All English Champions League final, arguably the best domestic top flight division in the world, world class players, and yet we still failed to qualify for this summers competition, why? asks blogger Jarrod Hill.
Well the FA firmly placed the blame at the door of Steve Maclaren and has since been replaced by Fabio Capello.
The so-called experts are split over whether as a nation we have the players that are good enough, but seriously are you telling me we have not got enough quality to have at least qualified?
I am not talking about winning it, I am talking about qualifying for a competition that Turkey, Greece, and Romania all managed to book their places in.
I keep hearing pundits explaining that England players lack the technical ability to play in Europe and that they lack the tactical intellect to cope with teams such as Italy and France. Well I am sorry but these pundits must have egg on their faces, we are going to witness an all English Champions League final. A final I might add that will be contested by players such as Ferdinand, Rooney, Brown, Carrick, Hargreaves, Lampard, Terry, A Cole, J Cole, Bridge and Wright-Phillips, yes 11 England Internationals.
So what happens, they pull on an England shirt and they lose their ability to perform?
Steve Maclaren intimated a number of reasons for failing, one was the number of games a successful England club and international player has to play across the course of a season, and I can understand his point (to a degree). If we take Steven Gerrard as an example, this season he will have played 50+ games, but surely this is a problem for most international players and is not a problem exclusive to English players.
Another excuse trotted out on a regular basis is the fact none of our Internationals play abroad, well Italy won the World Cup with a squad entirely based within Italian football, and like I have already pointed out most England players play in Europe with their club teams.
I feel like I am rambling on a bit here with no answers to give you, but I cannot hide my disappointment at not being able to look forward to watching England competing at Euro 2008.
My only option is to join the FA and place the blame at Maclarens door, or should we also hold the FA responsible for appointing him in the first place?
Let’s face it, was his CV that impressive? Whoooooooo weeee he won the League Cup, and, oh yes nothing else apart from being Ferguson’s right hand man.
The FA have made error after error in relation to their most important appointment, from the time of Brian Clough through to recently not snaring Jose Mourinho, they seem to be more interested in a face for the media than an actually hiring someone who could be successful. Even that back fired when Sven and his private life threatened to over shadow anything football related.
So I have come to the conclusion that the English FA need to look within and possibly change their out dated views on many things related to both our domestic game and National set up, or are they just puppets dancing to the Premiership/Sky tune??
There is an argument to be had whether the FA actually runs the game in this country anymore, Premiership/Sky, decide fixtures, dates, kick-off times, and obviously provide the funds that make our top tier football the envy of the world.
But is this to the detriment of our national side?
I told you I had more questions than answers; please help me make sense of it all.
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45 Comments
steve mcclaren! next question!
Give McClaren a break, he brought his good lloks to the England side so leave him alone, handsom bloke
Another question
Is the English National game going the way of the FA Cup???
Do our top English players really give a monkeys when they have got the 3 lions on their chest, or is the Champions League now their priority????
Sorry Jarrod I can only add questions to your questions, if I could provide you answers, I’d be picking up £6 million a year
1. Typical wolves blame the boss. Anyway.. So what have we won pre mcclaren? How can England failing to qualify be down to just the manager? The players didn’t perform and while it’s no excuse our fringe players for the croatia game just weren’t as good as croatias best. I actually think croatia will reach last 4 but we don’t even think we were in a group with a top class team! Yes few may laugh but time will tell..
Jarrod you say you have lots of questions but no answers, don’t beat yourself up, the same questions have been going round for 42 years!!
It’s going to be horrible during the championships but then again how horrible is every tournament when we finally bow out at a whimper?? I always say never again but I for 1 will be at the first qualifyer..
Sven was the best English manager in years and years. But the media and the fans could not leave him alone to build up the team. Despite that he earned the best statistical record of an english national tem manager in modern times. And then you sacked him. The English FA and Thaksin must be idiots!
Look at the Swedish national team. They have qualified for all the big tournaments in rescent years. Technically most of the players in the English team are better but tactically the Swedes are much better. And the managers know what they do and they know how to play against international competition. There is continuity and wisdom in the way they play.
I hope that the english team will stick with Capello for a long time so that he can influence the game with his tactical knowledge. But I doubt that this will happen. Your media and fans does not have the patiens to wait for results. Very sad.
Great blog Jarrod
I personnally think we do have the players it,s all about balance how many times previous managers played Gerrard and Lampard together it ever work only when they played G. Barry did the midfield look more balanced,And also playing W Rooney alone up front in some games we all know what a great great footballer W. Rooney is but to play as a lone striker was mad
Basically our players are nowhere near good enough technically to be able to keep the football. If you’re constantly losing possession because your best right back, Wes sodding Brown, cannot do anything other than hoof the ball forward, you haven’t got a prayer of beating technically gifted sides like Croatia, Italy, Russia etc etc etc.
