfield mix, probably not helped by the lack of decent left footers.
There are plenty of good players in England but it does make me wonder whether the flair is knocked out of them when they get to the academies. David Ginola’s player of the year award in 1999 now seems to have gone down as a ‘what were we thinking moment’, as he never got stuck in or tracked back.
July 16th 2012 @ 5:59pm
k77sujith said | July 16th 2012 @ 5:59pm | Report comment
A good read. English players were in top form till the mid noughties but since then there’s been a lack of consistency amongst them. While the team is made up of fine players, it’s a surprise why they don’t click as a unit when it matters most.
The EPL is one of the most sought-after leagues in the world due to the presence of players from other nations barring Rooney of course. This in itself is a clear indication of where English football is. The nation needs some young blood to come through who can be considered as ideal replacements to Gerrard, Terry and to support Rooney. Moreover, they need a coach who’s more aggressive in approach. Thanks.
July 16th 2012 @ 10:47pm
apaway said | July 16th 2012 @ 10:47pm | Report comment
The EPL is the most widely watched league in the world but the irony is that it is not really a league in the English “style.” The Championship and League 1 are better examples of the English style, and it is a style that doesn’t translate well to the international stage. England have some marvellously talented players right now and their abilities have been enhanced by playing in a league with such a diversity of international stars. The programming needs to start at junior level, just as the Dutch, French, Spanish, Brazilian and Argentinians have done (and which is thankfully happening in Australia as well) and their needs to be a degree of patience for results to come.