HERES THE BOTTOM LINE for ENglish Football
Sportsvibe speaks to former England International Graeme Le Saux about Englands World Cup chances.
ROy Hodgson view of the World CUp draw |
England is the birthplace of the worlds most beautiful game, football and is home to the most lucritive league in the world in the form of the Premier League with aruguably the most loyal, die hard fans, however have failed to win, or reach the final of an international tournerment in well over fifty years, since the legendardy success at the 1966, World Cup where England overcame West Germany by four goals to one.
Roy Hodgson's men face have tough tournament ahead, after being drawn to play Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica in the group stages at Brazil 2014. Some pundits, such as Graeme Le Saux in the video to the left are positive about Englands chances of progressing to the knockout rounds of the tournerment. However according to FA chairman Greg Dyke, England's mission to win the trophy for the first time in 48 years is not just tough, but impossible, which will have left a bitter taste any England supporter doubt, and leace them sceptacal of even being able to advance from the group stage, but why why is that? Football is our game, why are we failing to compete at the top level Well it is more than complicated, the problems surrounding English football aresystematic and extend way beyond the Premier League’s foreign imports and more down the very foundation of clubs in their very own academy's. The problem could also be in relation to the style of English football or lack of it, and then of course there is the extensive pressure they are put under extensivly by the media and supporters beforebefore they even kick a ball, we begin by having a look at the Premier League... |
The Premier League
The Barclays Premier League is the top tier of English football, and is considered by most to be the leading league of world football, but now thhere are now examples where clubs can go a decade without a English player from their academy advancing to play for the first team, and in due course this has shrunk the talent pool for England managers to choose from.
The figure also alarmingly for home country players - 32.26% - is down from 35.43% in 2007-08 and is significantly lower than all other major European leagues according to football statisticians Opta. This would therefore put us at an instant disadvantage when it comes to competition on the international stage, and could be the reason behind why England failed to perform at the last World Cup, in South Africa in 2010. When you consider Spains' overwhelming success in recent years, where they have won three straight international tournerments (Euro 2008 &2012, World Cup (2010) this send clear signals that tthey are a country England should look at when trying to improve themselves. Spain, who have 59.4% have new names bursting onto the scene year in year out, but without a chance in the first team this wouldn't happen. England have the talent, it just doesn't get the chance, and without a chance it is now sad to see that only 1% of lads signed at the age of sixteen are still playing football by 25, a pure shocking state. The Premier League therefore seems to be struggling to balance bringing in foreign imports with nurturing it's young talent, as shown in the changes over the last thirteen seasons below. ALthough teams like Liverpool and Newcastle are giving more players chances, very frw of them or getting full games, or playing games regulary |
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We have found over the years due to the demand for instant success from trigger-happy chairmen ensures that the state of the national team is placed at the bottom of every managers agenda. Managers and coaches in the modern game would dare not risk putting an untried but gifted youngster into the first team in most cases.
This is shown clearly in the graph, most the teams studied have saw an decrease in the amount of players being developed and introduced to the first team. In this period of time we have saw the average amount of academy graduates playing for their clubs drop from 5.2 to 3.5, which is quite a significant drop, with current Premier League Manchester United one of the more shocking sides i looked at having gone from10 in 2000 to less than half to 4.
However some clubs have began to make more time for young players with Liverpool leading the way, fielding nine academy players during the 2012/13 campaign, with one of them (Raheem Sterling) going on to represent England following some impressive performances for the reds.
Spain, Portugal and Holland all have excellent youth systems, but it is Mr Comolli's country that has set the standard since 1988, when its vaunted Clairefontaine national academy opened. France may have not qualified for the World Cup in 1990 and 1994, but continued to work endlessly, improving year in, year out. They then got their reward in 1998, when the French national team didn't only compete with the best teams in the world, but won it.
Two years later they were clutching a trophy again, being triumphant in 2000's European Championship. France and Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry was one of the first batch of Clairefontaine graduates, and played a key role in other tournament's, coming out as top scorer in both events.
But the FA's plans for an English version of Clairefontaine in Burton-upon-Trent have been stalled for five years, partly to pay for a new football stadium at Wembley and partly to placate clubs, which fear losing control over their young charges
This is shown clearly in the graph, most the teams studied have saw an decrease in the amount of players being developed and introduced to the first team. In this period of time we have saw the average amount of academy graduates playing for their clubs drop from 5.2 to 3.5, which is quite a significant drop, with current Premier League Manchester United one of the more shocking sides i looked at having gone from10 in 2000 to less than half to 4.
