Andy Carroll’s inclusion in the most recent England squad has puzzled me, to say the least. Appointing Fabio Capello as manager of the national team was supposed to the beginning of a bright new era of English football; England could now adopt a more tactical approach to the game, as opposed to the uber physical approach this nation is notorious for. However, to my dismay, the ‘big man up front’ theme still continues. What makes Fabio Capello believe that Carroll will have any more of an impact than Kevin Davies? This is by no means attacking Carroll’s as a player, as his contriubtion to Newcastles bright start to the season has been immense. It is the insistence on the inclusion of players like Davies, Crouch and Carroll that force a long ball game to be played, that concerns me the most.
People ask, ‘isn’t the physical nature what makes our game so great?’ According to you people, apparently so, but it is also to blame for the England national team being light-years behind the world’s leading footballing nations. Despite the hustle and bustle of the Premier League being one of its infamous qualities, it should never be a substitute for skill and technique, something it has unfortunately become. And for this precise reason, England embarass themselves regularly on the international front, but the men upstairs, the brains behind these English failings continue to rely on out-powering our opposition, whilst our opposition continue to out-football us. Steve Bruce’s thoughts on the subject are perfect exemplification of the difficulty English football faces.
‘If we take competitiveness away, we will end up like France and Spain and Italy where it is just all technique.‘ Exactly Steve, who would want England to be like three of the last four World Cup winning nations?
A brief scan through England’s record in the knock-out phases of major competition since 1966 makes for interesting reading; Spain, on home turf, are the only major scalp, whilst Paraguay, Denmark, Cameroon and Belgium make up the rest of England’s wins in the knock-out phases of World Cups and European Championships. Bafflingly, England are still classed by many as a footballing super power, but the truth is our international counterparts are striding further and further ahead into the modern game, whilst England stay rooted in primitive tactics that become more inappropriate with every game played. For instance, an ‘old-fashioned centre forward’ starting tonight against France is exactly that; old fashioned.
Our supposed ‘rivals’ have been developing facilities and technical training from a young age for years, and offer proof as to how far England are lagging behind the international elite. The amount of UEFA coaches qualified to the highest standard in Spain, Germany and Italy stands at 34,970, 29,240 and 23,995 respectively. In England it stands at the genuinely shocking number of 2, 769.
England didn’t beat France, and Carroll didn’t score. What about next time? Shall we try Heskey again?