Drill Soccer

When England left these shores for South Africa a few weeks ago, there was much anticipation that at long last, they could very well bring the trophy home. Yet, that dream was destroyed in no uncertain terms by the old enemy Germany in Bloemfontein as England crashed out of the tournament losing 4-1. How may well such an experienced team who qualified so easily fail to perform? Not surprisingly, the English media has come up with no dearth of scape goats and causes for what was England’s heaviest defeat at a World Cup. There has been plenty of talk about the Italian manager, formations and more but the issues are a good deal more serious.

Since its formation in 1992, the Premier League has achieved exceptional success as a global brand. The price of this success has been felt by English football. Higher TV cash has pushed wages to rise. Consequently this has meant there has been an increasing divide between club and country. Teams pay their footballers an awful lot of money and are increasingly unwilling to let their players turn out for their countries.

In return, players get greatly rewarded by EPL clubs to the extent that success is deemed by securing rewarding contracts in place of anything they accomplish on the pitch. Mediocre players who rarely turn out for their teams are still millionaires and once these players put money ahead of playing matches at club level, there is certainly little doubt they don’t have the mental strength or hunger to play international football.

Typically, there was always a regional reserve league which allowed young footballers from lower league teams may perhaps be guaranteed playing against decent reserve sides from more established teams like Arsenal, Tottenham and Man Utd. All the same, in recent years, the Premiership has changed hence they will only play against other EPL reserve teams. This means that Championship reserve clubs no longer get to play versus Premier League sides. For teams like Ipswich Town, it means their reserve team now plays against Stevenage as opposed to Tottenham and this drop in standard in opposition without doubt has a negative effect on the learning curve of young footballers.

With so much wealth on the line, things are geared to Premiership survival. Clubs spend large sums of money bringing in theoretically first-class foreign managers and footballers in a bid to maintain their Premiership status. The ambition of promoted clubs to the Premiership extends no further than finished 4th bottom. The Premiership cash bonanza means that Premiership clubs can give you £1-2m for young players at lower league clubs. The footballers are inclined to move and secure their financial futures but it may perhaps also signal the conclude of their careers. The young Crystal Palace star joined Spurs but seldom made an appearance and was last heard of on loan at Brentford, a division lower than when he was at Crystal Palace. From a football mind-set, Bostock would have been best served staying at Palace and learning the game. How many more young players careers are curtailed like this following the money as an alternative to playing the game?  It’s difficult to blame the young footballers for taking the money.

Addititionally there is the widespread accusation that teams take part in too many matches in England and a growing number of managers want a winter break. All the same, players don’t seem to be tired the instant asked to fly off to the Usa or Far East on pre-season visits. Or how about England’s friendly fixture next June away in Thailand?

There are far too many ready made excuses for failure that players are ready to accept. They live a life well away from the real world with their mansions, flashy cars and trophy wives. Quite simply, there is not enough hunger or desire.

The match in Thailand also highlights another trouble. Not to mention the EPL being an international brand, so are the England team. Fans want to see the big EPL stars play for England and in friendly matches like this, those stars will be expected, if not contracted, to turn out.  Of course, it is not the case that the finest 11 footballers make the recommended team. Too many footballers are in the team based on name rather than performances. Young footballers should be promoted into the senior squad sooner.

For the approaching Euro 2012 campaign, England should dispense with the services of all footballers aged 30 or over. None of them have played well in South Africa therefore why should we persist with them. It would be more effective to promote younger players who may still be hungry for success. Nevertheless, while the worshiping of the Premier League continues, things are not likely to get better anytime quickly.

The old Wembley Stadium was unveiled in 1923 and had a track record of for possessing one of the very best pitches in England. Its wide open spaces would drain the strength from the legs of even the fittest players. Once the Empire Stadium eventually sealed its doors in 2000, the outstanding playing surface was torn up along with the entire arena.

England fans had to wait 7 more years until eventually the new Wembley Stadium opened its doors. The new 90,000 seater stadium was classed by UEFA as a 5* Elite Arena and is the second biggest in Europe after the Camp Nou in Barcelona. The initial full international took place versus Brazil on 1st June 2007.

The construction of the stadium was overdue and massively over budget and the concerns didn’t end there. Operational problems including faulty escalators on match days were encountered but there is a continuing situation that until now has not be sufficiently addressed – the pitch.

Playing surfaces at brand new stadia more often than not take a while to settle down but at Wembley the playing surface is a challenge and is absolutely one of the worst around. It cuts up far too easily and players slip over too often. In a recent FA Cup semi final, at least one of the goals was because of a defender losing their footing at a vital point as the playing surface gave way. By the close of the 2009/2010 season, the grass had been relaid 10 times at a cost of one million pounds and the stadium had not even been up and running for 3 years.

However, relaying the playing surface every 3 months is just not the remedy. The design of the stadium means that the natural conditions of light and wind can’t get to the playing surface to entice the pitch to develop. Some stadiums similar to the one in Gelsenkirchen in Germany is on rollers so in between matches, the whole pitch is transferred outside the stadium. Other stadia have lots of ventilation in the stands to allow the air to flow and it is possible to use artificial lights to encourage the turf to develop.

Alas, there are still difficulties and a solution has to be worked out. In September 2010, England begin the process of their qualification for Euro 2012 and they are certainly the top team in their group. The one thing England really don’t need, is their opponents served by a poor quality Wembley pitch. The games at Wembley are supposed to give England home advantage.