The minute England left these shores for South Africa a few weeks ago, there was much hope that finally, England could possibly bring the trophy home. However, that dream was destroyed in no uncertain terms by the old enemy Germany in Bloemfontein as England crashed out of the competition losing 4-1. How could such an experienced team who qualified so easily fail to perform? Not surprisingly, the English media has come up with no shortage of scape goats and factors for what was England’s worst defeat at a World Cup. There has been lots of talk about the Italian manager, formations and more but the difficulties are much deeper.
Since its formation in 1992, the Premiership has achieved superb success as an international brand. The cost of this success has been felt by English football. Higher TV money has pushed wages to rise. Subsequently this has meant there has been a developing divide involving club and country. Clubs pay their footballers a lot of money and are more and more reluctant to let their footballers turn out for their countries.
In turn, players get massively rewarded by Premiership clubs to the extent that success is deemed by getting valuable contracts and not anything they achieve on the field. Mediocre footballers who rarely turn out for their clubs are still millionaires and the instant these players put money ahead of playing matches at club level, there is certainly little doubt they do not have the mental strength or hunger to play international football.
Traditionally, there was always a regional reserve league which meant young footballers from smaller clubs could well be guaranteed to play against decent reserve teams from bigger teams like Arsenal, Tottenham and Man Utd. Bear in mind, in recent years, the EPL has changed thus they will only play against other Premiership reserve teams. This means that Championship reserve clubs no longer get to play versus Premier League sides. For teams like Ipswich Town, it means their reserve team now plays versus Stevenage as opposed to Tottenham and this drop in standard in opposition obviously has a negative effect on the learning curve of young players.
With so much money on the line, things are targeted at Premiership survival. Clubs spend large sums of money securing allegedly better foreign managers and footballers in a bid to hold on to their Premier League status. The ambition of promoted clubs to the EPL extends no further than finished 4th bottom. The Premiership cash bonanza means that Premiership clubs can feature £1-2m for young footballers at lower league clubs. The players are happy to move and secure their financial futures but it may well also signal the conclude of their careers. The young Crystal Palace star signed for Spurs but rarely played and was last heard of on loan at Brentford, a league lower than when he was at Palace. From a football mind-set, Bostock would have been best served staying at Palace and learning the game. How many more young players careers are cut down like this following the money as opposed to playing the match? It’s difficult to blame the young players for taking the money.
There is also the familiar accusation that clubs take part in too many matches in England and increasingly more managers want a winter break. Bear in mind, footballers don’t appear to be tired as asked to fly off to the Usa or Far East on pre-season trips. Or how about England’s friendly game next June away in Thailand?
There are far too many ready made excuses for failure that players are ready to accept. They live a life well away from the real world with their mansions, luxury cars and trophy wives. Basically, there is not enough hunger or desire.
The game in Thailand also highlights another issue. As well as the Premiership being an international brand, so are the England team. Supporters want to view the big EPL stars play for England and in friendly matches like this, those stars will be expected, if not contracted, to turn out. Nevertheless, it is not the case that the finest 11 players make the best team. Too many footballers are in the team based on track record of rather than performances. Young players should be promoted into the senior squad sooner.
For the imminent Euro 2012 campaign, England should do away with the services of all footballers aged 30 or over. None of them have played well in South Africa therefore why should England persevere with them. It would be far better to promote younger footballers who may still be hungry for success. Yet, while the worshiping of the EPL carries on, things are not going to improve anytime very quickly.
