Watched every u21 game,very poor indeed,just as bad as the senior squad.where is the problem,where is the root of the problem,we are a second rate football nation,seriously since all the overseas players arrived England has gone backwards big time. Really do not see a return to a good national squad until it is changed at the top. No ideas,no direction,no panache about them,very sad indeed.
We dont seem to have a central midfield that dominates the centre of the park at any England level to me?
I have always maintained that we'll never progress as an international power until we get more players playing outside of the Premier League. Sure, Italy, Spain and Germany cope pretty well within their own leagues, but their problems don't stem from a fundamental lack of technical ability. Since Capello's appointment it has been made abundantly clear that it doesn't matter who the manager is; we are only capable of playing one style of football and no manager can solve that in their tenure. If we're so keen to push foreign talent in the Premier League then we should be offloading some of our English talent across the world. We poach enough from the likes of South America and Europe that I'm sure most of them would be more than happy to take a couple of our youngsters on the cheap. I admire the current work that Gareth Southgate is doing in trying to overhaul the game at the bottom level, but this has no guarantee of success and will take a long time to see whether it works. Quite frankly, I think that some of our academies should be looking to link up with smaller leagues that would enjoy seeing some younger talent come through. A great example is MLS in America; they love watching any player with an association with a large team over here and they'd happily take (and play) a player with experience in a Premier League team. Even the South American leagues would be likely more than happy to have some of our lads playing in their league. It may not be as competitive and they may not get to play the likes of Man Utd and Chelsea every year, but as English players who play abroad always say it's extremely difficult, but if it pays off ultimately rewarding. In short, stop paying ridiculous sums to poach youngsters from foreign countries. Instead, push our kids on them, potentially let the home-grown premium offer foreign leagues some money and create a real market for English talent in foreign leagues. Maybe that way they'll learn to pass correctly and will be able to play something other than hoof-ball...
Reasons for Englands demise at all levels...... 1) There is way too much money in the game and not enough player hunger to want to suceed. 2) British coaches, with the exception of a mighty few who would never want to be involved in the first place (such as SAF) cannot motivate players or teach a winning mentality. 3) We have held on to players like Beckham for some ridiculous reason when he should have been discarded 5 years or more ago. He has added nothing to England's cause over that period except for continually lining his own pockets whilst playing in a sub standard league, with the FA seemingly encouraging it 4) Way too many average and below average foreign players in the game at all levels to the exclusion of their English counterparts
Cant see what Beckham has got to do with it? smhbcfc, fair shout and very true, he seems the only bit of quality we have at the moment, playing Wellbeck up front on his own is a disaster, he's a poor mans Heskey.
To be honest I couldn't care less anymore, didn't even bother to watch England last game v Switzerland. Expecting England to do anything of note is pretty much the same as following City, so I have long since withdrawn my emotional attachment to them. I can only take so much pain so why torture yourself?
'To be honest I couldn't care less anymore,' That's how I feel too Natch. Sad to say that a part of me celebrates when these overpaid primadonnas get beaten. We have an inflated idea of the quality of our players. Foreign teams are not queuing up to buy them,and older foreign players come here and still look good. I don't have an answer, other than a wish that the Sky money dries up.
I agree with all of that '49. The rot set in as soon as Murdoch got his grubby hands on it and it's been getting more and more ludicrous ever since. I just can't stand to see these overpaid tossers go through the motions anymore, run by an Italian on 6m a year.
Beckham always had the me me me syndrome and just wanted extra publicity and undeserved caps, and he should have been moved over years ago. No other international would ever have been allowed to represent their country playing in the equivalent of a Blue Square league like the MLS. A fitting epitaph to an average career.
David Beckham single handedly took us to The Japan and Korean world cup. Best month of my life. (apart from kids being born etc) I have a lot of time for the bloke.
