After seeing the hoof-fest (I fell asleep at half time)....the major flaw of English football showed itself again.

Constant hoofing, being scared to pass the ball on the ground. Hesitancy to keep it simple and wait for an opening. Trying to do hollywood pass when they can't pull it off...and etc etc.

If you're appointed as the head of English football tomorrow. the FA, How would you revolutionize that set up?

Here is what I'd do:

- Sack Any Regional coach for youth or scout above the age of 45, and pay their compensation
- Sue all the press who criticizes my actions. Ban players who do interviews with the press who criticizes my revolution
- Hold a meeting with all regional scouts and youth coaches, and order them to shift their attention from Pace and Power, to flair and movement when identifying a young talent
- Sack Pearce and Capello. Replace them with Laudrup and Rafa.
- Arrange 4 friendlies a year against Spain national set ups (any age group)....so can keep tracking of hoofing and improvements on playing it simple and on the ground first.
- Show re-runs of CL finals between Barcelona and United to the youth coaches, every day. They must know it by the heart to obtain their degree.
- Assign the youth set ups (from u-17s) to the senior national team to all play with ONE strategy and ONE formation. Kind of like Director of Football.

Those are the steps I'll take in my first day at the office.

It sounds like totalitarianism and dictatorship...but sometimes, it's the only way through

stop pidgeonholing young players into one position

teach something other than playing the ball wide and crossing

The "hoof-ball" tactic is something that's deep rooted in English football. The F.A. never accepted anything else as a legitimate way of playing. You can trace it back all the way to the late 1800's when England played Scotland in one of the first inernational friendlies.

England played what they deemend to be the "manly" way: rushing forward, dribbling with the ball and looking to bully their way to go. The Scots, on the other hand, learned the value of passing and passed the ball sideways. They were deemed "cowards".

Even when an English coach in the early 1900's, his name escapes me at the moment, went abroard to Austria and had great success by making them one of the best national sides of that time, the F.A. rejected his way of thinking. He focused on honing ball control and skill.

It's for this reason why England quickly faltered as a major force in world football. First they were overtaken by Hungary (Puskas era) and then by a host of other nations.

It has to start at grassroots level. Kids need to be taught the values of skill, ball control and passing, not winning. Get rid of competitive leagues and put a focus on just playing the game. I understand that the current F.A. are actually making grassroots pitches shorter and making the goals smaller, to help with the transition to 11 a side football.

Of course, one problem with this is re-educating the coaches. So how coaching is taught also needs to change.

Once we start producing more players who know how to use the ball - we've already got two in Jack Wilshere and Josh McEachran - we need the national side to be coached by someone who likes to play a passing game.

Unfortunately it's something that'll take a number of years to integrate. Getting in some foreign coaches who like to play a passing game could help in the short-term, but I'm not sure the current F.A. will be so willing to bring in the help.

+1 Gooner.

The issue with a lot of English players is that they just lack any real skill on the ball.

No one can change their hoofball mentality .That is in their blood so i would appoint Martin O'Neil as NT coach who could atleast get the best out these bunch of players .

Also i would release a media statement saying England NT are not a major force in world football . Maybe that would keep the expectations in check for deluded english media and fans .

Also i would release a media statement saying England NT are not a major force in world football . Maybe that would keep the expectations in check for deluded english media and fans .

You'd probably be heavily ridiculed for saying that, given that the vast majority of the populace seem convinced that England are a force.

Having said that, expecations seem to be at an all time low after the 2010 World Cup. There aren't money optimistic England fans at the moment, though I'm sure that'll change come Euro 2012.

I hope that if we make Euro 2012 that we are knocked out in a completely fair and square manner - no dodgey refereeing decisiosn, no blatantly over the line goals disallowed, etc. That way, we'll have no one to blame but ourselves.

Gooner, I agree that change needs to be implemented from the grass roots. How much blame does the manager take in your opinion? Do you believe he sets up the team to play to their strengths or would you say he is trying to have players fit a certain strategy?

Some could definitely argue that most of the players (Golden generation) are a lost cause and trying to change their ways is pointless.

