Rebuilding the empire: 5 ways to rejuvenate England's football future

More disappointments to come if something isn't done now

It is clear that the English national team has fallen by the wayside for the last several years. Not since 1990 has the national team reached at least the semi final of the World Cup. There have been few positives coming out of major tournaments (World Cup 2002 and Euro 1996) and there have been several negatives over the last 20 years, most notably the failures of not qualifying for the 1994 World Cup and Euro 2008, but also the absolutely dismal World Cup 2010 campaign which shed light to a lot of hidden flaws in the national team and forced governing bodies to pluck up their ideas.

Here are 5 changes I believe need to be made to will improve the English national team for the future, and give us a team we can be proud of. I do not claim that they're are guaranteed to work, or that they are completely foolproof. I understand it's a very debatable topic and these are solely my opinion but I am open to any other suggestions. 

1. Improve childhood level and grassroots standards

Let me tell you a story. When I was a little boy in primary school, I didn't really like football. It wasn't until Year 5 when I started watching the FA Cup on TV and playing Fifa 2004 did I begin to like it, and so I played (badly) with my friends at lunchtimes. Our football "coach" would come in every Thursday and offered Year 3s and above football "training" for £1 a week. When we actually got down to "training", he offered us no instructions about how to play, how to pass, how to shoot, how to try and find a teammate in space, no nothing.  When it was game time, it would be 11 vs 11 on half a football pitch where we went out and did whatever we wanted (too more creative freedom I think)

Now I don't know if it was just my school or this coach, but I fear for the same thing happening elsewhere in other schools. Children aren't taught enough on basic skills and principles such as passing and ball possession. It seems like football is taught to children at a win at all costs mentality, with a lot of reliance on physicality than technical ability. If children like me aren't taught how to play the game, then what chance is there for us to take the next step in football?

There needs to be an overhaul and change in mentality at the most basic level of football: childhood level. Once this is addressed, then we can move our focus towards the next stage of the pipeline

2. A rethink in youth development

In the 1998 World Cup, Germany suffered a humiliating 3-0 quarter final defeat to Croatia. In Euro 2000, they did even worse than England as they lost twice and drew once in their 3 group matches. This called for a major overhaul in the development of young German players.  They forced all 36 teams in the Bundesliga divisions to operate centrally regulated academies as a requirement to participate in the divisions. A new DFB talent development programme was introduced in 2003 with the recruitment of new 1000 DFB part time coaches. These coaches aim to teach children basic technical skills and give them tactical knowledge at a young age (what I was sorely lacking). All of these coaches are  UEFA B license holders and are expected to scout for players as well as train them.  This has resulted in great young players with big potentials such as Mesut Ozil, Mario Gotze and Toni Kroos being noticed by coaches. Professional clubs scouts can then attend weekly DFB sessions to spot players and invite them along to train at their club.

This begs the question on how this would work in practice in England. I believe the FA can act as the DFB in this case, where they would increase investment for improve coaching standards and hiring more part time coaches to train children at school. These coaches would teach the children the basic skills required to develop their all round game (as it's too early to decide on a position). They could then advise these children to attend more focused weekend training sessions with other talented children, where football clubs can invite them to train at their own clubs. This should result in a larger pool of talented youngsters being available for clubs to train themselves.

Clubs should hopefully be more inclined to field their more talented English youngsters in the first team as not only would it financially make sense to use what you already have. This could solve the problem of lack of English players playing in the Premier League without having to install quotas. As Gianfranco Zola says, if the homegrown player is good enough he will get his chance in the first team (like Tommie Hoban for Watford). At the moment, only foreign players with the right skills can play his desired style of fluid football hence why the Watford team is mostly made up of foreign players. If homegrown players can learn the basic skills early on and improve on them at the age of 16-20, even foreign managers will pick them for their first teams.

3. Call up players who deserve it

Now I'm going to focus more on the professional side of the game. I believe the thinking behind the call ups for England matches is most of the time absolutely terrible.

