It's part 1 of a series of blogs I am writing on my views of the problems/failures of the English game:
I come at this piece knowing all to well the many people who have had their say on the matter, blaming anything from tiredness to the wrong boots we use to 'our grass is to wet'. I am coming at this with at least a vague understanding, I would like to think, of how the system in this country works for young coaches looking to get qualified. I myself came through the program's setup by the FA to get the relevant qualifications to coach Professionally in this country and across the pond in Continental Europe, I need to be in Professional coaching/football now for a minimum 10 years with my B license before I am considered eligible to apply for a 'UEFA A License' which allows me to be a senior coach/manage at a Professional football club. Just to introduce the general point I am trying to start off with here is I am going through the system many consider flawed and I can give my personal views on how it has helped/hindered me and whether I would have any suggestions for improvement. Well I do have alot of suggestions/ideas on why this country's football system fails the youngsters and why I believe so many coaches in this country bring kids up the wrong way, it's not about emulating the Spanish/Germans it should be about doing it our own way and I dare say do our way 'better' than them.
I mean it occurred to me whilst I took my 3 month internship at a Dutch academy earlier in the year that a fundamental difference between the way Youngsters are coached over there is they get far more time with the kids and they get them into their systems at the ages of 9/10 whereas most academies in England only start to really train youngsters after the age of 13. Alot of academies in England do run program's with U-10's but it will be maybe one session a week and even then it will be 1-2 hours maximum, laws in England do restrict coaches to the extent that you get to spend a maximum of 7 hours with youngsters over a week leaving little time for the coach to adapt/tutor the youngster 100 pct. The rules in Spain are different, as cited by the famous Cruyff academy system 'La Masia' where youngsters spend time living with each other and learning their trade under one philosophy together regardless of whether one is '14' and one is '12', they see no parallel U-16 with regards to age and allow every youngster to stay until they are 16 to develop rather than throwing them out when they are 13 and their development is not as quick as the other kids. People seem to think the problem is with the Premier League clubs who get a look at them when they are 16/17 but the problem is what happens to them before they get to that point, Schools football needs an overhaul in my opinion many countries like Holland/Spain use Astro Turf and 5-a-side style goals up until the age of 14/15. Players don't even need to buy football boots in those countries until their mid teens, why is this important? Because it allows the player to adapt quicker and from personal experience it was easier learning my techniques on the streets in trainers than with boots on at the local park field. Ex footballers just seem all to happy that technique is not what English players are good at and its 'natural' to the Spanish, I would argue it is not natural at all but the way they are coached on all weather surfaces means the kids have fun more than soggy afternoons on a football pitch where they rarely get a touch of the ball and less of a showcase for their talents. The pitches are smaller and the teams at 5/7-a-side allows each player to feel like they have a role rather than standing out on the touchline freezing in their shorts and boots holding out for one of the other 10 people to pass them the ball. Of course 11-a-side experience is important but what use is 11 individuals with no adaptability of technique thrown onto a surface which is often bobbly/poorly kept and they will never develop a brilliant first touch in those conditions. Participation at grass roots level in this country will never decline severely because of the passion and commitment of Football fans who pass their knowledge/experience to the next generation, the problem lies with the conditions the youngsters are coached under and the methods of coaching they receive.
After my C License course finished I noticed a huge flaw in the way my group was taught drills, I spoke to the examiner/head coach afterwards and asked is this what every course is like? They replied ''yes this is what we get told to teach/say from the FA'', my point to them was all the drills we got taught was basic and pretty lackluster in that we got no mention of bringing in Sports Science/Our own ideas for drills to practice. So essentially we were just taught the strict basics of setting up a grid, coaching the fitness side properly and how to set up a tackling grid/passing triangles. So essentially all the coaches in this country are taught the same drills and I can guarantee most of them will go through life just sticking to those drills, I am not doubting their intentions/passion for the development one bit but the facts are alot of them go away and do the drills they got taught which serve little purpose to youngsters technique except teach them how to pair up and hit accurate 40 yard passes to one another. My next course I did bring in some new ideas for drills and was actively encouraged to do so, I just feel that the way coaches are coached needs to be very carefully looked at because at the end of the day coaches develop kids through drills on the training field and managing them mentally. I have done several pieces on Leadership/Mental attributes and how to actually develop them on the training pitch from a young age, I feel that the most crucial thing in football is starting players careers on the right footing and encouraging them to act professionally whilst always striving to improve.
