They don’t care. They’re soft. They’re weak. They don’t take responsibility. They’re overpaid. Overrated.
There’s too much pressure. They can’t handle the media. They don’t work hard enough. They’re overworked. They’re scared.
They’re egomaniacs. Their domestic season is too taxing. They’re cursed. The shirt is cursed. The fans create a stressful atmosphere.
Maybe the only thing the English do better than crashing out of international tournaments is coming up with reasons as to why.
But for mine, as true as some of these factors may be, they all fail to hit the core issue between the eyes.
Has anybody in English football’s corridors of power noticed that their players just aren’t that good?
As a football-manic nation of fifty million plus, England really should be preside over a production-line of world-class footballers. It simply doesn’t. Not by a long shot.
In goal Joe Hart had a poor tournament but remains largely effective, albeit a step below the world’s elite keepers. After that it falls away rapidly. The reserves are Southampton’s Fraser Forster and Tom Heaton, the Manchester United discard currently plying his trade at Burnley.
Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill sit at the heart of defence, both workmanlike but basically limited operators. England’s premier centre-half remains the irrepressible John Terry, the 35-year-old former captain who may still be playing international football if he could resist off-field trouble as well as he can on-field attacks.
The fact the national side still misses him so is a compliment to the man – and a damning indictment on the national system.
The midfield cupboard is similarly bare, illustrated by the apparent need for Hodgson to employ Jack Wilshere, he of 26 total appearances for Arsenal in the last 24 months. The permanent fixture in the middle suddenly appears to be captain Wayne Rooney – a champion forward who even if now squeezed out of the eleven by younger strikers, would surely be better utilised as an impact sub rather a recycled midfield bedrock.
Don’t even bother discussing wingers, as there aren’t any. Literally. England’s Euro squad did not include a single recognised wide player. Raheem Stirling was spotted floating about the pitch on a couple of occasions. There are few greater signs of a talent dearth than having somebody so incredibly out of form in the national team.
England rightly had cause for some optimism up front, Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy having gone punch for punch for the Premier League Golden Boot, however neither looked anything like the player he does in his club shirt. Kane simply didn’t look up for it, and Vardy predictably struggled against teams willing to sit back and deny him his critical space behind their defence.
And all this organised by Roy Hodgson, a man so bereft of ideas and tactics that his only meaningful response to the Icelandic disaster unfolding before him was to bring on 18-year-old Marcus Rashford.
With five minutes to go.
So the question inevitably becomes ‘why?’
Why is the traditional and commercial centre of the footballing universe so completely unable to produce effective players and teams of their own?
Those going through a tough time can do worse than take in a little history. Chances are somebody else has been there before and fought their way out.
The English need look little further than the old rivals Germany. Though they’re rivals in name only now – the notion that today’s German national team would consider England a truly worthy opponent is laughable.
Long before Kolbeinn Sigthórsson smashed his winner through Hart’s frigid hands, the now world champions were going through a Euro catastrophe of their own. Way back at the 2000 tournament, a loss to England, a draw with Romania, and a 3-0 thumping by Portugal consigned Germany to last in their group and an early flight home.
And critically, one enormous autopsy.
The core issue identified was stupidly simple – the players weren’t good enough. They were not technically proficient or tactically aware.
Any English bells ringing?
Central to the improvement strategy, and critical to its eventual success, was all parties pulling in the same direction. The German FA, the Bundesliga and the clubs were able to find common ground because the benefits were there for all.
As well as the obvious outcomes for the national team, German clubs producing elite home-grown footballers was in their own best interests too. They come out of academies for free, replacing expensive foreign imports, or sold for profit should they themselves shift to other leagues.
So it became compulsory for the clubs to run an academy under the national system. First in the top division, then in the second. And at the most junior level, pre-academy players from every corner of the country visit one of 366 development centres for talent spotting and coaching.
The tone is set from the top – from the national technical director and coaching panel, down through the underage teams and coaches across academies.
All academies must adhere to minimum requirements in terms of coaching resources. This led to demand for coaches that has in turn created an army of football educators. Germany will soon have over 6,000 of them accredited by UEFA. By contrast, England has barely 1,000.
