tolne Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/18804/7845854/Respect-your-elders So whilst giving this old article a glance (I don't know how I got there), I stumbled upon this in the comment section: I disagree, Butch. I can't help thinking that England's number 1 concern is a worrying lack of class and ability on the ball. It's all very well saying we need our experienced players to qualify for the world cup, but it's only 2 years away and if we use them in qualification there's going to be an obvious pull towards playing them at the world cup. I personally think that England's young players would have a successful qualifying campaign, and even if they didn't, then I don't think it's the end of the world. When we didn't qualify for the USA tournament in 94' we thought the worst but then in 96' and 98' at least the team showed plenty moments of class and potential. I think we need to start seeing international football in a completely different light, away from that which shines on the premier league week in week out. I'm a big fan of players like Scott Parker, Steven Gerard, James Millner etc and I believe they give 110% for the cause; but i also believe that giving your all should be the minimum we expect from a player pulling on an England strip, not something to be particularly optimistic about. We are so quick to build up these players as 'greats' but I think we've been trained to think that way. Chris Waddel was great, Glen Hoddle was great, Peter Beardsly was great and Gazza was in a league of his own. Where are the new versions of this group? It's been long enough, hasn't it? I believe that the new plan should be this:You can only play for England if you show signs of being a truly classy player on the ball, an elite group of chosen ones. Gather them now and I think we have hope. And,once gathered, why not get the squad to meet up say once a fortnight to talk, bond, discuss, pass a ball about, pure ball-work? The players are there:Baines, Richards, Wiltshire, Frimpong, Joe Cole, Oxlain, Zaha, Welbeck are but a few. Given time, surely a group like this would light up any tournament. I can but dream. Just wondering what people here think? I've never been much of an England supporter but I find myself "pulling" for them (might have something to do with Everton ). Watching their games I always wonder the state of the English football development ideologies and how flawed it seems. Yes they reached the quarters this year at the Euros and all things considered - coach change, bunch of controversy re: Terry vs Ferdinands - but is that really good enough? This comment seemed to hit a chord in that regard where there's a bit of a dinosaur view of developing and using the through and through "English" player. Why not try and expand the style and develop players perhaps better suited to international football? Maybe then the English national team will once again have players resembling the former greats and be able to better compete against the Spains, Germanys, Brazils and the Argentinas in international tournaments. Anyway, this is just a built up impression based on the England games I have watched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowensda Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 Germany have done it. Look at them. The Bundesliga was never famed for its class or tecnical ability. A poor mans Premier League if you like...that isn't the case now, and just look at their national team. We are also the only country that seems to accept African decendents but noone else? Germany have Turks, Polish and even an English-man (Holtby). We are too scared of ruining the 'image' of English football by using ellegible players within our teams. As an example...Arteta was touted. He said he would have been interested. Media out-cry that a Spainard shouldn't play for England. Why not? We do it in other sports, Cricket (Pietersen), Rugby (Tuilagi) and now Cycling (Hindes). Football is a sport like most and if you want to win, you need the best players. If they're ellegible...we should snap them up. Arteta in an England shirt wouldn't horrify me and I can assure you, he'd do a damnsite better job than most of the useless bunch of egotistical bellends that play for that team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romey 1878 Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 In England far too much emphasis is placed on physical attributes rather than footballing attributes. You have to be big and strong to be considered good over here. The likes of Messi, Iniesta, Xavi and Silva would never have even been given a chance by clubs in this country when they were youngsters and would have been discarded for being too small. Our very own Leon Osman probably would have gone the same way if not for our financial trouble. It's all wrong and we will continue to struggle to compete with the technical sides while we put so much emphasis on the physical side. What's wrong with having a blend? Say having a destroyer next to a player with the silky skills. One player does the less glamourous things while the other showcases their silky skills. You have to have a balance. Lowensda 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolne Posted August 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 (edited) As an example...Arteta was touted. He said he would have been interested. Media out-cry that a Spainard shouldn't play for England. Why not? We do it in other sports, Cricket (Pietersen), Rugby (Tuilagi) and now Cycling (Hindes). Football is a sport like most and if you want to win, you need the best players. If they're ellegible...we should snap them up. I thought the FIFA ruling (although the FA didn't ultimately want Arteta playing in an English shirt) was that he's not eligible as he had played in the youth setup for Spain while he did not hold a British passport? Or was that all just smokescreen? We are also the only country that seems to accept African decendents but noone else? Germany have Turks, Polish and even an English-man (Holtby). We are too scared of ruining the 'image' of English football by using ellegible players within our teams. Often times I feel that the image of what constitutes what an "English" player is get in the way of the FA selecting the best players available. At the end of the day it all comes back to balance - you can't just ditch the style of the team completely and try and mould it to what is working in the international tournaments as it would NOT work just like that. They need to take the successful and useful bits of the football styles around the world and add to the core "English" style of game - still physical but with a touch of class and skill. Edited August 16, 2012 by tolne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolne Posted August 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 It's all wrong and we will continue to struggle to compete with the technical sides while we put so much emphasis on the physical side. What's wrong with having a blend? Say having a destroyer next to a player with the silky skills. One player does the less glamourous things while the other showcases their silky skills. You have to have a balance. Some how my first part of the reply got cut out when I posted... grrrr Anyway, what I was going to say was that I think this kind of balance is exactly what England fails to see as the perfect progression in their style of play - Beauty and the beast they should call it. "Beast" central mid paired with the "beauty" central mid to play off each other where the beast would win the ball and hold the ball, opening up space for the beauty to utilize the space and spray the ball around the park as they see fit. This would be an ideal kind of set up no? (apologies for a cheesy analogy...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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