Anyone who watched the England U-21's abject performance in last months European U-21 Championships and the senior sides floundering World Cup campaign a year ago is under no illusions; there are deep rooted issues within the game in this country. That's not news we all know it, yet the recent news that the Football Association has renewed England U-21 coach Stuart Pearce's contract despite him having failed to get the most out of the team and build anything noteworthy in his 4 year tenure as head coach. In those 4 years has he improved anything in so much as building an 'identity' for the England U-21 team? He has built Englands youngsters an identity, as a long ball team solely based on physicality and tenacity in the tackle...Sounds like the team have adapted the coaches identity doesn't it?
I have watched extremely closely England U-21 and their journey under Pearce as I take a keen interest in the youth of this country and how they are brought up, he has built nothing in the way of a philosophy/temperament which would benefit Englands youngsters long term. His philosophy as a coach is simple; get them fit, keep them fit and stop the opposition play through individual instructions. Which is sensible if you were a struggling Premier League club but not sensible if your breeding a mentality of 'stop the opposition and let the forwards do the scoring', if the FA honestly believe that that is the right way forward then the game in this country will never change, and never develop in the long term.
Building facilities and investment in 'grassroots' appears to be the FAs way of sorting out South Africa, well I personally will say that for 4.8 million pounds a year you could certainly make a start to building a new philosophy in the English coaching system. Because whatever you want to say about the players not being good enough or having the wrong attitude, they are products of their environment and more importantly their coach, the style and temperament of a player often surface at the age of 10/12 and that can be nurtured up until 15/16 in my eyes before it becomes harder to change a personality. The real failures of English football can mostly be sourced to the FA, I don't blame coaches who go through the system for not thinking up new drills because they don't get encouraged to like the Dutch/European coaches do, I blame the FA for the way kids are brought through/into the schools system.
The Summary:
The news that Stuart Pearce’s contract to coach the England Under-21s after such a poor performance has been extended by a further 2 years is surely indicative of English football, at least on an organisational level, still being stuck in the dark ages. As a player, Pearce embodied so many qualities that are considered quintisentially Engish; passion, power, will to win, the ability to kick a ball very very hard. It would seem that he has taken these qualities into management, and it is to the detriment of his charges. So therefore the long term 'vision' the media/FA/ex players are talking about is really nothing but further elitist surface changes which are will ultimately lead to another embarrassment of tired, long ball football at the next major tournament.
The main sticking point for many was his insistence of playing his team’s captain, Michael Mancienne, a defender by trade, as a holding midfielder. Mancienne is a very good footballer, who is comfortable on the ball and reads the game well. But a midfielder he is not. He was another square peg in a round hole. It was confirmed before the tournament that he would sign for HSV Hamburg in the Bundesliga. Hopefully they will put his talents to better and more suitable use.
Of course, Pearce was somewhat hamstrung by the absence of the one true English midfield playmaker, Jack Wilshere. Andy Carroll too, was missing, but it could be argued that with Pearce at the helm his inclusion would make that old school long ball option, England’s Plan B, even more appealing.
All of this though, is by the by. The English game is in need of reform, from top to bottom. The FA have shown themselves to be incapable of doing this themselves. The much-needed National Football Academy at Burton is a case in point. Work on it started around 10 years ago, with the intention of making it the breeding ground of future success on the international stage. 10 years is a long time to wait for such a vital commodity. The delay? Money was withdrawn from its funding to pay for the new Wembley.
This academy could be the making of English football for years to come. But only if those shaping the players of the future can do it with some imagination and guile. Looking at the dearth of quality English managers out there at the moment, once can only assume and, indeed, hope, that it sees a major influx of foreign coaches.
It would be far too easy and predictable to fall into the trap of bemoaning the faults of Sven-Göran Eriksson and Fabio Capello. They might be flawed, but they can only use the players at their disposal. For too long has English football felt the need to be so self-reliant.
An influx of coaches who are able to impress upon players at a very early age the importance of the football itself as the key component of the game, to show them that, clichéd though it may be, that the ball should do the work, to show them that they can be as good as their Spanish and Dutch counterparts is not just important. It is wholly vital for the sake of the future of the game in this country at both grass roots and Senior level.
