Changing the English Philosophy

by Zaheer Shah

England’s national team continues to divide opinion when it comes to how the team should be run, whether it is a managerial appointment, tactical decision or squad selection. However by taking a step back and analysing the entire situation, it will be easier to clarify what the problems are and how to resolve them. Pre Euro 2012, the appointment of Roy Hodgson took many by surprise; Harry Redknapp was the media and bookies favourite to take the vacant England position by leaving Tottenham Hotspur come the close season. However once the appointment had been made, “experts” had already began a tirade of analysis which, some were true, but largely were false and had no substance. The media wanted an England team to replicate European style football, possession based with fluid forward movement but with English grit and determination, Hodgson knew this wasn’t feasible. 
During the selection process, Hodgson had many unfortunate setbacks, one was Kyle Walker and Gareth Barry injuries, as well as Michael Carrick and Micah Richards not wanting to be squad players, I do feel however that Frank Lampard’s injury was a blessing in disguise, for his inclusion would have meant a total tactical restructuring of a team that would need to be built around a player who is too one dimensional in my opinion. 
Wayne Rooney’s suspension gave more emphasis on who will be selected to deputise during the two games in which Rooney was ineligible. Once the final squad was taken to Poland/Ukraine, on inspection the squad was “bottom heavy”, not in numbers but in the characteristics of the players. 

The squad is as follows:
3 Goalkeepers/8 Defenders/8 Midfielders/4 Strikers

Of the 8 defenders, Hodgson was relying on the versatility of Phil Jones and Phil Jagielka in order to compensate for only including 3 players who would end up playing defensive midfield (Gerrard, Parker and Henderson) in a system which utilised 2 at a time, 4-2-3-1. 
Of the 8 midfielders, as previously mentioned, 3 would be defensive and 5 wingers but had plenty of versatility, Young would be played behind the striker during Rooney’s absence to good effect, Chamberlain's ability to play across the attacking line was also a plus and the squad contained a “defensive winger” in Milner. Among the strikers, upon Rooney’s return, he was deployed mainly a withdrawn role behind an out and out striker, this pushing Young into a more accustomed to wide role. The saying “players make the formation” was not relevant to this team, in this team the formation made the players. In midfield, Gerrard, at club level, is not used a defensive midfielder; his ability allows him to get forward and have a greater influence in an attacking sense. Young and Milner do not play in teams that soak up pressure and employ a counter attacking game, both their respective teams are proactive in their approach rather than reactive. The philosophy that Hodgson had imposed on the England team had changed the mind set of players from being attacking and forward thinking, to defensive and drawn towards reactive football.
During the tournament, in which England gained a respectable draw to France, won a surprisingly entertaining match with Sweden and a close fought encounter with Ukraine which secured first position in the group. 
At this point in time Hodgson had achieved his greatest accomplishment, he convinced the nation that playing defensive football is the most effective way to play with the current generation of England players and the media were more than happy to agree as long as England were in the tournament, however everyone got a reality check when Italy came knocking. 

The match was dominated from the first minute to the last minute of extra time by Italy, England couldn’t keep the ball for prolonged periods and looked predictable in their build up, this led them to become tired later in the match due to having to chase the ball and it showed during the penalty shootout. Straight after England were knocked out, the media, fans and ex-players jumped on the bandwagon which stated that England need to change their approach and learn how to keep the ball better. 

At grassroots level, physicality dominates a coaches thinking rather than the technical ability of a player, as Gareth Southgate declared after the Italy match, “Imagining Pirlo's report as young player - can't run, can't tackle, poor in the air. Ah, the importance of focussing on what kids CAN do”. 

This statement can be reflected in many players who are small and slight but have incredible technical abilities, unfortunately they are overlooked by players who have a much better build and use their physical power to perform rather than what they can do with the ball at their feet. It’s a common occurrence that central defenders be tall and physical in their approach, central midfielders should be athletic and powerful due to the amount of running they’ll need to do, wingers should be quick and direct, and strikers should be powerful; smaller strikers are rare but need to be quick if they are to play. None of these characteristics help in playing possession based football but rather counter attacking direct football. 
In order for England’s national team to progress, the model English player needs to be changed, the characteristics that coaches look for in their selection need to be change and the style of football needs to change. By educating coaches and showing them how much one coach can change, will enable them to make braver decisions and take more notice of players who may not have developed physically yet but have control over the football. 

A key example of this theory is comparing the development of James Milner and Jack Wilshere; James Milner is your archetypal English player, hard-working, honest, athletic but lacks the technical abilities that would encourage possession football if there were 11 of him on the pitch. Jack Wilshere is a modern English player, small, has the typical English aggression but has quality on the ball and plays in a team where possession is the key. The question needs to be asked how many Milner’s were developed at the academy level at the expense of the one Jack Wilshere. Further analysis needs to be made into what could potentially happen if half the premier league teams each developed 1 Jack Wilshere; it is a classic case that the youth teams belonging to clubs tend to play the same way as the senior team, this is because should the players progress that far, the transition in style should be easier than if they played a different way at youth level. By using this, the teams that play football that is based on possession have an obligation towards the national team to do more in order to develop not quantity, but quality English players. 
There is a common misconception that the Premier League teams do not produce enough English players, this argument could not be more wrong - they do not produce enough quality English players. If the Premier League teams each produced 1 James Milner each, the England national team would be playing the same type of football as they do now, however if even half of them produced a player who is comfortable on the ball, has a forward thinking mentality and is tactically astute, then think about the result. 
Simply put this generation of players are not capable of this because it takes more than a few possession based coaching sessions to impose that sort of style at the elite level. England were 12th out of 16 teams at the Euros in terms of possession/pass accuracy statistics, for a team ranked 3rd in the world, that is a poor showing. 
A lot needs to happen in order for England to change their identity, and it all starts from the grassroots level and the mentality coaches have on the “model English player”.
Until the coaching at grassroots level is changed and modelled in a way which England want to use as their identity for the coming generation, asking the current crop to a play to a style in which they haven’t been brought up in is unfair. Hodgson now has a choice to make in terms of his squad selection for the World Cup qualification campaign, should he persist in the style of football that failed at the Euros or should he now take the chances to promote the best of the U-21 players who were very accomplished in their performances under Stuart Pearce. 
The coming generation of England players may not match up to other nations who have been developing for over a decade, but the process needs to start somewhere. 
The talent is there, it just needs to be given the chance.

London based Zaheer Shah is a free-lance football writer and a student of Football at the Southampton Solent University, pursuing his goal of working as a scouting and match analyst.