I'm going to be using Ashley Young as my example. As much as I love him after being brought up through the Watford ranks, his recent England call ups have been completely unjustified. In 2010/11, he scored 9 goals and 15 assists, and in 2011/12 he scored 12 goals and made 13 assists. Following both of these seasons, I would have agreed with Young's England call ups completely. However, for the 2012/13 season, he only scored 3 goals and made 6 assists, a big drop compared to his previous 2 seasons. However, in spite of this he is still called up to almost every England match of the season.

I feel as though the England squad is decided on the status quo rather than any justification for every single player. England always seems to pick the best English players from the top 6 clubs and never have a look at other players from the remaining 14 clubs. If a player's spot in the national team is secured, there is no reason to impress week in week out to earn the place. Each player should have to work their socks off in order to represent their country on the world stage, and a shake up in the call up process would result in only the most deserving players (like Rickie Lambert) getting their chance.

4. A Winter break

Almost every other domestic division across Europe including the Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga, Ligue 1 has one. A month off from football during December and January in order for players to recharge their batteries both physically and mentally, for managers to regroup and reconsider their methods and for fans to go on holiday without any worry of missing the football.  Every country has one except England. 

According to Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore, the problem that prevents a winter break from happening is a conflict of interest. There are 3 main stakeholders in the English game: The Premier League, the Football League and the FA. In order for a winter break to be implemented, some fixtures will have to go from either the Premier League, The FA Cup or the League Cup. The Premier League doesn't want to decrease the number of teams in the league, the Football League doesn't want to lose the League cup and the FA Cup doesn't want to get rid of the FA Cup replays. It's a standoff that is going nowhere at the moment.

Something has got to give, and I think all parties must make some sort of compromise. The Premier League could start a week earlier and end a week later, the Football League should attempt to delay the second legs of the League cup semi finals and the FA Cup should say goodbye to the replays before the 5th round. I haven't thought these proposed changes in full detail, but hopefully if all 3 stakeholders could make their own sacrifices, a 2 or 3 week break could happen during the winter. 

This should stop players from becoming completely burnt out by the time the summer tournament rolls along, and this self imposed disadvantage England already has would be eliminated.

5. A new identity

I hardly ever watch England matches anymore because I get depressed about their dismal playing style 10 minutes in. When I think of Spanish football team I think of slick, strikerless, possession football where they pass the opposition to death (vs Uruguay this year), when I think of the Brazilian football team I think fast and fluid with lots of tricks in between. When I think of the English national team, I think of loose short passes and the fast right winger (Walcott, Lennon, Young take your pick) running into the left back or putting in a useless cross.  Like Rio Ferdinand said a month ago, England need to establish their own identity. This is not only so all the players can read off the same script and they could slot quickly into the national team tactics, but also to give every England fan something to be proud of in their team.

If it were down to me, I'd want my England team to be based around relentless pressing and hard work, chasing the ball tirelessly and not giving the opposition any time to think. They'd be comfortable on the ball and always looking to use the blistering pace of the wingers on either flank and a striker who will get onto the end of every cross. England would also be lethal at set pieces, with us threatening to score at every corner and free kick. This is just my personal preference but either way England must ditch the boring and predictable pump it into the box approach and do something that will surprise the opposition.


Like I said, these ideas aren't foolproof and are only my personal opinion. It's clear that if any of these changes were to be made, there aren't going to cause earthquakes over night. However, using Germany as an example again, they performed horrendly as Euro 2004, but in 2008, 6 years after they made action, Germany reached the Euro 2008 final. A big improvement in team performance after a relatively short period of time. If all of these proposed changes are started now, who knows? We could be lifting the World Cup in the 2022 Winter World Cup!

My five favourite new features in Football Manager 2014

Football Manager 2014 was announced on the 14th August (I remember because it was a day before the dreaded results day), and the headline features were revealed. The general reaction has been positive and most of the attention has been drawn towards the main features. However, I will be giving my personal favourite additions to this year's game, whether they're big or small. I hope to continuously update this list if new exciting features are announced from now (30/8/13) until the game's release. 