England will never compete until we have players that can play the Mowbray way! (sorry I just had to get it in somewhere…)
The players just aren’t interested. International football is now a step down in quality compared to Premiership football. Lets face it, Man U or Chelsea would beat any international team, because they have the star palyers from all the best international teams.
Simple - WE ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Look at the number of foreign players in the Premiership. English players are not good enough, and those that are are too big to be team players.
Another question.. Why do them Germans keep qualifying getting to finals.. WINNING THINGS!!?? There league is in my opinion 4th best in europe and I can only think of 4 of there players!!!
You watch them go and win it….
10 - Germany win things and rise to the big events because they have enormous national pride in there team as the players do to play for there country. The German players virtually all play in Germany so are used to playing together and know each others games, the English Prem is only about 50% full of English players obviously the rest is the cream of elsewhere in the world. It means the English players have to adapt to foreign football on English shores domestically, then when they play under the national flag they go back to English techniques which there not necessarily used too.
Right or wrong I will be supporting (if that’s the right word), Germany in the Euro’s.
Poor little dingles
I think you have hinted at one of the problems, mentality. For far too long English sport has held the mentality of as long as you compete it is acceptible, but if you want to win you need an approach that will give you the best opportunity to acheive it. American, Australian, and the Germans have lead the way in many sports due to recognising what is required to win and not accepting anything else.
I recently listened to an interview with the guy that has taken over the British Cycling team, his philosphy was to identify what was required to produce world champions and not to deviate or accept anything else, no second best, no excuses, and look what he has acheived!!
We didn’t qualify basically because mcclaren just didn’t know what he was doing. He was unlucky that Owen was injured for 10 years but apart from that he played the wrong tactics in games. When he did get it right back at the start of his job in the first match we won easily 5-0 even though it was Andorra. From that point on the players strolled through games as though they was goin to win every game by that score and this caused the downfall of the team. They didn’t expect Croatia or Russia to play in the games away and home like they did, apart from when we won 3-0 at home.
I still have a feelin that it’s not goin to work with Capello but hopefully im wrong. It still amazing that we could’nt qualify for a tournament which has Romania, Poland who won there group!!!, Switzerland and Austria who hosting it and Greece who even though won it last time wasn’t even at the world cup.
You can’t blame it on the premiership with foreign players, there is plenty of top players who are good enough to do the job in qualifying for tournaments like this. It proberbly comes down to money with the players or that they are too scared of getting injured for the next season.
Poor little dingles. its true bout the Germans there like machines they have got a good chance but i got a feelin it could be Italy, France, Germany or Croatia in the last for.
Simple answer is that there are too many foreigners in our game. We just do not have the youngsters getting the experience of top class football because they are kept out by all the big money stars from abroad who basically don’t give a damn about the English game so long as their bank accounts are topped up regularly. Italy were in a similar state some years ago until they introduced a cap on the number of foreigners. Yes it affected there football for a while but they soon had their home grown stars coming through.
Mclaren proved he had not got a clue when he dropped david beckham when he took the england job,beckham was playing great football at the time and was the spark England needed at the time.Maclaren was a joke for every one to see,good riddens.
Two things are at the forefront of our seemingly
constant failure.
1) When was the last time anyone saw an England
performance that was not tactically negative ?
we seem to play to subdue the strengths of other teams, rather than playing to our own,
at least when Bobby Robson was in charge, we went out to win games, instead trying to make sure the other team didn`t win.
2) And probably more damaging…………..
national pride !!…..or the lack thereof.
As a race of people, we are without doubt FAR
less nationalistic about our Englishness that
our Scots, Welsh and Irish counterparts are,
if/when we lose, our attitude to it is almost
matter of fact, and the players are worse,
for them the 3 lions means nothing more than
elevating their stock and a nice pay day.
simple mate! all the top teams players are mostly foreign and not english, simply because english players are not good enough, the prem wouldnt be the prem without the foreign talent, end of!
Our Premiership teams use the English players as the engine rooms, the backbones of the team. We dont have the players with the technical ability needed to oil the machine. We also never play our best team. Just our best XI playters
You need a premier league of 18 teams max to start winning anything nationally, keep the league cup for the league teams not Premier league, and this will help key players to remain fit and prepared properly for big internationals.
The English psychology however, you can’t change that easily…we expect too much and rest past glories, how many times have you see Hurst’s 66 goal????? We think its easy to emulate it. without understanding what’s now required in the modern game.
