By Jack Sice, Chief Football Analyst
The underlying feeling amongst
football fans across the country before this tournament began wasn’t one of
expectation, but one of naïve anticipation. This was meant to be the new
England – bold, fearless and ambitious. Instead, the nation’s hopes trickled
away as England put in one of the worst performances in living memory…
On Monday night in the south of
France, England left Europe for the second time in five days, and currently it
is difficult to adjudicate which exit is more embarrassing and will have the
more far-reaching consequences. Like the remain campaign, England’s football
team horribly underestimated the opposition, and the fallout has only just
begun with Roy Hodgson’s spineless departure from his position as England
manager, which became untenable as soon as England crashed out to Iceland in
the round of sixteen in the European Championships. You would have thought that
after being let down by England every other year throughout my life, I would
have gained immunity to their admittedly regular pitiful failings. You are very
much wrong. The feeling of total dejection as England bowed out in Nice was the
deepest and most harrowing that I have ever experienced supporting England.
England's defeat was surely the worst in their history
Losing to Iceland is inexcusable;
playing the way we did heinous. Much has been made of Iceland’s underdog status.
With a population of 330,000, a trained dentist for a manager and more volcanos
than professional footballers, the Leicester City comparison was always going
to be drawn. Belittled by Cristiano Ronaldo after their hearty performance in
their opening game, they seemed even more fired-up for it, and ended up pipping
the Portuguese to second place in Group F. Yes, it is a fantastic sporting story.
As a football lover and somebody who will readily back the underdog, I couldn’t
help but feel anything but joy for them as they celebrated with their fans at
full time. Yet England made their job so much easier than is acceptable on the
international stage, and they were rightly punished for showing such disregard
for their opposition. England’s performance was lethargic, stagnant and
downright embarrassing. Not a single one of the mercenaries who featured in the
Stade de Nice can hold their head high after such a repugnant display.
It started well enough – Wayne
Rooney slotting away his penalty four minutes in after Raheem Sterling was
bundled over by Hannes Thor Halldorsson, the Icelandic keeper. Yet within two
minutes, Iceland had hit the ball long from the kick off, winning a throw in on
the left side of England’s half. England had been warned. Aron Gunarrsson is
the equivalent of a Viking-style Rory Delap. Much was made over his long-throw
ability in the build up to the match, and Roy Hodgson was well aware of the
potential threat. Yet from the throw-in, Kyle Walker switched off, losing his
man, and in doing so allowing Gylfi Sigurdsson to put Iceland one up. England
were conspicuously shell-shocked, even more so when Iceland went 2-1 up in the
18th minute via Kolbein Sigthorsson. With Joe Hart making his second
severe error of the tournament, diving to his left with a flimsy wrist as he
did versus Wales, England began to really look rattled. Several good chances
were spurned. Dele Alli snapped a volley over the bar, Wayne Rooney sent a half
volley over the bar and Harry Kane decided that shooting with his shin would be
the new approach.
Joe Hart had a nightmarish campaign and made two crucial errors
Jack Wilshere replaced Eric Dier
at half time, the latter being completely bypassed by Iceland despite being one
of England’s best players in the group. Yet England’s performance seemed to get
worse in the second period, and one gained the sense that they were just content
with waiting for an opening. The urgency disappeared with the bottle and fight,
England playing at a snail’s pace. Wayne Rooney, the captain, had arguably his
poorest ever performance for club or country, outrageously sloppy in
possession, after having apparently made that central midfield role his own
during the group games. Harry Kane was particularly poor, his performance
summed up by his free kick from 41 metres which he subsequently sliced well
wide. The heads dropped, and from there it looked like Mission Impossible.
This wasn’t meant to be a match
review, but it is impossible to analyse England’s failings without recounting
the disturbing lethargy that dominated their performance. The country’s record
in international tournaments over the last half century has been nothing short
of scandalous, the country’s football team dressed up as a project by the bureaucrats
at the FA. Greg Dyke’s claim that England should aim for World Cup glory by
2022 hasn’t helped. Instead of addressing the obvious problems that have
ravaged the national side, the FA’s approach is about preparation for future
tournaments, be it Russia or Qatar. Chris Waddle hit the nail on the head on
5live shortly after the final whistle. ‘And then we’ll be preparing for
Timbuktu!’ A new manager, likely Gareth Southgate, will be drafted in, whilst
the FA gladly paper over the cracks and fail to address the problems that are
preventing England from progressing as a footballing nation.
