Too true: Whilst we are at it where are the signings? Where is the money? Michael ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There has been much talk this week about the FA's 'root and branch' reform of the game at all levels in English football. If you watched the England Under 19s play their first two games in the European Championship, you'll have seen exactly why it is desperately needed. They beat the Austrians 3-2 largely by being physically more dominant and by benefitting from a couple of defensive howlers. However, throughout, the Austrians consistently passed it through midfield with greater precision and purpose. England's defence relied on power and strength. Could they play the ball more than five yards? No. Was anyone comfortable on the ball? Who knows - they didn't keep it long enough to be able to tell. There were a lot of balls into the channels, lots of those annoying 30 yard chips from the front of the last third to the back of the first third which achieve nothing except to cede possession. There was sufficient long ball football to suggest it was still 1985 especially with the keeper aimlessly booting it long. It can't be difficult for a coach to tell a goalkeeper not to do that and surely even a retard could remember not to do it, so we must surmise that they have been coached into the notion that this is a good idea when, to anyone with half a brain, it's obviously a stupid waste of the ball. The English lads control was often sloppy; the midfield was all-running, box to box relying on pace and power over technique. There was no sign of a player who could take someone on and beat them with skill. Against this opposition and indeed against most opposition this combination of a powerful engine room and big, broad-shouldered defence will be victorious, just as it is at full international level. Despite being constantly out-played on the deck, the sheer physicality against a smaller, lightweight side combined with some powerful shooting will win most games. However as a template for successful, tournament winning football it is palpably the same old same old which has failed England for years. This is but another generation that has been inculcated into The English Way. It looks like a form of the game coached and played by stupid people. It's not unfair to call this Stupid Football. Yet, I'm reluctant to believe they are all as stupid as their football suggests. It's just become entrenched as a tradition. They look like lads who for the last 10 years have been picked for their height and size first and foremost. They defensively bossed Austria in the air but were made to look flat-footed when the Austrians played it neatly around the box. England's defenders looked slow-witted, relying on last-ditch tackles and throwing bodies around to stop the Austrians. To some observers this might look like brave, noble defending but the truth is it's more often a response to being inferior in technique and in their understanding of the game. As the match wore on, England, as is traditional, were increasingly unable to keep possession despite being 3-1 up. Austria dominated and England sat deeper and deeper, panicking as the ball went into their box. They conceded a second through not pressing the ball well enough and seemed to lack composure throughout the team, fearing a third equalizing goal. The Austrians, though not exceptional in any way, clearly had been trained to pass the ball through midfield and to retain possession. They were not the best at it, but you could see what they were trying to achieve. They had much to learn and more skill to acquire. However - and here's the problem - England looked fully formed. You might think this is a good thing but it really wasn't. Their success or otherwise merely relies on how well they play The England Way on any given day. That is all they know and this is as good as they can get. There is no more education to be imposed on them. This is it now; use pace, power, strength to dominate sides and rely on set-pieces and opposition error to score. The next game was against a Dutch side that had just been beaten 4-1 by France. It was a repeat performance by England against a surprisingly poor opposition who played very like England. The difference was they had two lads who could beat a man with skill. England conceded early to a sloppily defended cross but a good header nonetheless. The passing was at times awful, simple three yard balls being kicked out of touch or missing their man while the midfield was by-passed all too often. In a mirror of the senior side, England had a perfectly good goal disallowed for hand ball and ended up losing 1-0. A draw would have been a fair result but England were bereft of invention and again played Stupid Football; vision-less, boot it long to the fast kid, get the centre-halves in the box for a corner stuff. Frankly, it is not surprising that these lads are mostly out on loan to third and fourth tier clubs. You don't want to be too harsh - but then again these are not kids, they're young 18 and 19-year-old men who need to learn some truths - and frankly, they're not that good. That's the sad truth. That's not to say they're hopeless, and I'm sure some will have decent club careers but top flight Premier League stars, let alone full internationals they are not. Not even close. If I was a manager and this was the best English talent available to me, I'd be off to France or Paraguay with my cheque book to buy some skilful foreign type on the cheap because these lads are already nearly 20 and have so far to go in their football education. It's not the fault of these kids. They are but a product of The England Way. They have had no choice. It's The England Way or the highway. There has been too much Spain-love recently - successful football doesn't have to be played by 11 short-arsed fanny merchants - but the sad truth is this England team has no fanny merchant as at all. They are fannyless, in fact. The system they have been brought up in has surgically removed any fanny tendencies they might have had. We end up playing Stupid Football because we have bred stupid players unable to be creative, unable to control a ball under pressure, unable to pass the ball consistently accurately but who are bloody good at running fast after a ball, bloody good at out-muscling weaker players and giving the ball a hell of a thump with foot or head when they reach it. It's astonishingly unsophisticated football. Whether coach Noel Blake is merely trying to get them to play to their strengths or is actively encouraging this pre-historic style is not clear but what is clear is that we can write off this layer of English internationals as not good enough in any way shape or form. Let us pray the Under-17s are of a different quality all together, because so far this has been a shocking and ugly display of the paucity of English talent. ======================================================================================= Dr Michael Benjamin, Community Psychiatrist ------------------------------- myRay: On-line Self-Help CBT http://www.myRay.com ------------------------------ Mental Health: http//www.MyDoctorExplains.com -------------------------------- Auditing || Quality Control http://www.MyDoctorExplains.com/alamo/ -------------------------------- Blog: http://www.DrMichaelBenjamin.com _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list Leedslist@list.zetnet.co.uk http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist and the hardest time in a sailor's day is to watch the sun as it sails away
