When I first found out that Sam Allardyce had been appointed England manager, I was massively disappointed. Yet again it seemed, England had gone for a manager without ambition, without proven success or a trophy at the top level. But reflecting on it, perhaps he is just the man they need.
England seemed to have accepted at last that they are not world beaters and haven't been for half a century. In the 90s and 00s we have had some quality players but the final four was the best that we could really hope to achieve. The biggest problem has been the lack of a plan, philosophy or direction and defensive frailties.
If you look at the giants of world football at the moment, and in the last 10 years there is a real plan of how to play. Argentina, Chile and Germany have moved to the top of the world with their total football style, moving the ball quickly in attack and pressing high and defending forcefully in at the back. Spain had huge success in the turn of the decade playing their tiki taka possession game.
Whilst Portugal are not a great side in my opinion, it was their defensive style and belief in that style that won them the Euros. So ultimately it's clear that you really need to have some common goal of how to play, to achieve the common goal of winning a tournament. At the Euros, England just didn't have a plan, and couldn't defend competently, with Allardyce we might just get that.
The Good
Effort: Sam Allardyce is going to put everything into this job. Now you may be thinking that is not necessarily conducive to success. I could put everything into a 5 kilometre run and that doesn't make me Mo Farah. But it is vital for the England job. One of the key criticisms that has been handed to the England team through the years is the fact that they look unmotivated, there is no chance of that happening under big Sam. He will also work hard in the off season too, as he looks to build a team that can be of a high standard come 2018.
You can guarantee that Allardyce will give absolutely everything to his dream job
Courage to Think Differently: Allardyce will not be afraid to pick players from smaller clubs, or ditch players who are out of form or not fully fit from the bigger teams. If he had been picking the Euros squad, it's likely that he would have swapped in Danny Drinkwater and Mark Noble for Jack Wilshere and Jordan Henderson, purely because the latter two weren't fully fit. That common sense will help England to find their best team at a given moment. He also won't mess around by picking players who simply aren't good enough. Raheem Sterling, watch out...
Drinkwater deserved a chance in France
Solid Defence: England's defence will be strong. Or at least, Allardyce will pick the best defenders, and make sure they defend properly. One of England's biggest problems has been the inability to defend properly. A passive, stand offish approach to teams running at us with the ball, ball watching, and poor defence from set pieces. If England have any kind of problems with their defence in the opening few games of qualifying, you feel they will be addressed pretty quickly.
A Clear Direction: Like it or not, England will have clear tactics under Sam Allardyce. He will set them up for all games, big and small. The chief problem against Iceland was a lack of an idea from the players of what to do in the game. It still drives me mad to think that Roy Hodgson was incapable of putting a game plan together for the single most important game of his career and a huge game for England. With Allardyce it wouldn't have happened. This doesn't necessarily mean England will be able to end their awful run against big teams in the knockout stages but will come through against the smaller teams and get the best out of what players they have in a major tournament. The fact is if England may not be heading for a spectacular direction but it can hardly be worse than Euro 2016
The Bad
Not enough top level experience: Sam Allardyce has been quoted as saying that he would be better at "Inter, United or Madrid" and that he's not that suited to being at lower mid-table teams. That may well be true but the fact is that he has not gained his legendary status winning titles. He is known, quite rightly so for managing teams to safety, never finishing above 12th in the top division. Whilst it is questionable England are anywhere near the top 12 in the world at the moment, we aim higher, and Allardyce has never really been in the business end of a Cup or League battling against world class teams or managers, if he wants to win or even challenge for silverware, he needs to get used to it fast.
Not exactly a winner: Similar point to the last one, but different in an important way. If Sam Allardyce was a lower end manager, and had really won some silverware say in the lower tiers or for less important trophies then I suppose that would be OK but he really hasn't. Only a third division (now League Two) title for Notts County is what he has managed to win in domestic English football in his 24 years managing in it. The other area is the fact that England must win and win again, especially in their qualifying group of Scotland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania and Malta. It will not be good enough to go away to Scotland and get a point in qualifying, even if it would be a good result for qualification. The expectations are a lot higher and he will have to constantly push for wins rather than settle for draws which is a stark change in philosophy.
Allardyce celebrates winning the Third Division title with Notts County
The English Dependency goes on: Not necessarily an Allardyce problem, but a problem that his appointment has not changed and in fact intensified, England's dependency on English managers is laughable. If you actually look at the foreign appointments, they are not as bad as they seem. Sven was very close to success in major tournaments and Capello had the highest win percentage of any England manager in spite of his inability to speak English properly. England have proved they are not capable of looking abroad yet again, there are no World Class managers who would take the England job, but there are plenty of Premier League bosses that would take it that have had more success than Allardyce
The Ugly
Dull tactics: Whatever you think of Allardyce, he has a notorious record for playing incredibly dull football when it comes to the biggest games. Even in normal games, long ball football has been a factor for Allardyce as a method of breaking down teams and it would be a shame to have talented players (I know they are few and far between, but there are some there) playing long ball tactics against the likes of Malta.
Potential Trouble with Fans: Allardyce has often had trouble with the fans at former clubs such as Newcastle and West Ham when his side have been under-performing. Whilst a lot of managers have gone through this at some stage in their career, Allardyce has had it more than most and often makes it worse. If this kind of trouble occurs in the England role, the press will crucify him. However, I do believe the England fans will embrace him, he will put everything into this role and will make sure England don't let us down without a fight, like they have done so many times.
Allardyce had a love hate
relationship with the Hammers' fans, with the emphasis on hate
So with Allardyce, you know you'll get a huge amount of effort, put into man management, getting everyone looking in the same direction with a clear style of play and a solid defence. You can't help but feel he lacks experience and that England should have looked abroad but perhaps this is the time that England should really embrace the fact that they cannot be considered a top team anymore. Allardyce may not be the man to take us to World Cup glory, but he will potentially get the best out of a squad that is hardly brilliant and start England's climb back to the top of World football.
It's a shame, because after that stunning fightback against Germany I genuinely believed England could play some class football and become a team that challenges for titles very soon. Under Allardyce we will not play classy football, we will not score 3 in Germany, let alone 5 but how many times have England performed brilliantly in friendlies and then fluffed it in a major tournament? The fact is if we had employed Arsene Wenger, for example, we would not win a tournament. Chiefly because when we come up against a smaller team we would have 70% of the ball and double the number of shots but simply not want it enough and lose (like so many painful Arsenal home games), with Sam I believe we will want it a lot.
Wenger is a world class manager, but Allardyce would be much better for motivating a squad so often accused of a lack of effort
Unlike Wenger, Allardyce has got brilliant man management which will help him to have a very strong relationship with the players and they will be motivated. I wouldn't go as far as to call him an inspirational figure but he is a fighter, and it is that grit and determination that England haven't had for too long.
In 2018, we could well be having the same conversations that we have had after the Euros. Manager not good enough, tactics not good enough etc... but I believe Allardyce deserves a chance. I would definitely look to a foreign manager if it all goes tits up in Russia but I really do think that Allardyce might just be the man we need at this moment in time
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