However some clubs have began to make more time for young players with Liverpool leading the way, fielding nine academy players during the 2012/13 campaign, with one of them (Raheem Sterling) going on to represent England following some impressive performances for the reds.
Spain, Portugal and Holland all have excellent youth systems, but it is Mr Comolli's country that has set the standard since 1988, when its vaunted Clairefontaine national academy opened. France may have not qualified for the World Cup in 1990 and 1994, but continued to work endlessly, improving year in, year out. They then got their reward in 1998, when the French national team didn't only compete with the best teams in the world, but won it.
Two years later they were clutching a trophy again, being triumphant in 2000's European Championship. France and Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry was one of the first batch of Clairefontaine graduates, and played a key role in other tournament's, coming out as top scorer in both events.
But the FA's plans for an English version of Clairefontaine in Burton-upon-Trent have been stalled for five years, partly to pay for a new football stadium at Wembley and partly to placate clubs, which fear losing control over their young charges
However the other top clubs listed, such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester united have all seen massvie decreases in the number of young players being developed, and as a result of this English players are not getting the experience at the very top level as they are not playing with the best players and compete on the highest stage, the Champions League. In fact every single player in the recent spain squad has played in the Group stage of this years Champions League (22/22). while from the England squad only fourteen of Roy Hodgson twenty six man squad have competed in the tourerment this season. T
his means when England face the worlds best players they find themselves at an instant disadvantage when the players try to step up and perform on the international stage. It was only last weekend when top faced second in the Premier League, and on show was only four English players, which sparked outrage on Twitter as the problem comes more and more into the mind of the average football supporter, as can be seen in the tweet at the top of the page.
his means when England face the worlds best players they find themselves at an instant disadvantage when the players try to step up and perform on the international stage. It was only last weekend when top faced second in the Premier League, and on show was only four English players, which sparked outrage on Twitter as the problem comes more and more into the mind of the average football supporter, as can be seen in the tweet at the top of the page.
MANCHESTER UNITED
We start at the top, when only fiver English born players have come through the academy at a club like Manchester United . They include Luke Chadwick, Wes Brown, Kieron Richardson, Tom Cleverley and Danny Wellbeck. None of which have come close to replicating the personal playing achievments of the likes of Gary Neville, David Beckham and Paul Scholes who cam through at Manchester United during the 1990's
You can find more quality football pictures such as this on my FLickr account. THis photo can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/108333843@N07/11400600123/
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There now has to be questions must be asked whether
these young men are wasting their chances of gaining a good education as the chances of them living the dream of playing at the top level become slimmer and slimmer. Case Study-Fabien Brandy A time when In Manchester United Under-18s were the inaugural winners of the Champions Youth Cup, intended to be a Club World Championship for youth sides, beating Juventus 1–0 in the final in Malaysia after already eliminating Barcelona. The boy who scored the winner that day was Fabien Brandy will not be a name known by football fans all over Europe even though he triumphed in what was a great occasion scoring the winning goals for United. Brandy was at United from the age of nine; represented England at every level up to the Under 20’s yet failed to make a league appearance for United and left the club in 2010. What more is a young player expected to do to earn a chance at the top level to earn at least a oppertunity in the firsr team. |
What do the fans thinkDuring my investigation i did a survey of 36 people, who all supported different football clubs to try and see their views of the issue at hand. As the table clearly shows to the right, not many at all had a spin of English players at the heart of their team. When asked why they think this occurs and indeed why they believe England have a poor chance of winning the World Cup there wa s a range of strong opinions, here is the pick of the best.
2 reasons: 1. Grass roots football does not focus on balls skills and close control, 2. There are too many non-English players commanding starting positions for the premier league teams meaning English talent does not come through We are behind other countries in terms of grass roots development due to money from the top leagues not filtering down the divisions, resulting in there being |
Because we're in a transition period like many other teams go through. Our older players are retiring yet our younger players are not developed enough yet to be stars so unfortunatley i think we will be an average team until atleast next These opinions are very strong, and full of valid points which relate to the issue at hand. It was interesting to get a variation in opinions from the people who were kind enough to fill out my survery via Surveymonkey.com. Again and again though grass roots football was mentioned, suggesting that not only academys are to blame, but the issue actually goes even deeper then this. Then on the other hand their is people who believe England are just in a transition period and will become a good team very soon, it is an interesting and topical debate Therefore we will have to look deeper into football, into lower divisions and grass-roots football to get a better overview of what is going on in English football.
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THE championship
There is hope that England’s second tier of football could hold some salvation for the national team after it was confirmed that footballer from England are playing more minutes on average now than they did five years ago from a study by the BBC, unlike the Premier League which continues its rapid decline.
