I personally believe that it is a myth that England do not have the players to be at least a reasonable force at international football. I think that what we have been missing is belief - something which Roy Hodgson does not inspire in anybody, probably not even those who employed him.
We have a strong league, with good English players in it, these excuses about lacking skill or having a ten year plan are nonsense. Foreign players do not impede young english players, they increase competition and raise the skill bar - we may see less English players coming through, but the ones that do, should be better than the ones who would have come through with no foreign imports in the league.
When England have done well, it has usually been with coaches who inspire and motivate, or at least relate to the players (robson, venables, hoddle), rather than cold tacticians like capello, or cautious ones like hodgson, or idiots like Taylor (Graham). The coaches have the players for a short time, so they need to get the players fired and playing to their strengths quickly, and I just don't believe that Hodgson can do this successfully. He is a thoroughly nice man, but he is an apologist, who lacks ambition, verve, leadership qualities or guile. He will never take england forward.
I would rather see England go out while giving it some next year, rather than a roy whimper. I would sack Roy if we qualify or not, and get Harry Redknapp on board and at least have a bash at making an impression on the World cup if we get there. We wont win it, so at least let's have a good time when we get there.
What do England need to do to succeed?
posted on 11/10/13
Batman
posted on 11/10/13
We need less emphasis on individuals and more emphasis on the team.
We also need to hold onto and pass the ball better.
That skill isn't so important in the PL which is played at breakneck speed.
International football is a much slower game though and this is where our players get shown up.
Notice how England's better performances over the years have been when England have forced the issue and played at a high tempo.
Unfortunately you can't play like that all the time, especially in hotter climates.
posted on 11/10/13
We need
To change the way we train our kids at youth level, Futsal needs to be implemented across the board, work on close control in small sided games, the ability to move with the ball in quick areas, quicker footwork
The days of Heskey are long gone, we need a technical aspect to our game, no one wants to see Welbeck or Lambert in the team (no disrespect to Ricky)
posted on 11/10/13
THUDD I totally agree with you about futsal needing to be implemented in this country
Just a shame that most people in this country don't even know what Futsal is.
posted on 11/10/13
Futsal has been the cornerstone of the development in Brazil for years! and Spain and Portugal
posted on 11/10/13
THUDD it really is bewildering to me that Futsal hasn´t been introduced in England, especially when you consider that it´s an indoor sport and the facilities to play it are already in place throughout the country.
To all those who don´t know what Futsal is then in a nutshell it´s very similar to indoor five aside except it´s played with a slightly heavier and smaller ball which means that the ball is constantly played along the ground and not in the air.
Futsal has become very popular in Spain and goes a long way to explain why Spanish players have become so good at passing the ball and maintaining posession.
posted on 11/10/13
Exactly, the FA are so backwards in what they do, I've played Futsal and it's very hard but once you adapt to the style you see changes in your game, especially with the use of the ball in tight spaces,
WIlshere is almost there in terms of what the sport represents, the ability to move with the ball in tight areas, he's got that old style of a tough tackling midfielder in him also, make Futsal standard across the board from a young age, it would give players a different view to how football is played
posted on 11/10/13
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 11/10/13
make Futsal standard across the board from a young age, it would give players a different view to how football is played
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Exactly
posted on 11/10/13
Short term we need to pick the best players and play them in their best positions. It really is as simple as that. This means no James Milner or Ashley Young being in the squad.