12) perfectly put wbabomber
that mentality is missing at WWFC too.
to many mistakes in the key fixtures
1. robinson air shot
2. gerrards volley wide from 6yards, 1-0 up in russia (only needed a draw to qualify and 2-0 would been safe)
3. carson fumble
now how many times do you see manutd, chelsea make mistakes in key games? let alone 3 of the key games in qualifing
“All English Champions League final”?? And how many English players will be playing for those two teams? Think the answer to this whole article is in there somewhere!
wbaforever
The national pride of this country has been extinguished by political correctness gone mad. No longer are we allowed to say we are proud to be English/British, flags only allowed in designated places for designated reasons for fear of upsetting other nationalities or cultures. We must be one of the few nations were nationalism is considered racism, but then i think of football and realise that nothing brings our nation together more than seeing our football team do well. No politician, no tax break, or election can have the same effect that Euro 96 had on generally lifting the nations spirits.
Oh and how you doing mate, the navi busy the weekend??
Bloody hell even GREECE have won the euros!!!
Theo popopopoadodpopopoalopopoodis as manager!
My point is it’s not all about the talent, yes a certain amount is required but also lady luck, we ain’t had much of that over the years and team spirit is massive in tournaments.. do we have that?? Well doesn’t matter for this one
Jarrod.
I think Mclaren was a very minor albeit contributing feature, as are the FA and foreign players. Blaming any of these is simplistic which is why the tabloids love doing it. At the risk of sounding too deep, I think our society is the root cause. We make excuses for bad behaviour and are too forgiving of a lack of effort in our children. The result is that despite patting ourselves on the back about being ‘the Bulldog Breed,’ when the going gets tough the English give up. Why do so few of our players sign for overseas clubs? Because our players lack professionalism. The exceptions Beckham, Owen back this up. They’ve always conducted themselves well. Being tough isn’t about drinking 18 pints and hitting someone with a bottle, it’s about discipline. Anyway I’m sure I’ve bored everyone enough by now
11. Not having a dig but why would you be supporting the germans? If your english then your english so what is the point in that? You don’t choose your country, well unless you decide to just play for another country!!
I for 1 will watch every game hoping for good football and may the best team win.. who that is I don’t give a jot.
I’m not sure the players for some time now are as interested in playing for England as they are for their clubs, there’e not as much money and I am sure they are told just before they go to join the England Camp by their managers ‘Just don’t get yourself injured’. The foreign players I’m also sure are told the same, but I think their mentallity is different to that of English players. They will give it all for their country, but we have seen from English players they make sure they don’t go in on hard challenges and play like all they need to do is turn up because of their stature. Cannot blame the England managers there if the players do not give 100%, England will never win anything ever again until the players’ and their domestic managers’ attitude change
For many England players, it is a question of ‘How much is it worth to wear the England shirt’ and that is the basic problem! Years ago it was an honour to represent your country and to the shirt but now, who cares?
Foreigners take more pride in representing their countries than we do and for England that pride long since went with the greed factor taking over.
Can anyone name an England player who in todays world would be happy to accept no payment for playing for the national side but would be proud to accept an England cap instead?
Would our most famous of players, Billy Wright have played only for the money?
The answer to that one is a very emphatic… NO!
You use Greece and Turkey as examples of lesser teams that are at euro 2008 as opposed to England.
When was the last time England won a European Championship or finished 3rd at a world cup?
England and the English need to wake up, dismount their high horses and smell the roses.
FA blaming SM????
Er, excuse me but the FA only put SM in charge cos he was cheap, whilst they paid off Sven’s contract! So who is to blame please????
Sory for being contraversial, but the FA are just like the current Govt, letting in too many imagrants………LAst one out close the door please……we are off to new life abroard!
29. Yes true BUT compared to England they are lesser footballing nations! Not taking anything away but just look at there leagues! But credit where due they are there we a! Just smelt a rose…
“Well I am sorry but these pundits must have egg on their faces, we are going to witness an all English Champions League final”
Hmm…All English CLUB final but how many English players will be contesting it? OK you list a few (one or two are not first choice) but the problem is not enough young English talent is playing at the top level generally.
It annoys me when people trumpet how good it is for English football to have such a strong Premier league. The ratio of English players playing in the Premiership to foreign players is falling year on year. It’s not just the top four clubs but the Premier league generally.
It’s bad news for the future of the English game and will lead to more empty summers where we kick our heels watching others contesting the European Championship.
Bad managers, poor tactics, players playing too many games etc.. have all played a part too of course as many have said.
So in summary of all of your comments - ENGLISH PRIDE and CAP THE NUMBER OF FOREIGN PLAYERS.
UMM?………well when was the last time you celebrated St.Georges Day? Yet everyone goes out for a Guinness on St.Paddy’s (sorry Patrick’s)Day!
Raising English Pride will happen when the authorities (FA and Govt) make the right decisions!
AND Capping the number of foreign footballers in the starting line up would be a great start. MR FA………just make the change and stop skirting round it! PLEASE!!!!
