English Football's Negative Mindset

A change in mindset and approach is required for English football to progress

Before the game on Tuesday the expectations of many was to come out of the game with a draw. Many knew that Ukraine would be a big test for England and the possibility of defeat was high. Yes there were players such as Gerrard saying they wanted to win the game, that they didn’t want to just play for a draw, yet after watching the game we now know that that was not true. England played not to lose, they did not play to win. Some do not understand the negative reaction to the game, if a draw was what many expected and hoped then why the negativity? This question will be analysed by The Whitehouse Address in today’s article.

The game was awful to watch, it lacked quality, precision and was a desperate attempt by both teams to not lose. Many flocked to the world of twitter to vent their frustrations, an occurrence which most often generates much negativity and the criticism of select individuals. 

Now I am not sure what kind of performance these fans believe that Roy Hodgson, the eternal pragmatist, was looking to play? Open, expansive attacking football is not Roy’s way. In fairness to him he is not a long ball merchant and clearly wants his sides to play the ball on the floor as much as possible, yet there is a defensive mindset on which he sets out his teams which is a concern for England. 

The FA's pragmatist

Roy Hodgson is a coach educated in the ‘old school’ philosophies of Allen Wade, the FA Technical Director of the 60’s and 70’s. Wade was all about functional teams and showed a distinct lack of trust in ‘skilful’ and individual players. Although he has perhaps modernised his views on football Hodgson is seeped in this ‘pragmatic’ approach and this has been evidenced throughout his coaching career. 

Yes he has done well to take lower ranked sides to impressive heights and you cannot argue with what he has done with what he has been given, yet he is treating England in this manner, the same as how previous coaches have done. 

England performance at the Euro’s last summer was applauded for being a valiant effort and that they were ‘unlucky’ to go out on penalties. This is simply not true. England were awful against Italy and were simply fortunate that Italy could not score from their many chances. The manner of the exit hid the issues which were evident in England’s team and Hodgson’s approach. 

It was the same as when Eriksson was the manager; another who adored the functionality of the English philosophy. A style of football built on a defensive mindset, which was worried more about not losing than trying to win. 

Now many will argue that building your sides success from a defensive foundation is a good idea, and I would agree, however it cannot be for defending sake only. The best sides, the most successful sides are excellent defensive teams, this is essential. Just look at Spain’s record in major tournaments since 2008 and look at how many goals they have conceded. 

What I mean is that if Hodgson decides to defend deep then this should be seen as a strategy to counter attack, a la Germany. Mourinho is similar in his approach to Hodgson except that he produces sides who are master counter attackers. Hodgson's problem appears to be a fear of allowing England to express themselves when it comes to the bigger games, against better opposition. This is not good for England’s future success.

If England do progress, which is nowhere near definite, then Hodgson will be criticised for his inability to win games against Montenegro, Poland and Ukraine will be where criticism is laid at him. Yes Hodgson’s record for England in terms of losing games is impressive, he has only lost once in 20 games yet the truth is that his approach and mindset has not helped England's qualfying campaign and now England find themselves having to win their next two games. These performances have not been conducive for England to be successful. 

Hodgson’s mindset is a problem for England to succeed and progress further than the level they are at now. You see if England do qualify for the World Cup then what can we expect? More disappointment? Scraping out the group and being knocked out to any of the top sides who we could encounter in the second round? I believe so. 

Many were amazed that the players were so wasteful and poor in possession against Ukraine. Well it’s obvious why, they approached the game with a ‘fear of failure’. Hodgson called it a ‘cup final’ yet instead of this inspiring the players he frightened them. You may argue that this is the fault of the players yet the manager creates the environment in that dressing room and it is evident he created one of worry and anxiety. Now of course England got out with the point they desired, yet the signs are not ominous with Hodgson in charge.

England's cultural issues

Now I don’t know if England will actually qualify for the World Cup, yet to be honest I wouldn’t want them to playing in this manner and approach. Yes Greece succeeded playing a defensive brand of football in 2004 yet is this the model on which England wish to take their future forward on? 

Now I am not blaming just Hodgson, he is the victim of the culture which has being English football for decades; a culture of negativity, excuses and fear. Our style of play and development of players has shown a distrust of the ball itself which has comes from a distrust of skill and creativity. English culture has produced a ‘safety first’ approach where you don’t take risks or 'try' things. Praise is given to the functional players, the safe players and those with imagination are lamented. 

What has this culture produced? It has developed players who are afraid of having the ball and afraid of making mistakes. This culture and mindset goes all the way down from the England national team to grassroots football. The culture has continued because of a fear in the coaches and parents to make the change needed. We have had to rely on foreign players and coaches to introduce new methods and styles who have taught is that our approach has been glaringly wrong and negative. 

English football quite simply needs a culture change. The question is, is Roy Hodgson the right man for this change? No. Just like Capello and Ericsson before, these man simply continue the English pragmatism and negativity. They adored the functionality of the 4-4-2, they reduced our quality players to functional, safety first players and produced a negative mindset in the English team. 

Yes the players are to blame yet these coaches and the FA 'decision makers' are to blame. What is needed is radical appointment of a coach who has new ideas and approaches to help England progress and who can change the mindset of the team from fearful and negative to positive and confidence.