The figures read like this, UK players accounted for 63.57% of minutes played in England's second tier in the 2007-08 season, but that figure is up by 7% to 70.5% this season. This in recent seasons has allowed young, fresh talents such as Wilfred Zaha, Tom Ince and Nathan Redmond burst onto the scene and add some real flair and talent to the England scene. All three have represented the Under 21’s, Zaha has signed for Manchester United and picked up an England cap. Redmond is now at Norwich City as he tries to find his feet in the top tear, while Ince remains
at Blackpool, however is likely to get a move to the Premier League in the January transfer window as he continues to light up the English second tier.
You can find the above image and more on my Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/108333843@N07/11400513935/
The figures read like this, UK players accounted for 63.57% of minutes played in England's second tier in the 2007-08 season, but that figure is up by 7% to 70.5% this season. This in recent seasons has allowed young, fresh talents such as Wilfred Zaha, Tom Ince and Nathan Redmond burst onto the scene and add some real flair and talent to the England scene. All three have represented the Under 21’s, Zaha has signed for Manchester United and picked up an England cap. Redmond is now at Norwich City as he tries to find his feet in the top tear, while Ince remains
at Blackpool, however is likely to get a move to the Premier League in the January transfer window as he continues to light up the English second tier.
You can find the above image and more on my Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/108333843@N07/11400513935/
Grass roots football
When talking about grassroots football, I mean the very bottom of the ladder, when on Saturday and Sunday league teams of young potential players from toddlers to the age where academies start to show their interest. There appears to be a minimal amount of things being done by the FA up until this point to address the situation.
In England there has not been enough funding for coaches and facilities to nurture young English talent, with most teams run by volunteers on boggy, run down pitches So when they are signed by professional academies at the ages of 11 and 12 and progress to Premier League youth teams, they struggle to compete with the better prepared foreign youngsters, and this has become obvious at clubs like Arsenal, where more and more of their academy graduates have come from abroad such as Nicklas Bendtner and Phillipe Senderos Ex England international Trevor Steven makes an excellent point regarding the coaching of young players when he said “In England, there are too many matches played and not too much time spent in practice. This current generation of players is almost lost. The whole coaching from five or six year-olds needs to be structured again. The academies are taking in kids from seven year-olds over-drilling them and taking out their creativity. They are not encouraging enough individual play with the ball. If I was coaching I would let them all come in and play as it’s about control of the ball.” It therefore seems obvious that the grassroots is a part of English football which must be addressed as soon as problem. It is good to see some work being done, but without the introduction of better pay for coaches, and better facilities it is unlikely we will see any major changes in the fortunes of English football in the forseeable future.
You can find the topical football image to the right and more on my Flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/108333843@N07/11400506706/ |
RWD talks to a variety of youth coaches and England Under 20 manager Peter Taylor on the development of Grassroots Football
Video breakdownAlthough the facilities at the new St George centre are of the highest standard, they are only available to a restricted extent, and although more and more coaches are being qualified as is illuded too in the video, alot struggle with low standards of pay.
However the video does cover that the UK are begining too realise the extent of the problem and are now taking steps to try and improve it in hope that builidng a more solid foundation at the base of football will help improve the national team at the very top of the football tree. |
IS this really the main problem
It has been argued for years whether England arew good enough to be successful on the international stage, and there is no doubt that argument will continue for many years to come.
Alan Shearer fails to be bought into the idea that volume of talent is the issue, linking back to Englands failure to qualify for international tournerments began way before the foreign influx of players began to invade the Premier League. Chelsea manager Jose Mourihno who has won numerous Champions League and Premier League titles veyr much agreed with Shearer, and believes that the England squad have no excuses. He argues that the whole England squad play in top divisions, with no member of the squad playing in the lower tiers or in the footballs third world (countries whose top dvision do not play to a high standard e.g. Norway). This poiny has great substance, the fact it was said by a Premier league manager only strengthens it. While Jack Wilshire still believes that the Premier League, linking his point to West Ham United's, Ravel Morrison, nevertheless despite his undoubted talent he is member of a shrinking pool of talent. England have good players, that has never been a doubt, there is just not enough of them, making competition for places not as fierce. This would therefore hinder the strength of the England team, which would make a major impact on how they perform on the international stage. |
England didn't qualify for the US in 1994 when the percentage of British players was quite high, so I do believe that it's not only the number of foreign players in the Premier League that is making things difficult for England. I don't think we should be worried at all," he said. "They [foreign players] are not an obstruction. [West Ham's] Ravel Morrison has burst on to the scene this season. He is a great prospect for thefuture. |
the english style all wrong
"If you keep on doing what you did before, you will never have the success that you wish to have. It need a lot of strength from the people in charge to say it's going to be different' We have some of the best coaches in the world in the Premier League and the national team should benefit from their expertise.
