The 2010 World Cup in South Africa was marked by another dismal showing by the English national side. England’s big guns again failed to fire, and patches of impressive qualifying form failed to come to fruition as England were on the receiving end of some textbook counter-attacking football from Germany.
But was it a great surprise that one of England’s most talented sides since the cup winning side of 1966 didn’t deliver?
No it wasn’t.
Even with a talented band of footballers, England were plagued by the same issues: A shortage of chemistry and a seeming lack of appreciation for each others abilities.
Indeed, many would argue that the English national side will never win a World Cup again, because it is an egocentric team of individuals all trying to prove themselves to the football public on an individual level, rather than as an amalgamated unit.
For England fans and football pundits, England have never proven themselves like they did in 1966, nor have they ever got close enough to legitimizing their claim of boasting the 11 best footballers at every major tournament.
Many are desperate to see England actually live up to their status of being a top 10 team and, the answer to that, may just be youth.
Apart from boasting a feast of talent, England’s under -21 side have demonstrated the chemistry, unity as a team and an appreciation for their team-mates respective styles and abilities that the senior English national side lacks.
The under-21’s also demonstrated their ability to perform on the biggest of stages, as they made it to the final of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, performing admirably throughout. Albeit for an ironic, and commanding loss at the hands of the German under-21 side, England’s young team demonstrated that if kept together, they could be a force to be reckoned with in the future.
Players like: Danny Welbeck (Manchester United), Jack Rodwell (Everton), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Andy Carrol (Newcastle), Keiran Gibbs (Arsenal), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), Danny Rose (Tottenham) have all demonstrated enormous quality for the under-21’s, both as individual players, but also as a part of a team.
But what seems to make all of these players tick, both individually and as a unit, is their respect for the England shirt and their driving ambition to be recognized by their respective club managers and England manager Fabio Capello.
With 44-years of disappointment a harsh reality, it may just be time for Fabio Capello to put trust in his youth, and to revolutionize the full England national side.
Capello needs to look no further than the fortunes of Germany in South Africa as inspiration.
Joachim Low’s German side, the same side that comfortably dispatched of Capello’s disgruntled England side in the World Cup, had been made-up of fledglings from their under-21 triumph over England the year before.
Prior to the World Cup, Low’s trust in his youth had created mixed emotions among football followers abroad, because in contrast to England, Germany has a history of being a successful team in major tournaments and many believed Germany’s youngsters were in way over their heads.
The German team proved to be one of the greatest yet, as Germany made it to the Semi-final and demonstrated some technically beautiful, fluent football, that had outshone performances from some of Germany’s greatest World Cup teams in the past.
Through Germany’s triumphs, Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller and Sami Khedia emerged as the forefront of Germany’s new generation of football.
Capello must go about the same method as Low did.
Although, trusting youth can be risky business, England have nothing to lose. There is also no guaranteeing that 4-years from now, where a number of England’s prime young players will be playing in Brazil, the same unity will demonstrated as seen now by the England under-21’s, but the English national side must turn a new leaf and try something new.
For nearly half a century, English players and managers have promised to have an impact, have promised to galvanize and consolidate a squad, but have failed.
The success of the under-21 English side, is a screaming catalyst for change and must not be ignored.
