“On our past record we
have to accept we have not done as well as we should have done. This means if
we want to do better things have to change.”
There are many who have applauded Greg Dyke’s speech on
Wednesday regarding the serious issues which plague the national game. Many
believe that the FA finally has a man at the helm who can make a difference and
improve a situation which has got worse year on year. The truth however appears
a little different, although Mr Dyke clearly has a passion and desire to make a
difference, one cannot help but feel that his words will be backed
up by little action. He has asked for time and patience, yet as The Whitehouse Address discusses, there are answers to
his questions and solutions which can be implemented now.
Firstly I was disappointed with two things which Greg Dyke
said. First was his statement that England can win the World Cup in 2022. Now either
he doesn’t realise that this will take place in Qatar and thus in intense heat, where England’s players will suffer tragically. Or perhaps he knows something we
don’t and that the Qatar World Cup will actually be moved to England – thus our
chances of success do appear rather larger?! Yet in all seriousness the issue of
proclaiming your success is what can be argued cost the ‘Golden Generation’ and England's future chances a problem.
Secondly I felt that putting together a commission and
relaying the ‘findings’ in 2014 was a complete waste of valuable time. So we
are now to wait for 18 months for this commission to highlight the issues we
already know about? The EPPP had already looked into the issues. Before that the
Meltdown report highlighted the problems. Howard Wilkinson laid out the issues over 15 years ago in 1997!
What is needed is not time wasted on ‘finding out the issues’ but
actually action, and now! It screams of the FA attempting to ‘solve’ a problem yet
in fact doing nothing. This is not what is required. There are solutions to the
issues known and these can be addressed now.
The past failings
We know what was the real reason for the Golden
Generation to fail, yes tactics were poor and expectations and pressure over-heightened. Yet was it just not the
simple fact that English players weren’t good enough?
For too long we have been
fed a myth regarding the levels of our players and keep on hoping that this myth
becomes a reality. It never does. And now we are starting to understand,
starting to see that we have not progressed as a nation in decades.
We have
witnessed other nations rise to the top of world football through their development
of players and a culture of football which is suited for international success.
Brazil, Italy and Germany have dominated international football, Holland and
France have continually produced great players and teams and now we have the
rise of Spain and now even Belgium too.
These past
several decades we have seen other nations doing it better than we ever have. And yet we
still believe we are the best? We are very deluded. However those times of
delusion appear behind us and a time of reality and action has awoken in many.
We have an appreciation for foreign football more than ever before and we have
a new generation of coaches who have a different mentality to the old-school-Charles-Hughes-FA-way-of-things.
This is a positive step for England’s future. Yet what is required is action and real solutions to the problems English football
faces.
The problems
"Personally I think the
situation is serious, very serious. But saying that is easy. Before we can
actually do anything we need to understand why this is happening."
Dyke laid out the situation as a “complex issue” which “English
football needs to find a solution together.” This is true. We all know there are serious
issues which have been neglected for too long in England’s youth development. Howard Wilkinson wanted to make the necessary changes over 15 years yet his
plans were watered down and for those academies which were set up they were
left to their own devices.
What happened was that at England’s ‘elite’ levels, away from
the watchful eyes of the FA, meant thousands of English players were ruined by poor
coaching and philosophies. This is not to say the FA could have done much
better yet this issue has been the reason why so many of England’s ‘talented’ 12-14’s year
olds have not progressed to become top level footballers this past decade.
The creation of the
EPPP addressed these concerns and sought to improve standards, which is
commendable and necessary, if not a little overdue! This new audit system which
seeks to improve the quality of academies has therefore been carried out these
past 18 months. Will this produce a better level of players? It will certainly
help, as standards needed to be addressed and improved, yet will it take players
to the levels required to compete with the foreign players who are taking the
positions of our domestic players?
Greg Dyke made a comment which seemed to dismiss responsibility
from the FA and put it on to the Academies in terms of youth development. In
some ways he was correct as the FA relinquished power to the clubs, yet to say
this “there are areas that we do not directly control – Youth Development in
particular” is laughable and offensive.
You see the FA have a major role to
play in youth development, in fact you can argue that their sole job as a
national body is to focus on the grassroots and youth. Unfortunately Dyke’s
assertion points to what many have worried about for too long, that the FA
really do not value youth development as their priority.