The entire structure of football
in England today is rotten. Kids are cherry picked at early ages and hauled
into the high pressure, unrealistic atmosphere of a football academy. Whilst
being pampered to excess, they lose a love of the game, and what the world is
really like. Whilst in France, Italy and Spain thousands of kids stick to the
traditional jumper for goalposts mentality and kick a ball about on the streets
for the innocent love of football, England’s future rots in academies. How many
touches do players get whilst they spend hours on a couch playing meaningless
academy games? 15? 20? There should be an emphasis on mastering the football,
and the absence of this focus explains why England is lagging behind the other
footballing nations in Europe in producing technically aware footballers. Yes,
England’s footballing culture has always differed from the other European
countries, but relying on heart and guts isn’t enough today, when the technical
aspect of the game which is sacrosanct in Spain and Germany is the core aspect
of football development. Jamie Carragher has labelled them the "Academy
Generation" and called them "too soft". It is too true. When you are so used to
having everything put on a plate for you off the pitch, why on earth would you
be able to take responsibility on it?
Jamie Carragher, who made 38 appearances for England, was hugely critical of the side
This worrying aspect of youth
development has manifested itself in the lack of English footballers playing in
the Premier League. Figures from 2010 showed that only 40% of players in the
Premier League would be eligible to play for England, whilst the figure stands
at 77% in Spain. It would be worrying to see what the figures would be now with
the new multi-billion pound television deal, which has pumped an insatiable
desire for foreign imports into English football. Combined with a dwindling number of home-grown
players in England, a potent Molotov cocktail for English football has been
thrown into the mixer. Why spend all that money focussing on English players
when a foreign equivalent can be drafted in easily for a similar price? Because
this attitude of disregard is plaguing the national team and its chances in
future tournaments. The project is failing.
But that’s not the root of the
cause. English football and its players have an embarrassingly closed minded
approach. Think of Lineker, Gascoigne, Waddle, Mcanaman and Beckham. All took
the brave decision to carry out their trade abroad, and thrived off the change
of scene. I struggle to think of any of the current crop of English players
being brave enough, confident enough, or even bloody interested enough to
embrace a different country, along with its own culture both on and off the
pitch. Mollycoddled by clubs and agents, given too much too young - our
generation is too egotistical and self-centred and our national team is
suffering as a result. Chris Waddle was voted as Marseilles’ second best player
of the century, whilst Lineker is revered in Catalunya for embracing the
Catalan way of life during his stint there. Would Raheem Sterling, Daniel
Sturridge or any of the other ego maniacs in the current squad be prepared to
broaden their horizons by playing abroad, or do they consider themselves above
it? Judging by their media rep and the formers transfer saga, the latter option
would be appropriate.
Lineker is one of a very short list of English players that have played abroad
A proper post mortem wouldn’t be
complete without a paragraph on Roy Hodgson, who undeniably has to take a large
chunk of the blame for the team’s shortcomings. His record is impressive – only
eight defeats in 56 matches - but four of those defeats have come in major
tournaments. For all the successful qualifying campaigns and renewed optimism,
this England side is no better than the one which disgraced itself in Brazil at
the World Cup in 2014. England simply hasn’t improved under Hodgson. There was
no semblance of a principal plan, let alone a back up one. The fact that Hodgson
changed the tactics and formation after England’s remarkable comeback in Berlin
versus the world cup winners is baffling, the fact that he never reverted back
to them inexcusable. His inability to find his strongest squad, despite the
extensive list of friendlies pre-tournament, is shambolic. Yet we haven’t had
any answers, and it is a shame to see such a respected coach so far out of his
depth.
Roy Hodgson has yet to talk about what the plan was against Iceland
It remains to be seen how
significant the fallout from the team’s failings in France will be, but
something has to give. Germany and Spain have both restructured their
footballing framework bottom-up, and a wholesale change to attitudes
surrounding the game in England is needed. Get more kids playing football for
the love of it. Ditch the agents. Stop the mollycoddling. These players aren’t
ready for the real world. The La Masia structure of the Barcelona academy,
where academy players don’t only receive an intense football education, but a
wide-ranging life education, is needed. Until we stop producing closed-minded,
uninspired and uninspiring players in our academies, football in our country is
doomed.
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