GoonerJay29 wrote:

Also i would release a media statement saying England NT are not a major force in world football . Maybe that would keep the expectations in check for deluded english media and fans .

You'd probably be heavily ridiculed for saying that, given that the vast majority of the populace seem convinced that England are a force.

Having said that, expecations seem to be at an all time low after the 2010 World Cup. There aren't money optimistic England fans at the moment, though I'm sure that'll change come Euro 2012.

I hope that if we make Euro 2012 that we are knocked out in a completely fair and square manner - no dodgey refereeing decisiosn, no blatantly over the line goals disallowed, etc. That way, we'll have no one to blame but ourselves.

If expectations are at an all time low then why boo the NT at half time against Swiss last week ? Great way to back your team and increase the morale when they are 2-1 down ?

Goonerjay. have you read "inverting the pyramid" by Jonathon Wilson, sounds like it.

For example, what credintionals does Pearce have for nurturing the cream of English talent? 10 goals scored at home witha PL team over a whole season with Stu Pearce in charge. Embarrassing

I think pitch sizes are a massive problem. Youngsters are moved to play on full sized pitches too early and thus never really develop any excellent technical qualities.

poolsupporter wrote:Gooner, I agree that change needs to be implemented from the grass roots. How much blame does the manager take in your opinion? Do you believe he sets up the team to play to their strengths or would you say he is trying to have players fit a certain strategy?

Some could definitely argue that most of the players (Golden generation) are a lost cause and trying to change their ways is pointless.

I believe the managers are trying to play to the teams strengths. In the past decade, England have had Erikson, McClaren and Capello and all of them have tried to play in the same way; 4-4-2, direct play up to a target man and over-reliance on service from the flanks. So either the F.A. are looking for a specific type of coach, or the coaches are having to play a certain way due to limitations such as the footballing culture of this generation of players and lack of talent in certain positions.

One of those limitations is the lack of a proper passer in central midfield; someone who is willing to drop deep and receive the ball from the defenders, and then move it on to other midfielders and forwards. Gerrard, Lampard and Barry don't do this. Hargreaves did, which is why England were much better with him than without him. Wilshere and McEachran do this, and England will be much better with them. If the defenders have an easy option to pass to a few yards away, they won't be so willing to hoof the ball long.

If expectations are at an all time low then why boo the NT at half time against Swiss last week ? Great way to back your team and increase the morale when they are 2-1 down ?

Fans are still frustrated after the World Cup, because though we've seen change we haven't seen enough. Not many expect us to go anywhere without changes to the set-up. So when they see the same failings against a team we really should be beating, they grow frustrated. Hence the boos.

This isn't really a case of not having any expecation at all. Rather, fans know the team can do a ton better and have the capacity to play decent football. When they don't, it's very disappointing.

Goonerjay. have you read "inverting the pyramid" by Jonathon Wilson, sounds like it.

I have. It's an excellent book. Have you also read it?

I think pitch sizes are a massive problem. Youngsters are moved to play on full sized pitches too early and thus never really develop any excellent technical qualities.

Thankfully, there are moves being made to change that.

Overall, I obviously agree with Goonerjay.

I think it no doubt starts in school.

When I was a kid, we played 11 a side on a fullsize pitch with a fullsize goal with hardly any coaching.

Of course we didnt learn about passing, touch, technique and so on. All we could do is boot it long (which on those pitches barely made it anywhere) and run around like headless chickens.

Put us in the playground, smaller everything, everyone turns into completely different players and you see the difference.

It has to be a complete transformation in attitude in terms of youth football.

Furthermore, stop caring about winning. I said it before, Barca youths often lose. The aim isnt to win, its to play the "right way" and winning will come later.

Might also want to do something about the pitches across England, death traps of mud and slops.

How can you play passing football uphill for damn sake?

Its a cold country, stop with the grass, it rains, it snows, it turns into crap.

GoonerJay29 wrote:

If expectations are at an all time low then why boo the NT at half time against Swiss last week ? Great way to back your team and increase the morale when they are 2-1 down ?

