With another quarterfinal exit from an international tournament, the post-mortem of England’s EURO 2012 campaign kicks off in media camps but the focus is on the current crop of players rather than those who might replace them in the near future...
In his latest comments to the media, Hodgson revealed that England might undergo a bit of a revolution in August when they take on http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Italy-c2926 in their scheduled friendly match at the Wembley stadium. The England national team manager admitted that he will look at players who were not a part of the England camp at the European championships.
Whilst such a move is admirable, it hardly takes a comprehensive view of what is wrong with English football. England were woeful at the European Championships, their offensive capabilities mirrored that of a lower table Premier League side that was waiting for its lucky break to nick a goal and then park the bus to stifle superior opponents.
It is already said that the likes of Smalling, Jones and Cleverley along with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jack-Wilshere-c17463 will be the spine of English national team under Hodgson in the coming years. But the problem that is faced by English football will not be solved by a change of faces or a change of players, for it goes deeper than that. England need a change of mentality which must take place with a change in how England’s youth is nurtured for football at the grassroot level.
In one of his interviews, Xavi aptly captured the problem unknowingly to a certain extent as he remarked that in England when a player boots the ball into the stands, it is seen as a heroic gesture of clearing the ball away and the crowd applauds it. But in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011 such an action on the field of play will never be appreciated, especially at certain clubs. The notion of keeping ball on the crowd, short passes, quick tempo and focus on technique rather than physique is what English football needs to adapt to.
Football has evolved but England has remained the same. Whilst there is no denying that there is a change in mentality to a certain extent in players such as Wilshere and Cleverley but things are still hopeless at the grassroots level where players are judged on how hard they can tackle and how tall they are. England’s problems thus lie at the grassroots where they need to undergo a revolution of their own, to dump this “English style of football” and adapt towards keeping possession of the football rather than hoofing it up field.
In the aftermath of his team’s exit from the European Championships, Hodgson claimed that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 manager’s claim stands as a hollow boast. He maintains that it was time that prevented England from doing so which serves as a shallow excuse. If England continue on the same track, it is hard to see them triumphing in the 2014 World Cup or even in the next European Championships.
A change in mentality and thus the style of play is essential; if it does not come then England will be subjected to humiliations which make them look like http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/South-Africa-c757.
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