Our once-great nation has a habit of producing potential world stars, and the press have a habit of building our hopes that the next "crop of youngsters" will be World Cup contenders once they reach their peak.
Yet the so-called "Golden Generation" did nothing to justify that label, limping out of every competition that it qualified for, despite the individual talent on display.
Other players that have shown promise in their formative years, such as Joe Cole, simply haven't developed to the level that was expected. This country may not produce players with the technical talent that adorns stars from Spain or Brazil, but we seem to adopt a defensive strategy, in an attempt to emulate the Italian mindset, which equally deserts our players, as it seems to negate their attacking instincts.
The England U17s have just retained the European Championship, but of the squad that brought success four years ago, the bulk of the players are carving out a career in the lower leagues, or a warming expensive benches for the richer PL clubs.
Why are these players not developing? Are they peaking at 18? Or are they not being nurtured effectively? The financial attraction of the PL had drawn in players from all over the world, but it would appear that these players are strangling the opportunities of English youngsters around them.
In the PL's first season, there were only 9 overseas players in the squads of the 22 teams. In that period, England had given a good account of themselves at the 1990 World Cup, and would go on (in 1996) to show great endeavour at the EC over here. Admittedly, the 1994 squad failed to qualify for the World Cup. Perhaps we just didn't have the players?
Alternatively, perhaps these great players from distant shores bring out the best in our players? The likes of Gerrard and Lampard performed miracles for their respective clubs, when surrounded by millions of pounds worth of talent, but seemed to transform into statues when pulling on an England shirt, unable to thrive under the pressure that the world game demands.
Perhaps some will point to the managers' inability to bring out the best in the players at their disposal?
In short, why are England's bright players not being developed? And why do England fail so miserably internationally?
Are PL foreigners affecting England hopes?
posted on 22/5/14
"A seven year old Brazilian or African boy with no boots has the understanding to do a reverse pass.
Where does that come from?"
Keep tabs on him. See if he ever - ever - represents his country.
posted on 22/5/14
We have this article every now and again - especially around international football - and this myth has been debunked many a time.
posted on 22/5/14
Funny that people are bringing up Brazil, considering they have the most workmanlike squad lacking in flair in the World Cup amongst the big boys.
posted on 22/5/14
In any case, there are many ways to win football matches. Everyone musn't play like Spain. Germany and Italy have tons of tournament victories built on not very aesthetically pleasing footy. Germany have pretty much the best technical generation they've had, but they're seen as bigger bottlers now than their more pragmatic teams.
posted on 22/5/14
Brazil's flair has become underrated. Watched them a hell of a lot and they play very entertaining counter-attacking footy. It's a very cohesive unit.
posted on 22/5/14
comment by #Robb (U19350)
posted 8 minutes ago
A seven year old Brazilian or African boy with no boots has the understanding to do a reverse pass.
Where does that come from?
We have England internationals who still do not have the vision.
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Seriously, inventing examples does not help your case at all.
Let me have a go...
Paul Scholes has more talent than Ramires. Therefore England are genetically better than Brazil at football.
Is that how I play this game?
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Hoddle, Gascoigne and Scholes apart.
Which other English players see a dummy, see the bigger picture?
And yet thousands of others from other countries do.
posted on 22/5/14
The England U17s have just retained the European Championship, but of the squad that brought success four years ago, the bulk of the players are carving out a career in the lower leagues, or a warming expensive benches for the richer PL clubs.
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England haven't retained anything. The U17s is an annual tournament, not every 4 years like its senior equivalent. Since 2010, the Netherlands won it twice and Russia won it last year.
Its being an annual tournament and its age limit means that very few conclusions can be drawn from an isolated win. It's unlikely that a sizeable number of any individual crop will make it at the top level. If you want to view it terms of generations, a much better indication is to look at it over a longer period, say 4-5 years.
From that point of view, England have indeed been one of the most consistent performers this decade, along with the Netherlands and Germany (despite the latter not having actually won the thing). The consistency of these performances does signal that something's being done right at youth level and can more or less be expected to 'trickle up' to the senior level, but it takes time. It's unlikely that we'll see the best of this generation until the latter years of this decade.
As to the original question, in the long run the foreign imports can only do the domestic talent good. It means that during his formative years, a player will work and train with higher quality players and that can only help him to improve his own level. Later, in order to excel, he
will have to overcome much stiffer competition, through a combination of raw talent, ability and determination, among other issues.
Interestingly, this same anti-foreigner used to be wielded here in Spain in the late 90s and early 00s, but the long term effect was it raised the level of demand on our own domestic players and arguably, along with a strong grassroots system, led ultimately to Spain's acendancy over world football in recent years. .
posted on 22/5/14
Can you give 5 stars to a response?
posted on 22/5/14
When we start appreciating the Paul Scholes' of this world rather than the James Milners, then you will see us succeed.
Do not also forget our coaches are shít too. The only good one we had, we got rid of him because of his beliefs which had nothing to do with football.
posted on 22/5/14
To be fair Hoodle was and is a crackpot. Good riddance