I can think of TWO careers that pay well for FAILURE. Weather forecasting and Football Management in the U.K. How many of you knew that VE DAY was May the 8th? Or that VJ Day is 14th August, (or the 15th according to where you read it)? The idea of pride in Britain has been stamped out of the English although the Scots, Welsh and Irish still make a good fist of it. Add to that the ‘old school tie’ method of selection of the FA committee and you have a recipe for total failure. Even Alf Ramsey was chopped off at the knees finally because he opposed the know-nothing FA rulers.
The FA are just looking around for the next fat pay check…that’s all they care about, football is secondary.
Don’t see many of them queueing up to get into Stafford Rangers on a Saturday…do you?
23 bomber, perfectly put mate, its now against the law to be patriotic and proud of your country here in England through fear of upsetting the visitors, this and the fact that these players earn disgusting amounts of money for doing bugger all, there are people out there working 9-5 and more 5-7 days a week that dont earn what these players get in a week, this myth that players “tire” is complete horse sh.., i have worked 8-4 5 days a week and trained 3 times a week and then played 90 mins on a sunday and these guys train a couple of hours a day.
And yes, mclaren was a prat, why do you think the borough fans rejoiced when he left, these players should be made to watch cool runnings before every match.
Tell me what you see ?? you know the rest.
England will never achieve the world cup again because we have gone the way of cricket with the foreign players. Our youngsters do not get a chance with the big clubs who quite openly poach 13 and 14 year olds from other countries.
The cost of having a powerful premiership is a weak and wretched England. We’ll make semi - finals occasionally by fluke but we will never attain the status of the world cup winners in 66.
And the answer to the question about which is the priority of most players - it’s their paymasters the clubs. Look how Sven could only play certain players for half a game in friendlies because had he not done so the likelyhood was that the player would have been ‘injured’ for the game.
Also consider this. The big four managers - who supply most of the England players are all non - English so why should they give a toss about the England team?? Does anyone really believe that Furguson would put England before Man U????? Come on…
PS I also have a theory about why we didn’y qualify - some of our best players were awful during the last game. No effort, no commitment, no interest. Why was that i wonder
Our key players will be having a big rest this Summer for the first time in years and will probably be lengthening their careers as a result. maybe that’s what they wanted. Who cares about the European championship - its the world cup that matters. The truth is out there….
FAILED - because they are an over rated, over paid bunch of primadonnas and to put it simply not good enough to be in the tournament end of
I here what you are saying and the first thing to do is take all the power that the big 4 have and put a cap on the number of english players that they have to play in there teams like 5 english player every game.
I can think of 4 players who hould play for england for free gareth barry, ashley young, gabby abolanahor and micah richards to name but a few but these players don’t play for the big 4 and never have
My Tuppenyworth is like most of the posts. It is a combination of factors eg
So-called top Prem players not risking injury etc against teams like Macedonia and Andorra in qualifying. They simply did not try.
Arrogant attitudes - we are bigger than the others!
Smaller population to choose from than Germany. They have double our population. It is one factor, just ask Wales and Luxembourg. Not always but its there.
Over reliance on physique and physical play raether than skill development at school and in youth teams. Check out the Dutch and the Portuguese!
Drunkenness, drug taking and a lack of discipline. One reason for Irish lads being chased and picked by clubs like Wolves is they often have that discipline that local lads do not have.
Too many unfit slob, couch potatoes in a cash-rich society that prefers to spend its time not doing physical activity.
5. Swedewolf Bró. Absolutly spot on mate. Getting rid of Svenn was the biggest mistake, and I blame it on the fans, and the media. He could have taken you places. And remember, just because England invented football dosent give you the divine right to qualify for, never mind winn tournements.
Well said bully (25). Totally agree.
The first thing Capello did was introduce some Italian style discipline to the squad get- together. (No mobiles, no wags, everyone sits down to a meal together and leaves together, etc).
WBABomber (23)…….Great points……..BUT…..How on earth did they get by the moderator ?
Post 42.
Answer!
Because no-one was slaggin’ off the Dingles
or the Express & Dingle.
41. Berlin Wolf - on your population point, Croatia only has around 5 million people (about the size of Scotland) but what their football team has got is a manager who can motivate his players and has tactical nous (he also doesn’t mind getting his hair wet!) and world class players (Modric, Eduardo, that bloke who scored the winner against England). England failed to qualify because basically we do not have enough quality in depth - we couldn’t replace Ferdinand, Terry, Owen and Rooney with sufficient quality for the second Croatia game. Mclaren wasn’t good enough and he got his tactics wrong (away in Croatia and at home to Macedonia) - he was also unlucky with injuries at crucial times. Capello will get it right - we do have some quality players (Gerrard, Rooney, Ferdinand, Barry, Hargreaves, Walcott) and perhaps expectations will be a little more realistic next time.