Let’s stop this England failure from happening again
As another World Cup comes and goes, it’s another disappointment for the ever passionate and loyal England fans.
We’ve heard the excuses from the FA and Fabio Capello. “The players were tired” the manager said. Funny that, because against Germany, England players ran further on average than their opposition who still managed to rattle four goals past us.
We all know what the problems were on the pitch. Poor teamwork, not enough dynamism and a team lacking in individuality made England’s football far too predictable for their opponents. But where did this frustrating and unsuccessful brand of football come from?
Here’s the solution.
The FA needs to realise that the grassroots of the game need a major overhaul. World Cup finalists and Euro Champions Spain have 23,995 UEFA coaching badges (B, A & Pro) and England slayers and 3rd placed team Germany have 34,790. England have just over a pathetic 2000.
The FA started work on Burton Abbey, recently renamed St Georges Park, nine years ago- a national football centre that was designed to galvanise the game and bring England success. £25m later, it is still not finished, although the FA promises it will be finished in time for the 2012 Olympics. By then its cost will have rocketed to £100m.
The FA has shown time and time again that they languish on the drawing board when it matters most. UK Football Finder has been a great crusader for much needed money in grassroots football. The website brings players of all standards together to compete in ProStar Leagues – boosting young English players’ chances of making it in the big leagues. Also supporting the petition is Goalrun who have been supporting grass roots football for 11 years.
For this worthy cause to be any use, the FA needs to listen, and change the way they coach players.
I know a young footballer who has played for the youth teams at Chelsea, Charlton and Fulham and he can firmly say that all youth team coaching places strong emphasis on strength and pace. There is so much more to football than strength and pace. This young footballer eventually became so frustrated with this type of coaching, that he left football for good six months ago to pursue another career.
If talented young players are being subjected to this constrained way of playing football by under qualified coaches, then their priceless flair and uniqueness is clearly going to suffer.
Only 2,769 coaches in England possess the UEFA coaching badges that are so prominent in Germany and Spain.
In clear black and white, that is why we have done so badly this tournament, and will continue to do so if this problem is not addressed.
It’s time for a top to toe revolution in the English game.
Our aim is to see a complete overhaul of football coaching in this country, starting at grassroots level
Sign the petition to get the FA to put more emphasis and importance in our grassroots game and to stop this failure from happening again.
‘UK Football Finder is part of the Grassroots Football Alliance. The GFA aims to represent the interests, concerns and aspirations of each and everyone involved with the grass roots game. Football Mittoo/Goalrun, Non League News Ltd, & Soccer Sixes seek to offer a wealth of combined experience, understanding and direct access to key organisations’
As featured on the Non League Football Show
