Rex wrote:
Technical level in general I feel has improved, but not to the level of the Italian, the German or the Spanish leagues. I think this is mostly about what is emphasized in the education of youth players, and I feel more effort overall nationwide has been put into developing the technical level of kids. However, it still doesn't look to me as if technical ability is THE focus when it comes to very young kids, and that is a problem; to get to a European top level I think the foundation here needs to be established already when the players reach the age of 13-14. After that, it is very, very difficult to make up for lost time according to Wenger, for instance, and he is certainly knowledgeable in this respect. Generally, players coming through the ranks at Arsenal these days are at a very good technical level, and that is no doubt because the emphasis here is on just that. That still doesn't seem to be the case for a lot of other clubs though! There still mostly seems to be too much emphasis put on stamina, strength, combative mentality, and tackling from a young age. Those are important traits, of course, but IMO these things should be near the end of players' education. This is where playing for points in league football could be an advantage I think.
I think play in England is mostly deficient from a tactical point of view as well, and I agree with what Tim writes. U21 teams in league football could help in that respect as well I think, but the main problem here seems to be the relative lack of education with coaches and managers. English football is miles behind Italy for instance in this regard.
I don't really know which steps have been taken by the FA to improve the quality of the education of coaches and young players, but it doesn't seem to be either effective or enough. Germany is a good example of an FA which managed to change these things on a national level, and they are currently reaping the rewards.
I read a few good articles a couple of years ago about how Germany transformed their youth system post Euro 2000 which is widely believed to have resulted in them producing the likes of Muller, Kroos, Gotze, Ozil and Hummels. I’m sure you know about it, but their going back to basics and all parties being involved in it is what I think is lacking in England (and the wider UK countries by extension).
I see plenty of talk by successive FA chairmen and the likes of Scudamore at the Premier League about grassroots investment but throwing money at the problem without the correct strategy isn’t going to amount to any substantial change. Like grassroots investment, much was made about the St George’s Park complex which appears to be a step in the right direction, but finding a winning philosophy is only going to benefit the country if it’s adopted and implemented nationwide and not by a single training complex. It needs to run through clubs and academies and be the standard. Now I’ve no doubt clubs do their best and want to bring through youth players, but priorities lie in winning promotion, avoiding relegation and cup runs to survive financially for most. Developing coaching teams to sustain a high quality youth development structure is often an afterthought when money is tight and needed to fund the core aims of the clubs. Coaching structures are too fractured throughout the country and at the mercy of individual clubs priorities to provide anything more than sporadic success for clubs with small numbers players being developed. Without an overhaul and a plan nationwide it’s always going to be so.
Then there is the individual coaches themselves, the ones in charge of producing the superstars of the future. In the UK there’s also too much reliance and focus in general on physical attributes and on picking teams which can get immediate results at the expense of development or talent. One of the Scottish coaches (Ricky Sbragia – one time failed Sunderland manager post Roy Keane) recently left out Jack Harper, a highly rated youth player schooled at the Real Madrid academy, from a youth squad because he was too small and the coach’s focus was on bigger players and runners. Now I might be overdoing it a bit, but if you’re you are a teenager and you’re called up to a squad with a player who has come from Real Madrid, would that not be inspiring to some degree? To talk about the club, the players and the lifestyle? Have some hope that maybe one day working on your touch and weaknesses might see you improve and get a shot at a bigger club? But no, that’s thrown out the window because Jack Harper is too small and Ricky Sbragia needs wins to justify his continued employment with the SFA. Ricky Sbragia symbolises much of what I think is wrong here. Dinosaur coaches, schooled in the past when Graham Souness type hatchet tackles were the order of the day and physicality was prized by the coaches, who need results to keep their jobs. It’s slightly different at national than club level but the point remains, coaching needs to be seen as a profession which provides and readies players for the next level, not one which produces wins and trophies at the expense of development.
I think the Dutch focus very much on this, that winning isn’t the end game for kids but well-rounded players are, and that mentality here needs to change. I believe I read that the Dutch, or possibly Ajax, focus on coaching technique in players early years, then slowly introduce a more competitive aspect as they move through the age groups into their mid-teens. By the time they are late teens they’ve had the technical schooling at an early age then experienced competition as they’ve grown. Coaches may have gone through all their badges and have the qualifications, but if the mentality is still one of winning at any cost, we're not going to catch up with other countries.
The problems are far and wide. The philosophy, structure, facilities and coaching set up all need radical overhaul, and on a national level with consistency across the country before there will be any real change. Soundbites from the powers that be about pumping money at the problem mask their poor attempts at any real reform.