If they did then they
would have used the £900m spent on a (needless) Wembley on investing in talent
centres across the country and coach education. Imagine what that money could
have done for England these past 10 years. Instead their focus was on the senior
setup and the lucrative financial possibilities of a new stadium.
The FA neglected youth
development and showed clearly what their priorities truly were. On top of
that the building of the national football centre was also put on hold in order
to Wembley to be built. Now I am not the biggest fan of St George’s Park,
personally I think it is pretentious and over indulgent. And importantly I feel
that it neglects the purpose it was supposed to be used for, a centre for
developing world class coaches and players. It cost so much to build, and took
so much time that it’s cost the nation a decade of ‘world class education’.
But look, we
cannot change the past, like Dyke said, yet we can learn from it and see that
the FA’s view of their role needs to change, radically to value bottom up
projects over top down ones.
Therefore what the FA’s role must be is to educate every grassroots
coach in the country who work with young players about their model for player
development. Their own FA Skills programme should be taught to every coach as a
mandatory requirement and these coaches should then be instructed about what
young grassroots players require (this chapter of my book The Way Forward looks
at the grassroots game and its issues in more depth).
What the FA need to make sure is that as a nation we are developing confident
and skilful young players in the grassroots game, not destroying talent and
skill, which is what is happening at this time. We need to place more value on
futsal and the FA should seek to create more futsal centres which allow more
young players to play and develop their skills.
The truth is that we have
failed our young players for too long and wonder why we don’t develop players capable to dealing with the requirements of the modern game.
The Future Game
Going forward we will
certainly give ourselves a much better chance of winning tournaments if we have
a bigger talent pool of players to pick from, which means having more English
players who are consistent starters in the Premier League.
Going back to the point above on player development the case
is simple. If we wish to have more English players playing in the Premier
League (and across Europe) then we need to produce players who possess the
necessary skills for the modern game.
Technical ability under pressure is
important yet so too is tactical ingenuity and intelligence as well as
possessing the physical attributes required. Yet most importantly is the
possession of the correct mentality and mindset, an issue which many English players fail
to possess. This is why improvements in talent identification and sport psychology in academies will help find and develop players with the correct mindsets needed to become a professional.
Right now there is an issue with too many players who are either not willing to work hard enough and do the extra work needed or they simply lose motivation when they earn a decent wage at 18 years old. Yet
what happens far too often is that these players stop developing, become
arrogant and ultimately become unvalued (just look at Connor Wickham).
The thing is we spend so much time blaming others for our problems yet perhaps we need to consider our own failings and improve on them.
We need to ensure that
our clubs feel that their young players are going away to learn and develop
from the best coaches when they are part of the England set up.
This issue I felt needed to be addressed as Dyke does appear
to understand that previous standards and quality in the England set-up had not
been good enough. The exits of Pearce and Powell this summer highlights the
need for an improvement in quality yet the appointment of Southgate does leave many with mixed feelings.
The FA need to consider what they want from their
national setup; a place for ex-players to coach or a place for world class
coaches to educate the next generation of players? I worry that they still
cannot get past their willingness to hire ‘known faces’ over top quality and
until that changes I worry about English players development.
Foreign owners
Others argue that if
your top league is largely foreign owned with foreign managers why should those
in control care about developing the England team? Their national allegiances
are elsewhere and they don’t have that fire in their belly for England. Why
would they? For them England is just another national team not their national
team, just one amongst many.
This final argument is the Premier League’s own doing, yet
the fans too. They have loved the influx of foreign owners with deep pockets
because it allows their clubs to progress and bring in expensive foreign
talent. The same fans argue this is a problem for England yet you cannot have
it both ways.
Oh wait, you can. The German model of 50+1 should have been
implemented when the Premier League was created yet the short-sightedness of
the creators (or simple ignorance) meant that the Premier League has become a
playground for the rich. Are we surprised therefore when these owners don’t care
about the England national team?
They want success for their clubs and whilst there are no rules telling them otherwise or quotas in place or changes of the ‘home-grown’
rule they will continue to spend the money on quality from elsewhere.
This of
course applies to the managers too who want to win the league, qualify for the
Champions League, avoid relegation or simply stay in their job.
What is needed
are more sustainable minded owners who appreciate the need to develop academy
players. This is why clubs like Aston Villa and Southampton may have to be the
teams where English players develop and progress. Realistically being at
Chelsea or Man City’s academy, or even Arsenal and Man Utd may mean a lack of
playing which means a lack of development.