UPDATE 1 - 6/9/2013
UPDATE 2 - 27/9/2013
UPDATE 3 - 2/10/2013

1. New player roles

When the new tactical system was released with FM 2010, I absolutely loved it. When I was playing FM 2006 and was forced to play with the old tactical system, making tactics was not only very long winded but very difficult. Ever since FM 2010, the new tactical system has made tactics not only so much simpler but far quicker, and I found imagining what each player did in the team a lot clearer. Playing FM 2013, I still enjoy creating original tactics for my teams, but I feel that new player roles should be introduced in order for the game to keep up with modern playing styles and to generally freshen up the process of tactic making

 Sports Interactive have done just that with 8 new player roles (listed in the picture above). I have no idea was most of them mean, but as long as they're well explained later on, I'll welcome them with open arms. I will try and embrace these new roles as much as possible in the new games, and I hope others will too. 

2. More advanced data editor/New official real time editor

I'm so psyched for this. The data editor has mostly gone untouched since SI released the first Football Manager in 2004. Now 9 years later, in order to coincide with the new Steam workshop integration, SI have added a ton of new features and options to this year's editor that will give you even larger creative freedom (pun intended) for your custom game scenario. Personally, I'm most excited for the editing of prize money as I've always wanted to make the Football League richer and I've never been able to do that on the current editor along with the ability to edit current leagues is a welcome addition as I want to increase/decrease the number of  teams in a particular league.

Although there's already a free real time editor out there for FM 2013, I'm intrigued to see what SI can put out themselves. If it's significantly better than the current free one and doesn't break the bank, I'll consider purchasing it!  

3. Train a player's weaker foot

A minor feature here that pleases me; the ability to strengthen a player's weaker foot. This is particularly useful for trying to train two footed fullbacks and wingers so that they can play on either flank. I'd imagine that only players who have some sort of fluency of using their weaker foot will actually be successful in becoming two footed. A very useful player to have in an injury crisis! 

4. Team Talk feedback 

I'm delighted this for this new feature in FM 2014. Ever since team talks were introduced, SI have never explained why players react the way they do, causing for much bemusement when you tell your players that you're happy with their performance and they look unhappy as a result. In the new game, as shown in the screenshot, the assistant manager will remind you of your original teamtalk, and then tell you why they've acted in that way. Therefore, not only can you see what you're doing wrong, but also what you're doing right. 

5. Ask the Director of Football to find a player to play in a specific role or position 

You can use Joe Kinnear's various different contacts around the world to your advantage in FM 2014

Here is my favourite "minor" feature in the game. I may be doing it wrong but for some reason in FM 2013, whenever I send my scout to go look for a particular type of player (e.g a Ball winning midfielder), they just mysteriously disappear and come back as if nothing happened. In either case, SI should have made it easier and clearer for the player to do this action.

Also FM 2013, the newly introduced Director of Football is pretty useless and can be a big waste of money for lower league clubs. All he seems to do is buy first team players you don't need, bid inflated bids for 15 year olds and renew player contracts every 3 months after his last one began. Hopefully SI have fixed up the Director of Football's role in FM 2014, and improved it by adding this new job that my scouts seem incapable of doing.

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Thanks for reading, and if there are better features announced from now until the release date, I will update this blogpost to include it :)

FORMER FAVOURITE FEATURES

4. Fixture list includes potential opponents in next round of cup competition

Sorry son, forgot we had a League cup tie in 2 days

In FM 2013 and previous titles, the lack of this feature annoyed me a lot. Especially during the winter months where squad rotation is most key. This new feature will now allow you to see all the fixtures in the competitions you're still in. Therefore, if you're in the FA Cup, all the rounds and the final will be displayed in your fixtures. This allows for better squad rotation planning, and no more nasty shocks when a random league cup tie comes along. 

2. Increased shirt sales revenue from pre-season tours  
Whenever I manage a Premier League team and take them on a pre season tour of USA or Asia, there's never a noticeable change in merchandise revenue (if there is at all). Now in FM 2014, my income should at least slightly improve and this inclusion better represents the reality of the modern game. Overseas tours are lucrative, and that's why teams like Man Utd and Chelsea are going to several different countries in a month (at the expense of player health) to capture these markets and increase their global fanbase. 

