One of the biggest debating points in football grounds and
pubs around the country is that the wealth of riches now available to Premier
League Clubs, and the introduction of Johnny Foreigner into the English game have
affected the English National Side and the development of young English talent.
The signing of the latest English Premier League domestic
rights deal has once again reignited this debate. When analysing the impact
that Premier League Money has had on the England Team and development of
English Talent, it’s difficult to know where exactly to begin.
As original codifiers of the game in 19th
Century, the English saw themselves as the leaders in world football and to a
large extent they were. Rather ironically by today’s standards, the early
English player prided himself on a dribbling game. He saw defending as unmanly,
passing as futile and rejected the thought of taking his time to score goals.
The art of attack and scoring goals was led by the forwards in a 2-3-5
formation. This formation remarkably
remained the norm until the 1940’s.
By the time the Hungarians visited Wembley in 1953, England
had only ever lost one home international.
The Hungarians were the Olympic Champions and the world’s top ranked
side.
England started with the tried and tested WM formation, with
two backs, three in midfield and five forwards. The Hungarians played a
2-3-3-2. This was never before seen by
the English. The Hungarians ran riot
winning 6-3.
The tactically inflexible English side could simply not cope
with the movement of the front two and the advanced midfielders, who expertly
did what we would now refer to as ‘running between the lines.’ The famous image
from that game is the goal of Puskas, who dragged the ball back under his foot,
leaving the England Captain Billy Wright tackling thin air, before scoring Hungary’s
third.
The impact of this defeat was huge. The FA after years of complacency was jolted
into gear. As originators of the game they believed that England would always
be technically superior to their rivals from the continent. Existing coaching techniques and practices were
now obviously out of date. The humiliation at Wembley made the FA wake up to
this fact and they soon realised they needed to start learning from their
European opponents.
In an attempt to avenge the defeat, a rematch was scheduled
in Budapest in May 1954. The Hungarians again provided a masterclass, winning
7-1. To this day it is England’s heaviest defeat.
England’s record in World Cup competitions since its
inception in 1930 has been largely indifferent.
They did not take part in the 1930, 1934 or 1938 tournaments. 1950-1962 saw a best placed quarter final
finish, until a home World Cup in 1966 saw glory for Sir Alf Ramsey’s team.
Since then there have been 12 World Cup tournaments. England failed to qualify for three of those;
made four quarter final appearances and the agonising shoot out defeat to
Germany in 1990.
The European Championships have also not proven to be a
successful hunting ground for England. Getting to the semi -finals in 1996 is
the best result achieved (also a home tournament to pair with the single Word Cup
win). In 13 staging’s, England have
failed to qualify five times, four of these prior to the Premier League forming
in 1992.
This nod to history is important when looking at the English
national team and the impact the Premier League has had upon it. It is easy to blame the arrival of money and
overseas players as being behind the failure of England at major
tournaments.
The dominant Liverpool side of the 80’s featured many
players from the ‘home nations’ and Ireland.
Even pre-Premier League, Clubs were looking to supplement their first
team playing staff from other countries.
Grobbelaar, Hanson, Lawrenson, McGregor, Dalglish, Souness, Nicol,
Whelan and Rush were all non-English players dominating the domestic scene in
England’s top division. This influx of talent from outside England –albeit the
foreign players in this instance were from the other UK countries and Ireland -
led to a thriving English presence in European competition. As Liverpool’s fans
will rejoice in telling you, they’ve won it five times.
I see this as being no different to the way the Premier
League is now. If we look at lists of
the best ever players to have played in the Premier League we will see names
such as; Cantona, Zola, Henry, Bergkamp.
More recently its Drogba, Hazard, Suarez, Aguero. The English players to make the list would be
Shearer, Lampard, Gerrard and Scholes.
The impact of the overseas player on English football over
the last 20 years is almost beyond measure.
Since the start of the Premier League in 1992 the amount of foreign players
entering the league has risen dramatically year on year. In the beginning the professionalism, dedication
to training and personal fitness was almost never before seen by English players.
Wenger’s arrival at Arsenal, bringing in continental
coaching techniques and imparting his passing philosophy had a major impact on
both the Club and its English contingent.