James Gray-Foster
Roar Pro
Yeah, thanks for the comments gentleman. I'm not saying throw them into the deep-end straight away, but slowly push them through as a group and use them to plug the gaps. As much as Elliott is right about most of the England team being around in 2 years, maybe it's team to take some risks and replace a number of the players? I rate Lampard for Chelsea, but for England needs to go. Replace him with someone like Rodwell or Cleverley. Fabio should go about replacing a number of senior players with young players over this 2-4 year period. Players like: Cleverley, Rodwell, Wilshere and Smalling should all be in that England team by 2012 and by 2014 just about all the players in the under-21 team should all be in there. I'll reiterate, it's a risk playing a young side in a major tournament and it may not reap rewards straight away like with Germany, but if you keep predominantly the same side over 3 major tournaments they learn to play as a unit. If Fabio decides to throw 4-5 younger players into the senior line-up they'll have good chemistry, regardless of the level of competition they've been playing. The argument that says that England lack quality is rubbish, they just lack chemistry and an appreciation for their team-mates abilities. The under-21's have quality, chemistry and appreciation for their team-mates. Sure they're not ready just yet, but soon they will be, and when they are, they mustn't be denied an opportunity. PS: Elliot, i've deactivated it until my exams are done (17th of November)
tommy_doleman
Roar Pro
I like this article a lot mate, well done - good read. These players like Hart and Johnson should be squad regulars, they're in better form, they're confident and they want to play for England. I've always liked Micah Richards myself as well, i think he's a much better player than Glen "I don't know how to defend" Johnson. Lee Cattermole is also the sort of player passion-wise who I would love to see in a three lions shirt (if he wasn't send off every second match). They need to make a plan though, keep a core 3 or 4 players in the 28+ bracket and rebuild for the 2014 world cup. International football is a lot different to U-21 football, both technically and physically. These guys need to be regular starters at their clubs to be playing well though. England just need to bite the bullet and tell players like Lampard and Ferdinand that they're finished if they're not 100% or playing well in the side. (I prefer Gerrard as skipper). As for the names you mentioned in that bracket earlier, only Carroll and Wilshere (sort of) are playing 90 minutes at the moment. We can't throw the other blokes in at the deep end with no form or anything behind them. They should be playing but they aren't because of the EPL's obsession with foreign players, but that's for a different article!!
Jamesb
Guest
As we know England is a powerhouse in world football. They won in 66 and have a wealthy league in the EPL. The problem with england sides is I don;t think they produce players that can unlock mean defenses. At times England tries to play like they are in the EPL. But at international level, it is more tactical, more defense orientated, and at times England struggle with tactical awareness. The key for England is will they change the way they bring up players, and play differently when England plays in a tactical sense.?
Derby County FC
Guest
What is interesting is the talk (and i have said it myself) that the EPL and it's copious amounts of foreigners have stifled young English talent! This goes against that opinion somewhat.
Elliot Lodge
Roar Pro
I think its easy to say a lot of this as under 21 level is so different to full internationals, and many of them dont carry the ego or publicity that surrounds those in the England side. I agree in that the side needs refreshing. Guys like Joe Hart, Wilshere and Johnson should now be regular starters whilst Sturridge, Carrol, Rodwell ect should be emergin into the squad. Its too early to say whether the likes of Lampard, Gerrard and Terry will be around in Brazil 2014, so they should be playing only ocassionally to bring fresh blood through. However, Cappello's focus seems to be more around Euro 2012 in which I would expect most of the current crop to be around. Its hard to differentiate between a 2 year and 4 year plan. btw, what happened to your facebook?
James Gray-Foster
Roar Pro
Dave, it's not the best team since 1966' but one of them. We've got two of the best attacking midfielders we've ever had in, Lampard and Gerrard, the best striker since in Shearer in Rooney, who's probably going to be better, one of the best left-backs in Ashley Cole (although he's an ass), and the best central defensive pairing in Terry and Ferdinand
Colin N
Guest
"The last 15-20 years have seen a weakening of England’s talent pool rather than strengthening" Really? So, the player pool was stronger in the 70s when England failed to qualify for two World cup, or in the 80s, when the best they could muster was a quater-final place. Even in 1990, the press was very negative about England's chances and the late, great Bobby Robson was under massive pressure because of poor performances leading up to the tournament, if I remember rightly.
David V.
Guest
Most talented since 1966? This is a myth perpetuated over and over again when the lot that just failed in South Africa pale in comparison to what we saw a generation ago. Honestly. The last 15-20 years have seen a weakening of England's talent pool rather than strengthening, but the only way is up- players like Johnson, Wilshere, etc will point the way forward.