An Inevitable Crossroads

Well, it was going to happen at some point – England were going to be shown up as the rag-tag bunch of technically limited, tactically inept players that we knew (and ignored) they were, and the fact that they were swept away by a youthful, vibrant German side made it all the more galling.

Joachim Lowe, the most fashionable manager in South Africa, cast aside doubts about an inexperienced German squad by trusting talented youngsters such as Mezut Ozil and Thomas Mueller to do a man’s job, and his faith has been rewarded with the demolition of the established ‘stars’ of the Premier League.

The 20 year-old Muller grabbed two goals, whilst Ozil ghosted around the final third with a freedom rarely seen at this level of the game. The orchestrator of England’s downfall is just 21, and similarly destroyed England’s under-21 team in the U-21 European Championships last summer. Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard ought to be in the form of their lives, yet were outclassed by players with little international experience, and even less fear.

In every area of the pitch (save for the goalkeepers), Die Mannschaft were light years ahead of our whimpering kittens. They were quicker, fitter, more disciplined, more cohesive, and perhaps most importantly, they looked as if they believed in themselves to make things happen. Of our defence that was fit, only Ashley Cole can lay claim to being included in the ‘world class’ bracket – the rest included: John Terry, ‘leader’ on his last legs; Glen Johnson, a right-back with a sense of adventure but who gets twisted blood at the hands of Kazahk wingers, and Matthew Upson, a central defender who almost led his side to relegation through numerous penalty-box lunges.

The less said about the midfield the better, and with a poisonous atmosphere enveloping the camp, failure was only a kick away.

Injuries aside, it simply isn’t good enough.

Perhaps the most damning sight of the game was not any of the German strikes themselves, but the embarrassing, cynical lunge that Barry attempted on Ozil as he scampered down the wing to set up Muller for their fourth goal – that was the reaction of a player that knew he was simply too slow, and too limited to do anything else than attempt to hack an emerging star of the game. That, in itself, encapsulated the malaise that the English team has suffered from for all too long now.

So, where do we go from here?

Although Capello made poor decisions throughout the four games, in both his tactics and selections, sacking him will simply mask the underlying problems that we face as a nation in general. The suggestions of the various pundits that it is time for an English manager to come in hold no weight; for one, there isn’t an English manager with the experience or talent to do any better, but also because I personally doubt whether there is a manager alive that could actually win the World Cup with this present squad (yes, even The Special One would falter). That isn’t a reflection of their limitations, but ours – it’d be like trying to squeeze blood from a very, very dry stone.

The press simply need to shut up about why these ‘stars’ of the Premier League, the ‘best league in the world’, cannot replicate their club form at national level. When Wayne Rooney (who admittedly had a diabolical World Cup) looks around the pitch at Manchester United, he sees Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, and Dimitar Berbatov, who all have the ability to control and pass to the highest standards. There is a winger in Antonio Valencia who will find him consistently with crosses, and in Nani, there is a genuine spark of unpredictability.

We simply do not have that with England.

Lampard and Gerrard have to play at their respective clubs with two screening midfielders as insurance, as they lack any tactical discipline. There’s only room for one ‘Roy of the Rovers’ hero, and we have three jam-packed into one side.

If the FA want to continue collecting the Premier League pounds, and paying off the Wembley debt more quickly, then the national team will have to take a back seat - you simply can't build a team that will win the World Cup with a long season with no breaks, two domestic cup competitions, and expect brilliant football in the few times that the team gets together, and on an awful pitch.

However, if we truly want to compete, then what we need is a comprehensive overhaul of the English game. We need hundreds, if not thousands of qualified UEFA coaches, teaching in schools and at youth teams up and down the country.Spain have over 750 fully qualified Grade A UEFA trained coaches compared to under 150 in England, and the majority of the Spaniards coach in schools and youth clubs.

The Spanish FA decided in the last 15 years to overhaul the system, and teach the kids how to simply play with the ball. As we cast an envious glance towards the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Alonso and Fabregas (who can’t even get a starting place), it’s clear that for English football to prosper, we must take the painful, time-consuming decision to swallow our pride, and redevelop our whole approach to the sport.

The emphasis should be placed on coaching kids the fundamental skills of possession, close control, and using their imaginations to create moves, rather than beating the individuality out of them before they get a chance to shine.

This should be done on smaller, all-weather pitches, with smaller goals, smaller balls, and less players on either side. All too often, I’ve seen ridiculously talented friends forced in to a formation that does little but stifle their natural instincts, so that the team, made up of less talented individuals, can in turn stifle their opponents.

The FA is at a crossroads, and they must make the right choices to try and teach the players of the future how the make the game ‘beautiful’. Otherwise, we’ll carry on deluding ourselves that the idiotically self-titled ‘Lamps’, ‘JT’, ‘Stevie G’ and ‘Wazza’ can lead us to glory against teams with better preparation, better organisation, and, quite frankly, better players.