Now call me crazy but Steve McLaren was actually a good appointment in terms of his coaching ideas and philosophy. The problem was that he was not given the time to implement a new way of playing effectively and his career was cut short.  Glenn Hoddle could have taken the nation forward in terms of style and philosophy yet destroyed his own career as well as England’s future. Hoddle knew what England needed and put it in place, the signs looked positive and then the FA back-tracked and put arguably our best side through the negative 4-4-2 philosophies of Ericsson and Capello.

It is not inconceivable to argue that McLaren and Hoddle are arguably the most progressive and forward thinking coaches England have produced and would have been ideal for England’s future. They showed a new way of doing things, which although produced mixed outcomes highlighted what English football needed - change and progression. 

The truth has been that a new approach has been needed for decades, since Wade and Hughes got their hands on English football, after Graham Taylor, after Ericsson and after Capello. A new style was required which could bring out the best of England’s players, yet each time a pragmatist was brought back in because the FA feared the ‘revolution’, feared a change in the ‘norm’ and decided to go back to what they knew. 

Yes we qualified for tournaments, but it meant that we played with a style and importantly ‘mentality’ of fear and negativity. Our culture is built on this mindset, and this needs to change, dramatically.

A culture of fear and negativity

Personally I would have loved to see Rene Meulensteen appointed as the FA Technical Director, U21 coach (or even the senior coach!). Yes he is foreign yet he he is a coach who would be perfect for the players confidence and expression as well as being a great teacher for England's future 'blueprint' and for young and up and coming coaches. He would have shown that the FA did want to move in a new direction, instead their appointments highlight a fear of change and progress.

The appointments of Hodgson and Southgate highlight that the FA do not want to modernise the national game, instead they want to keep the ‘status quo’. They (and their sponsors, of who dictate what their decisions) need England at major tournaments, they do not need them to win it, only to be there for the pre-tournament hype and advertising. 

Major tournaments are big business and not having England in them is a big loss for businesses, yet we cannot be content with what we are constantly doing can we? 

Should we be content with a style which merely scraps through and which when arrives play with negativity? We need to play in a more positive manner (just watch Belgium and what they have done in terms of developing modern players and playing with expression and positivity) in order to become realistic challengers for international trophies.

The culture of English football needs to change, and although we need to address the youth levels we need to change what is happening with the English national team. From the seniors downwards we need to develop a style of play which no longer is built on negativity but which is positive and progressive. All the youth levels should be looking to develop in the same manner and be coached and developed in an environment which is competitive, demanding and importantly positive. 

The English negativity needs to end and a new culture needs to emerge, one which promotes confidence and positivity in our play and ambitions. It is only then will we see the belief in our players and see them express themselves in the way we want. You’ll be amazed at what this kind of environment can produce.

This blog is not arguing for a revolution as such in the teams style, merely arguing that a change in mindset to approach games with a positive attitude instead of the ‘don’t lose’ mentality. Right now playing for England is a negative experience, this needs to change.

In terms of style a good start would be to use the German model of ‘counter-pressing’ where we can use the speed with which we possess to play some frightening counter attacking football. Right now players like Walcott play with fear, afraid to engage defenders and drive at them. Hodgson needs to allow players like Walcott to express himself and give him the confidence to play without fear. 

If I was seeking a change in England’s style then I would have to consider changing the formation to a 3-5-2 or something more akin to 3-3-1-3. The criticism of Kyle Walker was justified, quite simply because he is not a full back. He is a wing back, or simply a winger. He lacks the defensive intelligence and willingness to be a full back. The same can be said of Glen Johnson, Ashley Cole and Leighton Baines. 

Evidently we don’t have full backs, so why play with them? Why not change our style to accommodate these players instead of restricting them? Imagine these players playing as wing backs, given licence to do what they do best, attack? We have three central defenders in Cahill, Jagielka and Lescott who could play as a back three and in the future there is Jones, Smalling and Wisdom who could become very good players. 

A player like Carrick can play the holding role he has done so well for Man Utd (29 caps is still an amazement to me). In front of him you could have Rooney playing behind a front free of Sturridge, Welbeck and Walcott. A positive and progressive style using the speed of the front players with the support of the pace of the wing backs would mean England could actually look to dominate sides or counter attack with blistering speed.

The truth is that we have been burdened by negativity for too long in this country. We have developed coaches who have coached and developed players with a defensive mindset and then wonder why our players and teams play in this manner. Now I am not arguing against being strong defensively, what I am arguing is that a strong defence is important as a strategy to regain the ball and look to attack. Defending for defending sakes is a negative approach to football and one which denies our best players of expressing their talents. 

We need to find ways of bringing out the best of our players, being more positive in our mindset is a start. 

The Whitehouse Address @The_W_Address

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If you want to know more about what is needed to 'fix' English football then why not read 

"The Way Forward: Solutions to England's Football Failings" by Matt Whitehouse

"From grassroots through to the national team this book breaks down the problems and gives insight in how we can correct it. The research and effort put into this book is excellent but will it fall on deaf ears? I hope not, the F.A. Should purchase 400,000 copies and give it to the volunteer coaches and hey even some academy coaches to try and get them to understand what changes need to be made" Review from Chris Hodgson