die selben probleme die deutschland vor 10 jahren hatte , haben jetzt die engländer. interessante idee von J.Nicholsson....
http://www.football365.com/john_nicholson/0,17033,8746,00.htmlhttp://www.football365.com/john_nicholson/0,17033,8746,00.html
Regardless of this Euro 2008 campaign, it's important to understand that England's national team is not a once-great nation now in decline as it's sometimes depicted. The fact is, we've always been a bit rubbish.
Throughout the mud and side-burns of the 70s through to the perms and short shorts of the 80s and the turnip-based buffoonery of the 90s, we have struggled. It's often forgotten that in the 36 years between 1962 and 1998 we qualified for just four tournaments. In my formative years between 1970 and the 1986 World Cup, we managed to make just two tournaments. Two.
But perhaps for the first time in my memory, there actually seems to be some common agreement about the problems we face.
All but the most knuckle-headed nationalists have learned that it's not all about 'passion' or 'playing the English way.' Nor is it all about a coach screaming until his eyes bleed on the touchline. Nor is 'getting into them,' or 'playing at a tempo' or having 'pride in the shirt' or any of those 606 phone-in notions going to be the answer either. None of the clichés are true and they probably never were.
We have always been second best in technique, mentality and in tactics going right back to 1970 when we tried to defend that 2-0 lead against West Germany. Even when strength and power mattered more, other countries still outplayed us, out-thought us and tactically dominated us.
Work rate, aggression and energy used to get us so far, but in these non-contact days, where one firm tackle can see you booked, clearly that approach is also utterly out-moded.
Most informed observers of the game know that the coaching system still creates players who can run a lot but don't have much skill or vision. Go to any school game and you'll still see the biggest kid is the centre-half and the games master will be shouting 'get rid of it' as soon as anyone gets hold of the ball for more than five seconds.
Secondly, in the current global football environment, clubs will naturally source players from all over the world according to personal managerial preference, nationality, talent and money available.
Understandably in a result-driven business, there's little time, patience or reason to develop English players through club academies. There's no obligation to the countries' needs. Why not buy in a cheap international from the Ukraine instead of gambling on an English youngster who is untried in the top flight? Clubs have got the money. It's perfectly understandable. Look how well it's serving Portsmouth this year.
But if we want a consistently better quality national side that has a real chance of winning things at least a regularly as France, Germany or Italy, then we need to develop and nurture English talent in far greater numbers that has the skill, tactical flexibility, fitness and mentality to compete at the highest levels and when the pressure is on. But how can this happen given the prevailing demands on the top two divisions?
It's pretty clear we need a revolution. So here's a revolutionary idea.
England FC.
What's England FC? It's a proper Football League club for English-born talent only. Trained, coached and developed to the highest level: a centre of excellence; a place where not only players but also managers and coaches could come together to improve and excel.
Funded by the FA and by sponsorship, it would be run and would compete like any league team. Its first team would start in the Championship and could be relegated and promoted like any other team. It's second or reserve team would begin in the fourth tier.
It would allow players to develop in the knowledge that management couldn't just buy in ready-made players from all over the world to fill the first team. Players would be able to see an unobstructed route through from the England FC Academy to the first team if they're good enough.
There'd be no excuses about foreign players restricting our homegrown talent because if the real talent exists, it would have a home at England FC, which in time may become a top-flight club.
The FA would assemble a squad of players by both specifically recruiting kids directly from schools and also by taking players on loan from club academies. England FC could sell players and generate money like any other club.
Essentially it would be a professional breeding ground for English footballers. It would be a focus for all the best coaching and playing talent. Instead of the development of English football being disparate and fragmented, this would be a hothouse for developing superb players.
Excellent players coming to the end of their playing careers could be recruited to help guide youngsters and set good examples to them. England FC would be the very heart of the game in the country, pumping quality around the English football body.
It would be a long-term, ongoing project. The chairman or woman would be a progressive football thinker with clear goals and targets, not just some FA-style power-hungry old fart wishing to ride the gravy train one more time.
As a concept it would attract plenty of sponsorship from companies keen to ally themselves to the future of English football. And if the FA can raise a billion quid for Wembley, a total greater than the turnover of any club in the world, then it shouldn't be too hard to find enough money to make it happen.
England badly needs a centre of excellence for both its players and its coaches - why not make that focus a real living and breathing club? Club football has never been more important than it is now, so it makes sense to tie England's progress and development into a club setting rather than leaving it up to the whims of individual managers and chairmen whose priorities are elsewhere. Clearly, that way is not producing good enough talent in big enough numbers.
It should have a home ground somewhere in the centre of England, easily accessible within two hours by the vast majority of people. It would develop a club culture. Ticket prices would be low to attract crowds and to inculcate youngsters into the habit of going to the game rather than just watching it on TV.
England FC could be the home for the reinvigoration of rootsy, domestic football culture. It could bring some much-needed romance back into the game and break the fans' culture of cynicism that has built up in the Premiership years.
Fans could stand in properly policed and constructed terraces. It would be affordable for people on minimum wage. It would be the people's football club with the people's best interests at heart.
It sounds weird but weird is good and weird is needed. England is being left further and further behind. Clearly the old school way has been failing us nationally for decades. There are less and less players of consistently high quality to choose from and those players are tactically inflexible and unable to confidently adapt to alternative systems when they come together as England. This can all be overcome but it never has been.
What's more, that situation is not going to change any time soon unless something truly radical is done. England FC would be a force for good in the game.
Our current problems are long term, generational and endemic. So we need a revolution to utterly change everything. England FC is that revolution.