I barely touched on the England senior teams failure, another article will follow on their failures and the seemingly never ending misgivings of recent English sides which have plagued an entire generation.
There is no doubt at all that the players are accountable for poor performance. After all, once the manager and coaches have prepared them and they cross that white line, they are alone. Their talent, with some exceptions, is not in question – these are world-class athletes, born with a gift that millions can only dream of. And I believe that their attitude, with exceptions again, is almost beyond reproach. They’re professional sportsmen, they don’t go out to lose. However, when their talents are abused from a young age and when they become square pegs inelegantly stuffed into round holes, then it should only be expected that things will start to go wrong.
I'll end on the point of ''FA failing the youth'' with a piece of FA legislation from their official legislative guidebook which really shows the incredulous lack of vision/responsibility taken by the FA takes for developing players pre academy:
One of the important aspects of games in school is the opportunity they afford of developing a pupil’s sense of loyalty and honour. It is
therefore of concern when interest in games outside the school conflict with a pupil’s loyalty to the school and/or
school organisations’ activities.
1. It is usually the pupil of outstanding Football ability whose services are sought by any Club, and the Player is most likely to be
a member of the school or association team. While schools’ matches are often arranged on Saturday mornings and Club matches take place in the
afternoon, it is considered that a player should not play in two matches on the same day, for the one match is likely to affect play in the other.
2. An outside Club or organisation should consult the head-teacher before selecting any child of school age to play for a team, and should accept the
head-teacher’s decision on these matters. Head-teachers of schools should not restrain pupils, who are not selected forschool games of any kind, from
playing for an outside organisation during their free time.
Whilst the way Counties run their systems is not legislated at a national level but at a County committee level:
1. A County Association may form a County Youth Football Association, or carry out the duties by a Committee of its own Association.
2. The constitution of the Youth Association, or Committee, must be submitted to The Football Association.
Yet Post South Africa no lessons seemed to have been learnt as Capello's contract gets renewed and they brought in yet another Elitist policy to add to that, that has already failed them for the past decade:
Programme For Excellence FA
Blog: The Flaws of The English Game | jhaldenfootball
Any feedback's welcome, just trying to give a perspective from a guy who is coming through the system and the flaws I can see in it personally.
The Flaws Of The English Game
I come at this piece knowing all to well the many people who have had their say on the matter, blaming anything from tiredness to the wrong boots we use to 'our grass is to wet'. I am coming at this with at least a vague understanding, I would like to think, of how the system in this country works for young coaches looking to get qualified. I myself came through the program's setup by the FA to get the relevant qualifications to coach Professionally in this country and across the pond in Continental Europe, I need to be in Professional coaching/football now for a minimum 10 years with my B license before I am considered eligible to apply for a 'UEFA A License' which allows me to be a senior coach/manage at a Professional football club. Just to introduce the general point I am trying to start off with here is I am going through the system many consider flawed and I can give my personal views on how it has helped/hindered me and whether I would have any suggestions for improvement. Well I do have alot of suggestions/ideas on why this country's football system fails the youngsters and why I believe so many coaches in this country bring kids up the wrong way, it's not about emulating the Spanish/Germans it should be about doing it our own way and I dare say do our way 'better' than them.
I mean it occurred to me whilst I took my 3 month internship at a Dutch academy earlier in the year that a fundamental difference between the way Youngsters are coached over there is they get far more time with the kids and they get them into their systems at the ages of 9/10 whereas most academies in England only start to really train youngsters after the age of 13. Alot of academies in England do run program's with U-10's but it will be maybe one session a week and even then it will be 1-2 hours maximum, laws in England do restrict coaches to the extent that you get to spend a maximum of 7 hours with youngsters over a week leaving little time for the coach to adapt/tutor the youngster 100 pct. The rules in Spain are different, as cited by the famous Cruyff academy system 'La Masia' where youngsters spend time living with each other and learning their trade under one philosophy together regardless of whether one is '14' and one is '12', they see no parallel U-16 with regards to age and allow every youngster to stay until they are 16 to develop rather than throwing them out when they are 13 and their development is not as quick as the other kids. People seem to think the problem is with the Premier League clubs who get a look at them when they are 16/17 but the problem is what happens to them before they get to that point, Schools football needs an overhaul in my opinion many countries like Holland/Spain use Astro Turf and 5-a-side style goals up until the age of 14/15. Players don't even need to buy football boots in those countries until their mid teens, why is this important? Because it allows the player to adapt quicker and from personal experience it was easier learning my techniques on the streets in trainers than with boots on at the local park field. Ex footballers just seem all to happy that technique is not what English players are good at and its 'natural' to the Spanish, I would argue it is not natural at all but the way they are coached on all weather surfaces means the kids have fun more than soggy afternoons on a football pitch where they rarely get a touch of the ball and less of a showcase for their talents. The pitches are smaller and the teams at 5/7-a-side allows each player to feel like they have a role rather than standing out on the touchline freezing in their shorts and boots holding out for one of the other 10 people to pass them the ball. Of course 11-a-side experience is important but what use is 11 individuals with no adaptability of technique thrown onto a surface which is often bobbly/poorly kept and they will never develop a brilliant first touch in those conditions. Participation at grass roots level in this country will never decline severely because of the passion and commitment of Football fans who pass their knowledge/experience to the next generation, the problem lies with the conditions the youngsters are coached under and the methods of coaching they receive.