Fans are still frustrated after the World Cup, because though we've seen change we haven't seen enough. Not many expect us to go anywhere without changes to the set-up. So when they see the same failings against a team we really should be beating, they grow frustrated. Hence the boos.

This isn't really a case of not having any expecation at all. Rather, fans know the team can do a ton better and have the capacity to play decent football. When they don't, it's very disappointing.

This is exactly the thing that is irritating with England fans and what that holds their team back. Swiss are not a team that everyone can blow you know. They are the only team that beat the Spain in world cup .They are not a bloody minnow . England not a great team that can blow are the inferior teams apart .

England fans and media are putting unrealistic expectations on the team which makes the NT play below their levels.

No team that starts with Barry in midfield Upson in defense and Heskey in strike will be expected to reach a Semi (let alone win world cup ) in any other country apart from England .

Unless England reduce their expectations and be realistic they wont get far .

BeautifulGame wrote:

GoonerJay29 wrote:

If expectations are at an all time low then why boo the NT at half time against Swiss last week ? Great way to back your team and increase the morale when they are 2-1 down ?

Fans are still frustrated after the World Cup, because though we've seen change we haven't seen enough. Not many expect us to go anywhere without changes to the set-up. So when they see the same failings against a team we really should be beating, they grow frustrated. Hence the boos.

This isn't really a case of not having any expecation at all. Rather, fans know the team can do a ton better and have the capacity to play decent football. When they don't, it's very disappointing.

This is exactly the thing that is irritating with England fans and what that holds their team back. Swiss are not a team that everyone can blow you know. They are the only team that beat the Spain in world cup .They are not a bloody minnow . England not a great team that can blow are the inferior teams apart .

England fans and media are putting unrealistic expectations on the team which makes the NT play below their levels.

No team that starts with Barry in midfield Upson in defense and Heskey in strike will be expected to reach a Semi (let alone win world cup ) in any other country apart from England .

Unless England reduce their expectations and be realistic they wont get far .

The level of success that the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, etc. have achieved at club level is the reason why people have high expectations. Obviously England takes it to an extreme, but the NT ultimately is supposed to use the best 11 in the entire country and they can barely win a thing.

BeautifulGame wrote:This is exactly the thing that is irritating with England fans and what that holds their team back. Swiss are not a team that everyone can blow you know. They are the only team that beat the Spain in world cup .They are not a bloody minnow . England not a great team that can blow are the inferior teams apart .

England fans and media are putting unrealistic expectations on the team which makes the NT play below their levels.

No team that starts with Barry in midfield Upson in defense and Heskey in strike will be expected to reach a Semi (let alone win world cup ) in any other country apart from England .

Unless England reduce their expectations and be realistic they wont get far .

I know Switzerland aren't pushovers. They're a good, solid side with a bright future. However, that doesn't mean that England weren't the favourites and they should be beating them, not going in at half-time 2-1 down with an abject performance to go with it. Especially not at Wembley with close to a full strength side which.

For all our faults, England are still 6th in the world rankings. Realistically, that means we should be beating teams not in the top fifteen at least. I believe fans can realistically expect that much.

How England is still 6th is beyond me

how are they above italy or france?

italy and france went out in the group stages of the last major tournament, england did not.

sack howard webb

DagenhamDave wrote:italy and france went out in the group stages of the last major tournament, england did not.

England went out in the round of 16 .So how are they ahead of 2 of the 8 teams that qualified for QFs?

well i would implement the '6+5' rule right away !!

Surag.Blueguy wrote:well i would implement the '6+5' rule right away !!

Thats against European trade / labour laws IIRC.

A few of you are asking why England are so high in the rankings; it's because we've accumulated enough points by beating smaller opposition and the odd good team to be there.

I'm sure many would say France and Italy are better than England, but the FIFA World Rankings don't work like that. They work based on a system of points which are earned by beating other teams.

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/r&a-wr/52/00/97/fs-590_10e_wr_points.pdf

This site shows you how the points are calculated.

The Franchise wrote:Goonerjay. have you read "inverting the pyramid" by Jonathon Wilson, sounds like it.

Just purchased it.