No, not the referendum – although don’t get me started on that can of worms, I mean the constant disappointment of the national team at… well, the national game.

Forgive me for interfering, you might think ‘Why does a Welshman feel the need to make a comment?’ and yes, on a primal level I do enjoy the failure of the England team, but deep down I have an affinity with the Three Lions which stretches back years.

It saddens me to see the bar raised so high and then to witness the same bar being used to beat mercilessly anyone that fails to hit those lofty heights. But who exactly is to blame here? Is anyone? And what can be done?

Let’s look at this from a structural perspective with a touch of coaching and a modicum of common sense.

Look over my past blogs and you will get a sense of where I come from, of where my footballing education took place and of my particular belief with regard football development – so let’s start with coaching

Consider the national team the pinnacle of football, regardless of what you may believe or the Premier League may have you believe, for now. That means as you progressively work down the ‘pyramid’ you will find at the very bottom the entry level, the youth systems and amateur leagues scattered around the country.

A builder knows that a solid foundation is required before the roof goes on and it’s the same when it comes to the national game, amongst the black clouds though there are brief glimmers of hope. Technically gifted players are coming through, certainly at the higher levels – look at Tottenham for example!

Of a country of such size and resources though, there should be more – but with space for only 11 on the pitch at any one time England should be in a position to compete at the highest possible level.

Now the foundation isn’t as rock solid as we would like but at least it’s better than being on shifting sand.

To continue on the subject of coaching though, it has become self-evident that at the higher levels it’s not as in tune as it perhaps should be. I’ve mentioned before that as the continental teams progress in their set-up, so the British clubs have remained rooted in the past.

Listening to Harry Redknapp this week rant over the potential appointment of Gareth Southgate highlighted the misguided understanding of what is needed in a modern international manager (coach…). Redknapp pushed Sam Allardyce and even more strangely Steve Bruce. Both fine managers but incredibly limited and would be found out at the international level.

I have oft heard the quote regarding Brian Clough as being ‘the best manager England never had’. Again, a fine manager but would have been a terrible appointment by the FA in my opinion. The ability to wheel and deal to bring in specific talents to suit a rigid system is completely useless at the international level, the respective strengths of Messrs Redknapp, Allardyce, Bruce and Clough are suited for club management with a strong set of coaches and as such would offer little to no improvement at International level.

What you need is an understanding, that can be translated on the pitch through a squad that buys into your approach. England haven’t done that for years, probably since Sir Alf held the reigns.

You have a multitude of excellent strikers, but you can’t play them all – although Roy certainly tried which results in Harry Kane on the wing, taking corners. We’ve see this up close and personal at Portman Road with players so woefully out of position that they become more a hindrance than a help – wasted positions.

The coach needs to pick his system, his style and then stick to it by finding the best English players to fit. Roy hovered between his favourite 11 on the pitch and his favoured system and style but never did the two sides match up properly. It was like watching an impatient child try in vain to make two odd jigsaw pieces fit together.

And when he came close, as he did in the second half against Wales, he would then stubbornly try and go back to square one to make it work. And this is strange because Roy is considered a very good coach but, as with Liverpool, he appears only to be successful with limited resources both on and off the pitch – throw a huge pool of talent at him and he has tended to struggle. It’s like being given a car park full of supercars and asked to pick one.

And this is why some of those old style managers would never work, they are too stubborn and inflexible to be able to react to any given situation. Remember Italy ’90, when the senior players sat with Sir Bobby to discuss style and set-up after a dire draw with the Republic of Ireland? Against the masterful Dutch they put on such a masterclass it propelled them on to the semi-final! Sir Bobby understood that ego could be put to one side and that a second pair of eyes could work wonders – could you imagine Brian Clough doing that?

Senior players at international level are invariably experienced pros who have performed at the highest level in their respective leagues. They bring with them a wealth of experience from their clubs and foreign team-mates, the coaches should be encouraged to tap into this as much as possible. Less manage, more guide and coach!

I mentioned before the structure, and here it is primarily the structure of English football. The emphasis in England is the Premier League and Champions League and for that – read money, money, money!!

This forces the national team down to a part-time annoyance and was certainly treated as such by many of the Premier League managers. If there is insufficient focus on the national team then they will never hit the heights at the major tournaments.