It transformed them from being steady performers but lacking panache
under George Graham, to being a trophy winning beautiful Swan in the first
decade of his reign. That his team
became only the second ever Invincibles in 2004 is truly one of the greatest
achievements in modern English football.
This was built on a mix of a foreign coach, playing with a largely
foreign playing staff, mixed with a blend of continental ideas on passing and
possession and the traditional English fighting spirit. There is no doubt that without the arrival of
Wenger and the players he brought in from overseas that Arsenal would ever have
gone on to achieve that feat. The team that started the most regularly that
season featured just two Englishmen; Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole, at the time
both England regulars.
They popular theory is the more Englishmen playing in the
Premier League, the better the England team will be. As we have discovered, throughout the history
of English football, there has never been a period of great achievement by an
England team. The 1966 World Cup win obviously stands out, but in 85 years
since the first World Cup was played, one solitary win is hardly something to
shout about. The recent greater influx of foreign talent hasn't somehow
heralded a decline in the national team’s fortunes. If anything, I believe that it has raised the
bar for young English talent coming through.
The likes of Gerrard and Lampard have had to continue to progress and
improve in the light of great foreign players joining their respective Clubs. In recent years younger players at Chelsea
have been able to look to the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley
Cole and see first-hand the levels they need to achieve day in day out to play
at the top level. A quota system
limiting foreign players in Premier League squads would reduce the competition
to these young players and therefore not necessarily increase the quality of
the English talent.
My strong opinion is that given time, the Elite Player
Performance Plan should bear fruit. The
England Youth Teams are becoming more successful within their age groups and
the football being taught in academies is progressive and built on a base of
skilled possession football. Not by
chance is this approach also favoured on the continent. The great Ajax and
Holland Teams were inspired by the coaching of Rinus Michels and his philosophy
of Total Football. This in turn was mastered by Cruyff’s vision of youth
coaching at La Masia whilst at FC Barcelona and most recently Pep Guardiola, as
a student of Cruyff, developed and allowed the Tika-Taka style to flourish as
his 2008-2012 Barcelona team became one of the most lauded Club sides of all
time.
It is too simplistic to state that we should impart and
impose the philosophy of La Masia onto every youth set up in England. Firstly it is not practical, and secondly it
does not fit the make-up of the traditional English game. What we should do however is allow this
melting pot of ideas from around the globe to continually influence our game. Fans young and old love watching the stars of
today dazzle and delight us with skill and flair. Boys grow up wanting to be Hazard and
Aguero.
The Premier League TV money that comes from having a
thriving successful competition is due to the influx of foreign stars to
England. The investment and progression
made in training facilities even in the last ten to fifteen years cannot be
ignored. This is a direct consequence of
TV money.
There is a direct link between the rise in wages paid to
Premier League footballers and the increase in TV revenues, so I can understand
when figures like Sir Alan Sugar, former Tottenham Chairman, says that he fears
all the money will just line the pockets of Agents and Players. Some of it
will. Some of it will also go on
developing youth players and some will undoubtedly go on buying the future cream
of foreign talent.
However all this should be seen as a positive. The English players of tomorrow will be
better from training and learning from the top players of today. These top players at present are foreign, but
at the end of the day the England team is more likely to benefit from youth players
being exposed to increased quality and competition at Clubs.
I would much rather have an England set up made of 25 top
players who have earned and fought their way to be at the very top due to the
level of competition at their Clubs, than a pool of 50 or 100 average players
given opportunities by default due to the country of their birth.
The TV money has helped to support and grow our wonderful
English Premier League. By default (and some design) it has financed the
development of football in this country.
We should welcome it and be grateful for it and see how it can help
progress the development of English players and the English Team.
History shows us from that watershed game at Wembley in 1953
that burying our head in the sand, believing that English is best and not
embracing the best practices around us is detrimental to England’s success. We
need to welcome the benefit different cultures and influences can have on the
England Team and see how the TV money can be a good thing. Ride the crest of
the wave, enjoy the influx of the best players to our shores and do all we can
to embrace the best League in the World. Even if it is from our living rooms.