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It seems consistently have key men injured or suspended at tournaments and directly because of this we have performed poorly. How do we fix this? Well we need to change English changing methods, to ensure we can control possession of the ball to a greater extent than before, and also beyond doubt demand that playing for England is the players' main priority, while also have people in place to support the England Manager, as the pressure is enormous.
I can't remember the last group of England players who were all fit and performed at their peak during a major tournament. We so often arrive with our key men injured or exhausted. Over the last few years in juries to Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen, David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard have hindered England’s international campaigns. If you take the best players out of any team, in any division, at any level and they will surely suffer. The culture in this country is to train hard, in a high-octane manner, which is commendable, but it leaves you with a range of problems. A lot of foreign players are better at managing their energy and protecting their bodies and they do this by less intense in training and know when to hold back if a game is won. We are therefor beginning to see a demand from english supporters also, which is shown by the tweet on the left hand side of the page, and i believe slowly, but surely England are beginning to pass the ball better. |
Is there a solution
Although the problems in English football are complex, and worsening it is hard to see if their is any real solution on the horizon, especially considering the differences opinions on matters, not too mention the reliance of the Premier League on overseas funding with the majority of teams owners coming from abroad. So i asked fans, would they be willing for the quality of the Premier League to drop, if it coincided with more English players getting a chance to play in the top tier of English football.
If England are to win a World Cup, then we have to be able to compete against the likes of Germany, Spain, Brazil etc. The top countries' players dominate the Premier League, so the only way to match up to them is keep them in and have English players can learn from them. Take the top foreign players out and English players will dominate the league, but it doesn't mean they'll be good enough to win a World Cup with England This comment is particularly interesting, suggesting that the high level of the Premier League means although the talent pool is dramatically smaller, their ability should be higher due to the standard of football they are playing. And then goes on to suggest, although if things changed and more english players played in the Premier League, this won't mean they have the quality to win on the international stage. This suggests the problem is much deeper then just in the academies, and again links back right down to grass roots football.
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The response was mixed but ultimately the the majority of fans who responded to my survey believed that more English players playing would not be worth lowering the quality of the Premier League. I then allowed respondents to expand upon their answers and got some interesting and intriguing responses. I will now look and analyse a few of those responses, breaking them down and explaining what they mean to a greater extent
I think if there was a minimum quota for home grown players in the 18 match day squad then it would mean better quality foreign players would be playing as opposed to average ones and it would give more ops to home grown talent helping English football improve as a whole over time This is a comment, which agrees with the suggestion that more of the average foreign players will have to give way to allow English players a greater opportunity to play t the top level and develop their abilities.
I want more game time for English players in the Premier League but i wouldn't want it to lower the quality but perhaps it would in the short term but if teams were made to play a certain amount of english then standards would improve This final comment, again explores the idea of limiting the number of foreign players, playing their trade in the Premier League. He believes although initially the standards may drop, over time the English players would get up to speed and get back to, or surpass the standard which was in place before. This would therefore mean there would be an equally strong Premier League, but a much stronger national squad, with the quality to compete on the international stage to a greater extent. |
CONCLUding statements
Although the problems with the english national team are complex, i feel i have been able to provide an in depth outlook of a variety of the contributing factors.
I thought when i set out this story that the lack of English players coming through was key to the failure of the England team to produce on the big stage, however in fact i was proved wrong and i realised the problems were far greater then this, and ran right down to the very fabric of the game at grassroots level.
I'd say if the FA continue to develop coaches and improve facilities there will be an improvement, but until their is a constant style for football played right through from a young age, England players will never have the technical ability or tactical awareness that such sides as Spain posses
If these sorts of problems continue to addressed i have faith that in future World Cups, England fans will be a lot more optimistic of the teams chances of competing or even winning the competition
If you want to know why i chose this subject of study, please visit my about page! or if you want to contact me feel free to visit my contact page.
I thought when i set out this story that the lack of English players coming through was key to the failure of the England team to produce on the big stage, however in fact i was proved wrong and i realised the problems were far greater then this, and ran right down to the very fabric of the game at grassroots level.
I'd say if the FA continue to develop coaches and improve facilities there will be an improvement, but until their is a constant style for football played right through from a young age, England players will never have the technical ability or tactical awareness that such sides as Spain posses
If these sorts of problems continue to addressed i have faith that in future World Cups, England fans will be a lot more optimistic of the teams chances of competing or even winning the competition
If you want to know why i chose this subject of study, please visit my about page! or if you want to contact me feel free to visit my contact page.