Mugwump wrote:
I don't think a lack of graft is the problem. When we aren't terrified of the ball through nerves we're trying to play Premiership football i.e. a five pass maximum limit before the ball is launched forward - often aimlessly. Add to this an inability to play the ball out of defence (when was the last time you saw an English centre half carry the ball past the half way point with intent?) and a succession of goalkeepers who seem to think there is a parallel competition taking place in which you get points for how far you can punt the ball. The latter's depressing nadir was during the tenure of Paul Robinson who in the last World Cup (the one where he hit the PA suspension rig - a hundred feet in the air!) turned EVERY goal kick into catching practice for his opposite number!
I've been complaining about this for ages! Obviously its not the same but does anyone, when playing FIFA or Pro Evo, kick the ball long from a goal kick? Of course not because its basically a 50/50 chance of retaining posession. So why do footballers at the highest standard kick the ball long from a goal kick? You have 4 defenders to pass it to, it should be easy enough to keep the ball.
Mugwump wrote:
The major European and South American outfits figured this style of play out twenty years ago. Now all the second tier and a good deal of the third have too. All you need do is apply pressure to any Englishman with the ball and he'll hand over possession like a penny gum machine. Then they just play little triangles around us and it's three or four minutes before we see the ball again.
Again something I've been moaning about for a long time. One of the main reasons we dont keep the ball well is that our players, and particularly midfielders, just dont want the ball. They hide next to their opposite number so that a pass to them is never an option. How many English midfielders will actually go looking for the ball on a regular basis?
Mugwump wrote:
It goes back to the same old issues that arose under the Graham Taylor reign - a youth system which prizes size, athleticism and a "good engine" (FFS!) over skills. Making eleven year-old kids play on full size pitches. Elevating competition over fun etc. etc.
I think you might actually be me
Kids under the age of say 14/15 shouldn't be anywhere near a full size pitch. 11-a-side football on a full size pitch becomes an exercise in who can kick it the hardest and furthest coupled with who has the fastest striker. Physical attributes etc can be developed later, the emphasis should be on making the kids respect the ball and actually want it as much as possible and make sure they are touching it as much as possible. The average player only touches the ball for about 2% of the time in a regular game, no wonder our players have no idea what to do with it when they get it. Small sided games involve much more action on the ball and should, IMO, be the only form of the game kids should be playing right up until 14 at the earliest.