Yet what is really needed are solutions to these problems and the implementation of them.
Solutions to a better future
Often the toughest
challenge is implementing ideas for change. So if building a successful England
team is important the question is how do we make it happen?
Dyke asked this question as though he has just arrived and
was not aware of the issues which have been discussed for a long time. He wants
to make sure this is done ‘correctly’ yet he only needs to sit down with
Richard Scudamore of the Premier League and discuss the possible solutions
which both the FA and Premier League can address.
Firstly Dyke makes the correct assumption that “The FA
doesn’t control player development, the clubs do, and we also don’t determine
how many young players break into first teams or how many games they get to
play – or importantly start. Again this is the responsibility of the clubs.”
If
we want more players playing for top clubs then what is needed is either a
quota introduced which forces clubs to play at least two under-21 ‘home-grown’
players in their starting elevens each week. Yet if we want this to help the English side then they need to change the 'home-grown' ruling to mean players who are legible to play for
England – this should at least force clubs to have more English players in
their squads.
Yet if clubs believe that their English players aren’t of a high
enough standard the argument must return as to “what have you been doing with
them for seven years?” This question of the clubs is important.
Quotas & limits
An important change which the Premier League must instruct
Academies to introduce is a cap on how many foreign players can come into
academy sides at 16 years. And I’m talking Irish and Scottish here too. Too
many English players are being replaced at this age by foreign players and
England is suffering because of it. I'm not saying a complete ban on foreign young imports yet something like what the Germans did in terms of having youth squads up to Under-21 containing at least 12 players who can play for
the national sides. Will this help? It certainly can’t make it worse.
A need to play and develop
Dyke is correct when he makes the case that clubs are guilty
for not using young players in their sides yet he can sit down and make these
changes below the first team in order to give more players a chance to develop
further.
Yes many coaches are loathe to use young players in case they make errors and cost points, yet there are some who take risks and use youngsters, some who have to out of necessity and others who value developing youth. Perhaps young players should seek to join clubs who will offer them opportunities to progress and play instead of knowing they will be wasting (yet earning impressive money) in the reserves.
Perhaps these players who aren’t getting the chances should
also consider a move abroad in order to help their development? Going back to
the English mentality and arrogance again it does seem players find it ‘too
easy’ in their late teens to pick up good wages for doing very little. Clubs
should pay these players less and help them continue their hunger to improve.
The players have it too easy and I fear this is having an effect on their
desire and drive. Less wages may mean more desire to work hard and it may mean
they will accept low wages abroad if it means the chance to play and get
better.
It’s the coaches
Finally the key aspect which needs addressing regards the
quality of coaches in England. This is the key solution to England’s future. Yes
we want more quantity yet we also need much higher quality, world class quality.
Questions must be asked as to why
are there so few English coaches at the highest level? Whether coaching or
managing? Like our players there is void and limited amount of talent across
football. It leads us to point blame once more at the FA’s previous methods and
approach, which produced coaches who were not equipped for the modern game.
It
is very concerning that our league requires foreign coaches and players to make
the league ‘world class’. Therefore we require higher standards of our coaches
and their education, as well in this globalised world an ability to speak another language or two is not only an advantage but a necessity!
We cannot accept mediocrity or excuses anymore but push and challenge coaches to strive and expect top
quality standards. If we get the coaching right then it leads me to think we can improve
the quality of our players.
Coaches need to be valued financially
And this lead us to consider a major issue with England’s
youth development. The reason we don’t have an abundance of world class coaches
is because quite simply we don’t pay world class wages for these roles.
Youth
coaching is not valued highly enough across the board which means that the top
quality coaches move abroad. If we want to produce better players we need to
keep our quality coaches in the country and this will require paying wages
which compliment their abilities.
I’m not talking players crazy wage, but
simply £40-50k a year, something which makes coaches want to stay and commit to a role. If
you pay peanuts you know what you get and you can’t complain when the quality
being produced is not good enough. It’s simple really, yet the clubs need to
see this need and start valuing their youth coaches more.
The Whitehouse Address @The_W_Address
Matt Whitehouse is the author of “The Way Forward: Solutions to England’s Football Failings”
The book
which is ideally suited to the current debate and offers solutions for a better future.
Greg Dyke is looking for the answers, well this book has them.
It is England’s
future blueprint – purchase your copy today and see for yourself!
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