Where Now For England?
Writen by Jon Birch
I’ve never followed a particular football team despite being a passionate football fan. I see friends and colleagues heavily invested in the up’s and lows of their teams and I must admit I have regret that I never attached myself that intensely to one club; however much I enjoy watching a match, I’ll never see it through the eyes of a true fan. Because of that, the national team have always carried (and more often than not, trampled on) my hopes that one day I can feel that elation at my team being successful.
I’ve watched over the years from one stuttering campaign to the next and it’s now very clear to me we’re at a breaking point. The FA either need to throw their weight behind England and support their aims of being successful on the big stage, or accept that we will always be one of the minnows on the international stage.
The current debate over whether English players should be released to play for the Under 21 side this summer is perhaps the crux of this whole issue. If we are ever to be successful, this is where it has to start.
We’re constantly told that the England football team are looking forward. We’re not concerned with winning the up-coming tournament, we’re concentrating on the next one (the latest statement is the 2018 World Cup but I’ve heard various versions to this effect down the years). The problem is that this never happens. Year after year we hold another 19 year old up to the spotlight, thrusting them into the first team and expecting miracles to happen and then deriding them when they don’t. Theo Walcott was England’s next big thing back in the mid to late 2000’s but has never lived up to that potential. At Euro 2012 it was Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, at the World Cup in 2014 it was Raheem Sterling. Now it’s Ross Barkley and Harry Kane.
Occasionally there is a success story like Wayne Rooney. However you feel that’s got as much, or more to do with, the wise arm round his shoulder at club level than any support at an international level.
An unfortunate by-product is that this elevation seems to go to player’s heads. The current debacle with Raheem Sterling is evidence enough of this. However badly advised he is, and it seems very, he needs to understand he’s 20, not 25 and he’s certainly not a world class player or game changer just yet. He needs to stay where he is and try and achieve his potential. As one observer put it, instead of saying he wants to be at a club who win things, he should be doing his utmost to help Liverpool be successful. If he does that and develops into the player he has the potential to be, then the trappings will come with that.
If we really are targeting the World Cup 2018 then the solution to me seems obvious; build a team that will be ready for that tournament. And do it now. It’s three years away, the core of that team are already out there. Sure there will be others that come into contention between now and then, and they’ll always be an older player like Rickie Lambert who finds a vein of form at the right time but the core are there now. And what they need is big tournament experience.
The FA need to put pressure on teams to release players for the European Under 21 Championship. The line-up we could potentially field for that tournament would compete in the Premier League but there is a reluctance to release them. To be successful at a major tournament teams need chemistry, consistency and tournament experience.
Englands potential line up for the European U21 Championship:
Following their unprecedented successes on the international stage over the last 10 years, Spain took home the last European Under 21 Championship; as the current team of superstars begins to fade, the beginnings of the next team are already in motion.
And here’s a major indicator of what’s wrong with English football at the moment. The final was won 4 – 1 with a hat trick from a young player called Thiago Alcántara. The next day it was reported that Manchester United were interested in signing the player. And that sums up why we will never be successful with the current regime; there is no commitment to grow and develop our own players.
The upcoming Under 21 Championship is the opportunity to give young England players that experience and build the core of a team that can serve the senior team for years to come. If those players aren’t released to the senior team for two more years, if the senior team don’t get results for the next two years, what does it matter; we’ve stated that we’re targeting 2018.
Without chemistry and without tournament experience, without a consistent approach to building the core of a team, we will continue to fail at international level.
I for one would celebrate an European U21 Championship victory as emphatically as I would a victory in a major tournament for the senior team. The reason for that is simple; if handled correctly, those players are in the perfect position to graduate to the senior team and be successful at the next big tournament.
Listen, I understand that the Premier League is a business. It’s about money and these changes aren’t going to happen through each clubs own choice; the ruling must come from the FA.
If the FA decides that the national game is important then they need to take steps to ensure its future and that means a prolonged approach to developing a team with chemistry and experience; a team that can compete.