And this revolution will be televised.
http://www.football365.com/john_nicholson/0,17033,8746,00.htmlhttp://www.football365.com/john_nicholson/0,17033,8746,00.html
Regardless of this Euro 2008 campaign, it's important to understand that England's national team is not a once-great nation now in decline as it's sometimes depicted. The fact is, we've always been a bit rubbish.
Throughout the mud and side-burns of the 70s through to the perms and short shorts of the 80s and the turnip-based buffoonery of the 90s, we have struggled. It's often forgotten that in the 36 years between 1962 and 1998 we qualified for just four tournaments. In my formative years between 1970 and the 1986 World Cup, we managed to make just two tournaments. Two.
But perhaps for the first time in my memory, there actually seems to be some common agreement about the problems we face.
All but the most knuckle-headed nationalists have learned that it's not all about 'passion' or 'playing the English way.' Nor is it all about a coach screaming until his eyes bleed on the touchline. Nor is 'getting into them,' or 'playing at a tempo' or having 'pride in the shirt' or any of those 606 phone-in notions going to be the answer either. None of the clichés are true and they probably never were.
We have always been second best in technique, mentality and in tactics going right back to 1970 when we tried to defend that 2-0 lead against West Germany. Even when strength and power mattered more, other countries still outplayed us, out-thought us and tactically dominated us.
Work rate, aggression and energy used to get us so far, but in these non-contact days, where one firm tackle can see you booked, clearly that approach is also utterly out-moded.
Most informed observers of the game know that the coaching system still creates players who can run a lot but don't have much skill or vision. Go to any school game and you'll still see the biggest kid is the centre-half and the games master will be shouting 'get rid of it' as soon as anyone gets hold of the ball for more than five seconds.
Secondly, in the current global football environment, clubs will naturally source players from all over the world according to personal managerial preference, nationality, talent and money available.
Understandably in a result-driven business, there's little time, patience or reason to develop English players through club academies. There's no obligation to the countries' needs. Why not buy in a cheap international from the Ukraine instead of gambling on an English youngster who is untried in the top flight? Clubs have got the money. It's perfectly understandable. Look how well it's serving Portsmouth this year.
But if we want a consistently better quality national side that has a real chance of winning things at least a regularly as France, Germany or Italy, then we need to develop and nurture English talent in far greater numbers that has the skill, tactical flexibility, fitness and mentality to compete at the highest levels and when the pressure is on. But how can this happen given the prevailing demands on the top two divisions?
It's pretty clear we need a revolution. So here's a revolutionary idea.
England FC.
What's England FC? It's a proper Football League club for English-born talent only. Trained, coached and developed to the highest level: a centre of excellence; a place where not only players but also managers and coaches could come together to improve and excel.
Funded by the FA and by sponsorship, it would be run and would compete like any league team. Its first team would start in the Championship and could be relegated and promoted like any other team. It's second or reserve team would begin in the fourth tier.
It would allow players to develop in the knowledge that management couldn't just buy in ready-made players from all over the world to fill the first team. Players would be able to see an unobstructed route through from the England FC Academy to the first team if they're good enough.
There'd be no excuses about foreign players restricting our homegrown talent because if the real talent exists, it would have a home at England FC, which in time may become a top-flight club.
The FA would assemble a squad of players by both specifically recruiting kids directly from schools and also by taking players on loan from club academies. England FC could sell players and generate money like any other club.
Essentially it would be a professional breeding ground for English footballers. It would be a focus for all the best coaching and playing talent. Instead of the development of English football being disparate and fragmented, this would be a hothouse for developing superb players.
Excellent players coming to the end of their playing careers could be recruited to help guide youngsters and set good examples to them. England FC would be the very heart of the game in the country, pumping quality around the English football body.
It would be a long-term, ongoing project. The chairman or woman would be a progressive football thinker with clear goals and targets, not just some FA-style power-hungry old fart wishing to ride the gravy train one more time.
As a concept it would attract plenty of sponsorship from companies keen to ally themselves to the future of English football. And if the FA can raise a billion quid for Wembley, a total greater than the turnover of any club in the world, then it shouldn't be too hard to find enough money to make it happen.
England badly needs a centre of excellence for both its players and its coaches - why not make that focus a real living and breathing club? Club football has never been more important than it is now, so it makes sense to tie England's progress and development into a club setting rather than leaving it up to the whims of individual managers and chairmen whose priorities are elsewhere. Clearly, that way is not producing good enough talent in big enough numbers.
It should have a home ground somewhere in the centre of England, easily accessible within two hours by the vast majority of people. It would develop a club culture. Ticket prices would be low to attract crowds and to inculcate youngsters into the habit of going to the game rather than just watching it on TV.
England FC could be the home for the reinvigoration of rootsy, domestic football culture. It could bring some much-needed romance back into the game and break the fans' culture of cynicism that has built up in the Premiership years.
Fans could stand in properly policed and constructed terraces. It would be affordable for people on minimum wage. It would be the people's football club with the people's best interests at heart.
It sounds weird but weird is good and weird is needed. England is being left further and further behind. Clearly the old school way has been failing us nationally for decades. There are less and less players of consistently high quality to choose from and those players are tactically inflexible and unable to confidently adapt to alternative systems when they come together as England. This can all be overcome but it never has been.
What's more, that situation is not going to change any time soon unless something truly radical is done. England FC would be a force for good in the game.
Our current problems are long term, generational and endemic. So we need a revolution to utterly change everything. England FC is that revolution.
And this revolution will be televised.