After my C License course finished I noticed a huge flaw in the way my group was taught drills, I spoke to the examiner/head coach afterwards and asked is this what every course is like? They replied ''yes this is what we get told to teach/say from the FA'', my point to them was all the drills we got taught was basic and pretty lackluster in that we got no mention of bringing in Sports Science/Our own ideas for drills to practice. So essentially we were just taught the strict basics of setting up a grid, coaching the fitness side properly and how to set up a tackling grid/passing triangles. So essentially all the coaches in this country are taught the same drills and I can guarantee most of them will go through life just sticking to those drills, I am not doubting their intentions/passion for the development one bit but the facts are alot of them go away and do the drills they got taught which serve little purpose to youngsters technique except teach them how to pair up and hit accurate 40 yard passes to one another. My next course I did bring in some new ideas for drills and was actively encouraged to do so, I just feel that the way coaches are coached needs to be very carefully looked at because at the end of the day coaches develop kids through drills on the training field and managing them mentally. I have done several pieces on Leadership/Mental attributes and how to actually develop them on the training pitch from a young age, I feel that the most crucial thing in football is starting players careers on the right footing and encouraging them to act professionally whilst always striving to improve.
Anyone who watched the England U-21's abject performance in last months European U-21 Championships and the senior sides floundering World Cup campaign a year ago is under no illusions; there are deep rooted issues within the game in this country. That's not news we all know it, yet the recent news that the Football Association has renewed England U-21 coach Stuart Pearce's contract despite him having failed to get the most out of the team and build anything noteworthy in his 4 year tenure as head coach. In those 4 years has he improved anything in so much as building an 'identity' for the England U-21 team? He has built Englands youngsters an identity, as a long ball team solely based on physicality and tenacity in the tackle...Sounds like the team have adapted the coaches identity doesn't it?
I have watched extremely closely England U-21 and their journey under Pearce as I take a keen interest in the youth of this country and how they are brought up, he has built nothing in the way of a philosophy/temperament which would benefit Englands youngsters long term. His philosophy as a coach is simple; get them fit, keep them fit and stop the opposition play through individual instructions. Which is sensible if you were a struggling Premier League club but not sensible if your breeding a mentality of 'stop the opposition and let the forwards do the scoring', if the FA honestly believe that that is the right way forward then the game in this country will never change, and never develop in the long term.
Building facilities and investment in 'grassroots' appears to be the FAs way of sorting out South Africa, well I personally will say that for 4.8 million pounds a year you could certainly make a start to building a new philosophy in the English coaching system. Because whatever you want to say about the players not being good enough or having the wrong attitude, they are products of their environment and more importantly their coach, the style and temperament of a player often surface at the age of 10/12 and that can be nurtured up until 15/16 in my eyes before it becomes harder to change a personality. The real failures of English football can mostly be sourced to the FA, I don't blame coaches who go through the system for not thinking up new drills because they don't get encouraged to like the Dutch/European coaches do, I blame the FA for the way kids are brought through/into the schools system.