Ask yourself how important the England team is – I’ve often seen across the forum many people begrudgingly tolerate international football. But you haven’t seen the impact of a successful international tournament have you?

Those of us that remember Italy ’90 will remember the tidal wave of euphoria that the country enjoyed in that summer, even when the quality of football was poor we look back at that magical summer!

In 2006 I was fortunate enough to work in Paris during the World Cup, saw France win the semi-final, the scenes out on the streets were incredible and the feelgood factor felt everywhere. Why on earth would you not want that in London, Birmingham or Ipswich?

But then as the structure of football in England is geared toward money, so the emphasis will drive to increase the amount of games for the top clubs to raise additional revenue.

Did you see the Spurs players through the tournament? After an impressive season they looked a shadow of themselves. Regardless of his own performances during the tournament, there can be no denying that Harry Kane is a special talent.

However, in the 40-week season he played 64 games – more than one and a half per week not including internationals. Regardless of his salary, his body is limited and the recovery time simply isn’t there – you cannot expect to perform at the highest level continuously for almost 12 months (if you count in the international tournaments).

Gareth Bale (soon to be Sir Gareth Bale) even said himself, the winter break is an absolute must and makes a massive difference later in the season. Every continental league identifies with this, except those in the UK. And why are there two domestic cup competitions being played?

I would argue for the Premier League and possibly the Championship that the League Cup is a nonsense, it adds nothing but fixture congestion. We have the best cup competition in the FA Cup, let’s raise its profile by ensuring it is the only cup competition for the top teams.

I guess by applying what I would consider common sense to both the structure and coaching ethos of football in this country you could be challenging at the major tournaments again, you certainly have the players – put them in their correct positions, drop them if they don’t fit and give them every chance to succeed.

Now excuse me for a moment, bring on Belgium!

The_Romford_Blue added 15:47 - Jun 29 You lost me at 'On a primal level I do enjoy the failure of the England team'
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Ftnfwest added 22:24 - Jun 29 Successive England coaches, certainly since hoddle, have by an large been reasonably consistent in picking what most people would agree are the best 11 players. But not the best team or any regular system which is what Iceland used against us. I get that we have a poor defence and everyone knew that before we went this time but the mess of a formation in front of that left me completely non-plussed for each game. But behind everything for me is the technical ability of our players which I don't think has improved as much as many think. We shouldn't need to be vastly improved in this area to beat Iceland but to truly complete at world level we do. The way Spain, Germany, Italy, France and the South American teams move the ball at pace, and themselves once they play a pass is light years ahead of us. I remember watching France v Nigeria at the last World Cup in a R16 match or at least the last half hour with the score at 0-0 but the Nigerians by all accounts had been by far the better side. They continued in this vein for another 10 minutes with a fast passing and moving game creating further chances but then seemed to totally 'hit the wall' and couldn't sustain their game, their fitness couldn't quite follow it through for 90 mins. France picked them off 2-0 I think and in that last 20 mins the Nigerians slowed to a crawl, laboriously knocking the ball to each other. I suddenly realised where I'd seen that pace of game before, it was exactly how we were playing at the time for the whole game. I don't think expecting to beat Iceland is raising the bar particularly high but we won't ever really challenge at these competitions until we catch up to the world game technically. Right now we could only really expect to beat the girl guides second eleven, oh and Wales of course..

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Daleyitfc added 14:26 - Jun 30 I agree 100% with your analysis of the issues, especially regarding the merits/demerits of managers mentioned, but only partially with your solutions. I would scrap the League Cup completely, but winter break? Totally unnecessary : it further panders to the idea that being super-fit is the only requirement for the modern pro. I think we simply need a much higher proportion of Premier League players to be English, or at least from the British Isles, like in the old days. I would impose a limit on the number of non-British Isles players in each squad, and that limit would be zero. That would also improve the entertainment value of watching the PL games : I stopped when it was entirely taken over by foreign players and managers, playing a dull non-British style of game. Obviously a ban on foreign managers too, and a limit on each club of 25 professional players at any one time. A proper reserve league, and the restoration of the Home Internationals too. As to the next England manager : can't think of anyone at the moment that I would support in that position. I personally still hope they give the job to Mick McCarthy, because at least then we'd be rid of him here.

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