What’s Wrong With England’s National Football Team?

Storyline: The English national team isn’t adapting to modern football’s winning style. Now is the time to change. Otherwise, winning an international cup will remain a dream. Written by Spyros Kontolatis, Athens, Greece.

Every two years there’s an International Competition–the UEFA European Championship and the FIFA World Cup–and every two years England enters as one of the best teams. But every two years they return home holding heads in hands. However, the Premiership is on the rise every year with millions of pounds spent for transfers. Just how are these two situations related?

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First, look at the most famous players in the league: they are not of English origin. Consider these names: Silva, Aguero, Yaya Toure, Oscar, Hazard, formerly Luis Suarez, and Drogba. The last great English Players of the Premiership were Gerrard, Lampard, Terry and Rooney, who stopped being talents almost ten years ago.

The Premiership is the richest League in Europe. The amount of money spent for TV rights is extreme, soon to reach an historical peak. Teams now have a lot more money in their transfer budgets and they prefer spending it on foreign players or overpriced English ones.

Examples of that overpricing are infamous. Consider the 40m pounds spent by Liverpool for Andy Carroll, who only had half a good season with Newcastle, or the 30m pounds given to Luke Shaw, who has yet to prove he’s  worth it. On the other hand, only a month ago Manchester United spent 18 million pounds (almost half the amount spent for the inexperienced Shaw) for Bastian Schweinsteiger, who’s a World Cup champion, Germany’s captain, and the European Champion with Bayern.

So it seems that the amount of money spent for English players is much more than their talent, abilities, and experience would justify. Shortcomings result in the team’s failures. Players are on the squad long before they’re actually ready.

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There’s a deeper reason, though. English Football is unwilling to adapt to a swifter approach, short passes, and a large-possession percentage. All these changes were initiated by Barcelona, the Spanish National Team and, later, by Bayern Munich and the Nationalmannschaft. These are several of the most successful teams of the past decade. The English, on the other hand, still prefer long balls, crosses searching for a big header, and shots outside the box. This appeals to some, including me (I won’t deny it), but it’s the wrong approach for modern football.

One could argue that mentality plays a great role, and I won’t say it doesn’t. Being a long-time Netherlands fan I know what being a loser means. However, Spain was a loser too. Mentality can change if the right approach is followed.

The English have been left behind. Now is the time to begin changing. Otherwise, winning an international cup may as well remain a dream.