The Summary:
The news that Stuart Pearce’s contract to coach the England Under-21s after such a poor performance has been extended by a further 2 years is surely indicative of English football, at least on an organisational level, still being stuck in the dark ages. As a player, Pearce embodied so many qualities that are considered quintisentially Engish; passion, power, will to win, the ability to kick a ball very very hard. It would seem that he has taken these qualities into management, and it is to the detriment of his charges. So therefore the long term 'vision' the media/FA/ex players are talking about is really nothing but further elitist surface changes which are will ultimately lead to another embarrassment of tired, long ball football at the next major tournament.
The main sticking point for many was his insistence of playing his team’s captain, Michael Mancienne, a defender by trade, as a holding midfielder. Mancienne is a very good footballer, who is comfortable on the ball and reads the game well. But a midfielder he is not. He was another square peg in a round hole. It was confirmed before the tournament that he would sign for HSV Hamburg in the Bundesliga. Hopefully they will put his talents to better and more suitable use.
Of course, Pearce was somewhat hamstrung by the absence of the one true English midfield playmaker, Jack Wilshere. Andy Carroll too, was missing, but it could be argued that with Pearce at the helm his inclusion would make that old school long ball option, England’s Plan B, even more appealing.
All of this though, is by the by. The English game is in need of reform, from top to bottom. The FA have shown themselves to be incapable of doing this themselves. The much-needed National Football Academy at Burton is a case in point. Work on it started around 10 years ago, with the intention of making it the breeding ground of future success on the international stage. 10 years is a long time to wait for such a vital commodity. The delay? Money was withdrawn from its funding to pay for the new Wembley.
This academy could be the making of English football for years to come. But only if those shaping the players of the future can do it with some imagination and guile. Looking at the dearth of quality English managers out there at the moment, once can only assume and, indeed, hope, that it sees a major influx of foreign coaches.
It would be far too easy and predictable to fall into the trap of bemoaning the faults of Sven-Göran Eriksson and Fabio Capello. They might be flawed, but they can only use the players at their disposal. For too long has English football felt the need to be so self-reliant.
An influx of coaches who are able to impress upon players at a very early age the importance of the football itself as the key component of the game, to show them that, clichéd though it may be, that the ball should do the work, to show them that they can be as good as their Spanish and Dutch counterparts is not just important. It is wholly vital for the sake of the future of the game in this country at both grass roots and Senior level.
I barely touched on the England senior teams failure, another article will follow on their failures and the seemingly never ending misgivings of recent English sides which have plagued an entire generation.
There is no doubt at all that the players are accountable for poor performance. After all, once the manager and coaches have prepared them and they cross that white line, they are alone. Their talent, with some exceptions, is not in question – these are world-class athletes, born with a gift that millions can only dream of. And I believe that their attitude, with exceptions again, is almost beyond reproach. They’re professional sportsmen, they don’t go out to lose. However, when their talents are abused from a young age and when they become square pegs inelegantly stuffed into round holes, then it should only be expected that things will start to go wrong.
I'll end on the point of ''FA failing the youth'' with a piece of FA legislation from their official legislative guidebook which really shows the incredulous lack of vision/responsibility taken by the FA takes for developing players pre academy:
One of the important aspects of games in school is the opportunity they afford of developing a pupil’s sense of loyalty and honour. It is
therefore of concern when interest in games outside the school conflict with a pupil’s loyalty to the school and/or
school organisations’ activities.
1. It is usually the pupil of outstanding Football ability whose services are sought by any Club, and the Player is most likely to be
a member of the school or association team. While schools’ matches are often arranged on Saturday mornings and Club matches take place in the
afternoon, it is considered that a player should not play in two matches on the same day, for the one match is likely to affect play in the other.
2. An outside Club or organisation should consult the head-teacher before selecting any child of school age to play for a team, and should accept the
head-teacher’s decision on these matters. Head-teachers of schools should not restrain pupils, who are not selected forschool games of any kind, from
playing for an outside organisation during their free time.
Whilst the way Counties run their systems is not legislated at a national level but at a County committee level:
1. A County Association may form a County Youth Football Association, or carry out the duties by a Committee of its own Association.
2. The constitution of the Youth Association, or Committee, must be submitted to The Football Association.
Yet Post South Africa no lessons seemed to have been learnt as Capello's contract gets renewed and they brought in yet another Elitist policy to add to that, that has already failed them for the past decade:
Programme For Excellence FA
Blog: The Flaws of The English Game | jhaldenfootball
Any feedback's welcome, just trying to give a perspective from a guy who is coming through the system and the flaws I can see in it personally.
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