Originally Posted by HANDJFAN:
“I've said this numerous times before, so I'm just repeating myself again, but it has to be upbringing and coaching from a young age, at all levels of the game in England. As a nation, England has every possible advantage. Virtually every boy, and now most girls, get a chance to play football from a young age. There is massive passion and support for the game. We have some of the best facilities and stadia in the world. We have more professional clubs than any other nation, and maybe 40 really well supported clubs. Yet we don't produce players, particularly technical players.
By now every other European nation has both produced absolute top drawer players and won a tournament in the last 50 years. Portugal was the last one who hadn't. Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal, Brazil and Argentina have all won major trophies. Even Denmark and Greece have. Even the USSR and Czechoslovakia have been in major finals more recently than England, and they don't even exist any more!
It has to be due to upbringing, coaching and mentality. Look at the Man United players on the bus at West Ham. Look at the number of times you see British footballers out on the p*ss. Look at how few are mature enough to ply their trade abroad. Look at what idiots the ex-footballers on TS are. Look at how few really top class technical players England has produced.
Something goes very wrong with English players from a young age, there is a rotten culture somehow, that is the only thing I can conclude.”
Part of the problem is the attitude England players have, you don't see it so much with Irish or Welsh players, there is little pride in playing for the country with England players, you get the feeling most of them would rather be elsewhere.
Perhaps some of that is the fact as 'English' we mix up being British and also a fear that showing pride in your nation is somehow racist, something we do see peddled by the left wing media quite a lot. The BBC and the Guardian seem to go into meltdown if an English flag is flown anywhere.
But there is also an issue with the players, hardly any play overseas in the top leagues, in fact the ones that did (at their peak) you can name easily, players like McManaman, Lineker, Gazza, Beckham & Owen being the most obvious ones.
In fact could you name an England 11 made up of English players who have played overseas at their peak in say the last 30 years? I don't think you could.
If our players are not playing in Spain or Italy they are not playing against the best. Most of the foreign players who come here have already played in the top European leagues and have that experience.
The other problem is the media. I could not believe that the morons on the Press Pass kept going on about big Sam not stating Wooney will be the captain.
Seriously, who gives a s&&t?
I'm fed up of the media jumping down any England manager who fails to select their favourite players (because that players writes a column for their paper or the media hack is friendly with a certain club etc.) or plays them out of position.
I really don't care about the captain, in football it's not an important role what counts is what goes on on the pitch and having players who can lead by example. We don't have any of those, I don't know why perhaps it's the education system or simply the few English players we have playing in the EPL are not in a position to command foreign players who earn often a lot more and may not speak much English.
I will make this one prediction. We won't have won anything in another 50 years.