3. Ask a player to sack his agent 

Agents are a nuisance in Football Manager. Just like real life. Don't you just hate it when you try and renew a squad player's contract, and his agent asks for extortionate wages, and probably throw in a highest earner clause whilst he's at it? Well in FM 2014, you can either let this player go, reluctantly accept his ridiculous wage demands, or ask the player to sack his agent!  If you manage to get your player to get rid of his parasite, it'll be as good as a last minute winner

3. Managerial tendencies

Not one of the biggest headline features, but I really like this new addition. I've always wondered if I've been subconsciously doing certain things on all my Football Manager saves, and this is an opportunity to see how I play from an outside perspective. Seeing as I always try and play possession football, I'm interested to see if the game manages to pick this up or spot any other underlying habits I may have. 

2. Job Interview

Fans have been crying out for this feature for as long as I remember, and SI have finally delivered. Job interviews are finally here. Before taking on the job, you'll have to attend a club job interview where you will discuss the transfer budget, wage budget and the philosophy of the club. I like this feature as it allows you to negotiate on certain aspects of the job such as having to sign young players or play a certain type of football, whereas before it was take it or leave it. It also adds another layer of realism to the game and truly reflects the reality of football. Whether the board can actually reject you due to your failure in the interview remains to be seen

5 of the worst deadline day deals in the last decade

It may not the traditional 31st August, but the date doesn't matter. Today is 

DEADLINE DAY

Over the years, there have many successful last minute deals as clubs pull off unexpected swoops for world class players under their rivals' noses. Successful deals include: Luis Suarez for Liverpool, Carlos Tevez for West Ham (the dodgiest deal of the decade), and Ashley Cole for Chelsea. Some however, have gone disastrously wrong. I feel the main reasons for these failures is:

A) Due to the lack of scouting of the player with little consideration as to how the player will fit into the team tactics

B) The unjustified nature of the transfer as clubs attempt to restore false optimism after a bad start to the season

C) Selling clubs can massively hike up their price due to the buyer's inelastic demand.

Whichever the reason, here are 5 of the worst last minute deals that have had football clubs wishing they hadn't made.  

1) FERNANDO TORRES to Chelsea, January 2011

FEE: £50 MILLION

Let's start with the first one that pops into everyone's head when thinking of failed football transfers. Fernando Torres' time may have had few highs (Securing Chelsea's place in the Champions League final) but most of it has been very very low (That miss at Old Trafford). Brought in by Roman Abramovich as a long time replacement for the aging Didier Drogba, this transfer was a prime example of a club attempting to regain the fans' backing after a torrid winter which left Chelsea trailing behind in the title hunt. Torres would go on to score just 1 goal in 18 appearances for Chelsea in 2010/11 

The Premier League table before Torres' arrival at the Bridge

I believe there were a lot of reasons why this transfer failed. Firstly, Torres had suffered many injuries in the previous season, and had hardly gotten off to a firing start to 2010/11, leaving him low on confidence prior to his transfer. Secondly, the humongous fee did little to lift any pressure on him, meaning he would have to be scoring at least once every other game to even slightly justify £50 million. However, I think the main reason was like Andriy Shevchenko, he simply didn't fit Chelsea's style of play. He was a completely different player to Drogba and wasn't given any time to learn the new tactics or gel with his new teammates, it's no wonder he couldn't rediscover his wonderful Liverpool form. It's a shame that a player once renowned for one of the best in the world in 2009 will be forever marred by his torrid time at Chelsea

2) PAUL KONCHESKY to Liverpool, August 2010

FEE: £4 MILLION

Paul Konchesky can be forgiven here for at least moving to Liverpool for a relatively small transfer fee, but nonetheless he makes onto this list. Why? Because he only made 18 appearances for the Reds and 4 months after his arrival at Anfield, was shipped of to Championship side Nottingham Forest . Konchesky had enjoyed a good 3 year spell at Fulham, even reaching the Europa League final under Roy Hodgson. Consequently, Hodgson decided to bring Konchesky with him at Liverpool and build the team with a British core. Sadly, both he and Paul ultimately failed at Anfield and when Hodgson was sacked and Kenny Dalglish was appointed as Liverpool manager, Konchesky fell out of favour and was loaned away like a bad habit. He was transferred to Leicester City in 2011 and has yet to play in the Premier League since. 