Therein lies an enormous gap in English football. In this now most technical of sports, without teachers and the right system, players simply go uneducated.
Not to say that a system like this is implemented quickly and flawlessly: it faced resistance from German clubs concerned with costs, and took years to properly bed down before the benefits started to flow and the rewards – capped by the 2014 World Cup – were realised.
But the means are certainly there. Premier League clubs already spend truckloads on their own academies, many of which are criticised as being little more than warehouses for young talent, rather than genuine football schools.
Imposing uniform requirements on clubs isn’t totally without precedent in England. The country has probably the world’s best fleet of stadiums due to strict guidelines imposed on all Premier League and Championship clubs over the last 25 years. The cost was enormous, but ultimately affordable, and the results are there for all to see.
It’s past time some of that will was directed at matters on the pitch. With their traditional rivals already off in the distance, you have to wonder how many one-time minnows England will allow to also overtake them.
j binnie
Guest
Pacman. Very near the truth.I remember well a new national team manager telling me that at his first meeting with the "brigade" he asked why the "members" had to travel to centres all around the country every weekend (on expenses,travel ,hotel etc.) checking out on the form of national team players. Innocently he told the assembly that as he knew most managers in England he could save them the trouble by simply phoning the aforesaid manager and checking out the players form. He laughingly told me that in making that statement to "the blazers" at that meeting he signed his "death warrant" in the job.Cheers jb
Welshman
Guest
They should try to emulate the welsh
pacman
Guest
Griffo, the England FA have refused for the last 70 years or more to acknowledge that there is a problem. It has been glaringly obvious from about 1946 onwards that England was losing ground in the international football stakes, even though warning bells had been sounded before the onset of WW11. Check out some of J Binnie's posts on this forum; he is very well read and informed on the shortcomings of English football since Herbert Chapman's arrival on the scene. One of the greats of English football, Sir Stanley Matthews, authored his autobiography in the 1990's, and was scathing in his criticisms of the people in charge of the English FA during the previous 40 years. The "Blazer Brigade" was his description. You can just see it, can't you? The toffee nosed English gentry, brushing aside the possibility of anyone else being better. This attitude almost cost their country its freedom in 1940-41! This very attitude of superiority still persists. Stopped for coffee in Brussels about 10 years ago, at a table adjacent to an English couple. Their son worked in Tokyo, and they were aware that Australia was more or less equivalent to a third world country! The guy gave me his business card so we could look them up when in the UK, Card went in bin! Heaven help English Football, because the English FA is unlikely to do so!
Griffo
Roar Guru
Great article. Whatever happened in Germany in 2000, the promise was there in the 2010 World Cup. What is the English team going to show in the 2026 World Cup? The collective will of the entire German football organisation ended up buying into a plan put forth by their FA. What plan are the FA going to come up with, and will the entire English football organisation by willing to buy into it? Before you're willing to seek help you first have to admit that there is a problem. Have the FA even thought of wheeling out the autopsy table?
Onside
Guest
I liked the article. No time to comment.
Swampy
Guest
Agree with most of that but what the Germans were increasingly upset with was the style of play by the national team, which in turn filtered through a very dour Bundesliga. At around 2000 the Bundesliga was dropping well away from the other surging Euro Leagues (such as the Spanish Liga and EPL) and unable to attract fans, TV money and top class players. They had to rethink the football from top to bottom. It's why Klinsman was made national coach (but as has become apparent - Joachim Loew was the real instigator) as he had radical attacking ideas.
Punter
Guest
Great point JB!!!! Germany, easily the most consistent country in the world cup.
