The State of English Soccer

OK – I’m going to say it – I’ve had a week to calm down.  England, as expected, were rubbish.  They were barely a round of 16 team….nothing more.  The English FA should be banned from training any coaches ever again in England.  The FA is obsolete. For all the young boys and men that are playing soccer in England – getting trained by the  ”full badge cronies” that the FA turn out – why cant we come up with 2-3 forwards that have the balls, speed and skill to run at a defender? Or how about 2-3 midfielders that have an ounce of creativity?  Or what about a couple of defenders that squeeze the ball when it counts and are strong enough to out hustle any marauding forward?  Why can a tiny country like Paraguay come up with technically better defenders than England? And please  – don’t tell me that David James is the best goalie in England…..he was BRUTAL against Germany.  He cannot save routine shots – let alone save games and he was going for everything with his feet.
I hope this sticks a twig up the arses of the Old Boys Network running the FA – to scrap their stupid coaching schemes and start producing PLAYERS – not Coaches!!  Start again – bring in young coaches who have been abroad.  Learn Spanish.  What we have been doing for the past 40 years IS NOT WORKING!!!!!

Yes – the reffing was horrific – but I think we all realize that if we had been Brazil, Argentina, or Spain or Germany, we would have got that second goal…but England are NOT amongst FIFA’s Royalty anymore so we have to earn our way back!

Back to the FA.  It’s all “jobs for the boys.”  You get your FA Full Badge (now called UEFA A) and the FA set you up with a job because they know people and you do what you are told.  You don’t think outside the box or you are done.   You don’t bring in new and different techniques, philosophies or ideas because if it’s not the FA’s idea, it’s looked down upon.  The boys in the Blazers and Ties know best of course because if it worked with Alf Ramsey, it will work now.  They pay “lip service” to all the successful practices being implemented in other countries because they are too stubborn to change.  They roll their socks up, tuck their shirts in and hide behind their coaching badges while the ever-evolving world of international soccer passes them by.  They are not producing World Class Players good enough to truly compete in the World Cup and think they are close because some are employed by big Premier League Clubs and their Academies.  But these clubs are largely being carried by International Soccer Stars – something that is hard to admit for the people that run English soccer.

Funny that Rooney plays great when he is surrounded by International superstars setting up chances for him, but he was found out when having to play with such electrifying talent as Heskey, Wright-Phillips, and the rest of the crew whose names are easy to forget.  Even the vaunted English attributes of passion, hard work, good honest sweat, and tough hard-nose tackling weren’t there.  And they couldn’t blame the “heat” for that either like the other World Cups!  What a joke and I don’t blame the English Public for chastising them on that score because the least they have come to expect is passion, desire, and hustle.  Of course if they did start to demand more – like world class skill, clinical finishing, accurate passing and flair – the National Team Bosses might even listen.  But sadly – that has never been the case and they English soccer public got what they asked for – mediocrity with chips.