3) ROBINHO to Manchester City, August 2008

FEE: £32.5 MILLION

It is almost 5 years to the day that the Abu Dhabi revolution began at Eastlands, and English football was flipped upside down. All summer long, Robinho had been seeking a move to Chelsea, and Chelsea were returning the favour. He did move to a team in blue, but it was sky blue. New financial powerhouses Manchester City swept in at the final moment to snatch the Brazilian under Chelsea's noses, obliterating the previous transfer record of £19 million and sending a huge statement of intent on the Premier League. It came to much surprise to everyone, even the man himself who still thought he was off to Chelsea:

Don't get me wrong, Robinho had a good first season at his new clubs, unlike the rest on this list, scoring 15 goals and becoming the fourth top scorer in the Premier League for 2008/09. Not bad for a mid table side at the time. However, his second season in Manchester went disastrously,  as he missed 3 months of the season due to injury and played just 12 games. Most notably, in a 2-0 defeat to Everton, Robinho was humiliated as he came on as a substitute in the 9th minute and was substituted again in the 60th minute. Like Konchesky he would be loaned away to Santos and later sold to AC Milan for £15 million. A £17.5 million loss. Robinho stated in an interview that he couldn't properly settle in England (the weather being his main complaint) and that the Man City management didn't do enough to make him feel happy to play in a City shirt. 

4) ALFONSO ALVES to Middlesbrough, January 2008

FEE: £13 MILLION


Alfonso Alves arrived in England with a very glamorous goalscoring record. For his former club SC Heerenveen, he had scored a mind blowing 37 goals in 38 appearances in 2006/07, and 11 goals in 10 appearances in the first half of 2008/08. He even scored 7 goals in one game once. So when Middlesborough paid 20 million euros for the Brazilian, they must have thought they had struck a bargain who would tear the rest of the Premier League's defences to shreds. 

Wrong. Whilst Alves' record was undoubtedly impressive, he was unable to replicate his form in England where he scored just 7 goals in his first season at Boro. In his second season, he managed a pitiful 6 goals in his first full season at the Riverside, meaning Middlesbrough had paid £1 million for every goal he scored. Ouch. They were relegated and Alves was sold to Al-Sadd for £7 million, a £6 million loss with little to show for it.

The reasons for his failure at Boro are unknown, but I believe that he simply couldn't adapt to the new physical style of football in England and didn't get much support from his club to help him settle into a new country. After all, both Alves and Mido failed to turn up for pre-season training showing that they were clearly unhappy at the club. I feel clubs should do a lot more to help their new signings feel happy in a new country rather than shunting them onto a pitch expecting instant results. 

5) PETER ODEMWINGIE to QPR, January 2013

Oh wait...

The real 5) ANDY CARROLL to Liverpool, January 2011

FEE: £35 MILLION

In some ways I feel a bit sorry for Andy Carroll. No one forced Liverpool to smash their transfer record and spend £35 million on a mostly unproven 22 year old from Newcastle, instantly shoving him into the media spotlight and placing him under huge pressure to succeed at his new club. Then again, I'm not earning £60,000 a week.

Andy Carroll's move to Liverpool is the perfect example of clubs making a panicked and stupidly expensive move on deadline day. After the sale of Torres, Liverpool found themselves with no true first team strikers and a pot full of cash. So they swiftly threw money at Ajax and Newcastle for transfers of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll respectively. Whilst Suarez prospered at his new club, Carroll managed just 2 goals in his first 4 months at Anfield. In his first full season with the Reds (2011/12), he could manage just 9 goals in 47 appearances. It could be argued that Carroll isn't a goal scoring player and instead is used to make chances for his strike partner. However, he couldn't even succeed in that department. He made 0 assists in 2010/11 and only 4 assists in 2011/12 (so much for the the deadly Carroll-Suarez partnership eh..). He would be loaned and then sold to West Ham United for £15 million. A £20 million loss.

I feel this transfer failed because Carroll just didn't fit into the Liverpool system. He was a target man and Liverpool's tactic was to have 1 poacher upfront to get the goals. This is why Suarez succeeded as he could seamlessly fit the Torres role, and Carroll was left in obscurity.

There you have my 5 worst deadline day deals. I hope your team's day is fruitful tomorrow (unless your team is a Championship promotion rival) and if your rivals do sign someone who looks good, fear not. They could end up like one of the flops above!