Mark Haywood
Roar Pro
All good JB, you make fair points – I think though there was a shift with the 2000 Euros being the catalyst. Certainly not to say the Germans invented coaching, but their review showed what we now know doubtlessly - the game is more technical and requires a higher level of education to carry out effectively. The got to work on fixing this which is where the overhaul of coaching and academies happened – which fits in with another evolution of the game, the absolute power and resources of club football. This is something England clearly still haven’t caught up with. Thought the comparison was apt given no country’s clubs have greater resources than England’s, which is why that particular model would be worth a solid look. The English game sees none of that benefit, instead it all flows straight through and into the hands of foreign players and agents. Key is getting the clubs on board I think.
jameswm
Roar Guru
I've been thinking Australian rugby needs something like this. The ABs when they make it to the ABs are so superior to Aussies in terms of skills. They only pick well rounded players. Aussies can make it to the National team without being able to pass to the right, for example. The problem is, in Australia we don't have the coaches, and we don't know what to coach. I'd get Graham Henry or someone in to oversee the whole process. What to coach, how to coach it etc. Sorry for clogging up this football article with rugby talk!
j binnie
Guest
mark - Without discrediting the main thrust of your article I feel the "facts " you put forward for the "great leap forward" by Germany is just so much hogwash probably created by journalists trying hard to make up stories. Now if one is to use World Cup placings as a measure of success then the Germans never had a time when their football could be described as "bad" never mind "terrible".In the 16 World Cup played since 1954 Germany(or West Germany) have made the last 16 on 13 occasions with only 3 of those seeing them relegated to "also rans" Now they have won the title 4 times ,been runners up 4 times,in third place,3 times and 4th once. In the years '94 and "98 they were "put to the sword" by two very good teams in Bulgaria and Croatia. All in all that puts them in as probably the most successful team in this competition since 1954. Now to suggest that in the year 2000 there was a "sudden awakening " in the country as to how to improve their football I think is a claim made with the tongue very firmly stuck in the cheeks,do you agree. What I think happened in Germany was that with the forming of the European Union and the free movement of players in that area someone in Germany did waken up to the fact that they were going to have to do something if they were to keep producing players good enough to retain that standing in World Cup football that I have described. Since 2002 they have won the cup once,been second once and third twice,not bad for a country going through the throes of major overhauli. What the Germans learned is as you point out they have to have schools and teachers who can teach how the game is to be played.But never forget there were people in world football with that aim as well, as Pacman has pointed out, the French starting even before the Germans. What is not widely publicised is that in 1974 such an educator was brought to Australia but before he could even get his plans under way the lack of money saw the idea shattered.That, and the views put forward by a group of Australian afficionados, saw what could have been Australia's "great leap forward"started 30 years before the start of the HAL. Pity is it not???Cheers jb
Mark Haywood
Roar Pro
Most critical I think is getting the entire English football industry to buy in – the Premier League, the Football League, all the clubs. The FA don’t need a national manager, they need a team of negotiators and diplomats to get a plan that everybody is on board with. National directors then need only to find a manager that believes in it and can set an example. Most important is it flows down and creates competent coaches who will create competent players. Any fruits won’t appear until long after the next manager is gone anyway. Re Wales, different situation. I think they’ve hit a good intersection of their own golden generation of natural talent, the payoff of the previous youth focus by Toshack and Speed etc, and an underrated manager who knows how to organise his team to take most advantage of Bale and Ramsay. Different to England I think – much smaller population and most elite players playing abroad.
Swampy
Guest
Hit. Nail. Head. Please post a link to this article in the comments for the 'Give Big Sam the Job' piece of dross on this site. The English don't necessarily need to copy the German system as it's not really just the German system. Its the French system, the Spanish system, the Dutch system (didn't work for them though), the Belgium system, the Italian system and the ICELAND system among many others. Iceland is not compiled of better footballers than England. They are compiled of more disciplined, team oriented and smarter footballers. The whole is much greater than the sum of the parts. Note though, if the system is rotten in England, how do you explain Wales?
pacman
Guest
Good article Mark, and yes, the lack of skills player for player in the England squad is there for everybody to see. Will this latest debacle prove sufficient for the FA "Blazer Brigade" to remove their blinkers? The FA's reactions to on-field under performances over the last 70 years suggests the blinkers will remain in place.
Brian
Guest
Well said. Notwithstranding that they do have the talent to get past Iceland they should copy the German model. Even though the Germans had a flukey run in 2002 they flunked again in 2004 and weren't back to themselves until 2008.