Sir Trevor Brooking to work alongside Fabio Capello
In November 2008, Sir Trevor Brooking was criticised by Lord Mawhinney after voicing his frustrations over the lack of funding for grassroots coaching in England.
"I don't have much time for people who go public and criticise their employers," was the former Football League chairman’s abrupt response. "That doesn't seem to me to be a great idea."
Nearly two years on and after a dismal showing at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Brooking’s concerns about the state of youth football now seem more significant than ever before.
Following a lengthy board meeting at Wembley on Thursday, it was decided that Brooking will work alongside the Italian manager in a bid to develop English coaches’ skills, which will hopefully benefit England’s chances at future major international tournaments.
The former West Ham United and England midfielder has long championed the need to focus on grassroots football. In South Africa, England were embarrassingly disjointed and a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Germany – who relied on the exuberance of youth to reach the semi-finals - in the last 16 outlined just how far they’ve fallen behind the top international sides from a technical perspective.
"We must all accept that for a country of some 60 million people, we are not producing the depth of players at the top level with the necessary technical skills now required by the major clubs and international teams," Brooking commented last September.
"If we want to increase the number of English players competing at the highest level, radical change is needed."
It’s unfortunate that it’s taken this long for the Football Association to listen to their Director of Football Development. Unlike many of his counterparts at the FA, Brooking understands that knee-jerk reactions and quick solutions won’t yield any positive results in the long run.
A look at the model and philosophies of various international sides, including Spain and Germany, and those of clubs sides, including Ajax and Barcelona, is what Brooking wants England to strive towards. These teams have been successful over recent years and all have one thing in common: the commitment of developing youth.
Ensuring their future stars are comfortable on and off the ball, are intelligent on the field of play and most importantly, work as a unit with their teammates, it’s hoped that with similar coaching, the next generation of young players in England will develop in a similar way as the Spanish and the Germans.
England were exposed in South Africa for containing a vastly overrated group of players, who perform well enough for their clubs sides on a weekly basis, but struggle to adapt to international football in major tournaments.
Poor control, wayward passes, a lack of movement, a worrying lack of pace, abysmal defending and an unusually relaxed attitude to such a performance afterwards ensured England’s worst-ever defeat at a World Cup finals against Germany.
It was obvious that wholesale changes needed to be enforced; but, for once, not starting with the manager.
Brooking will assist the pragmatic Fabio Capello, and will also play an even more vital role when Stuart Peace is away with the Under-21 squad. The 61-year-old’s passion for youth development, experience and insight could prove imperative in bringing England back to the forefront of international football.
The FA’s £100million National Football Centre in Burton-on-Trent is finally due to be opened by 2012 – 11 years on from when the plans were first unveiled – and it’s hoped that this will mark a bright new era for English football.
Without Brooking’s admirable commitment to the scheme, it may well have been scrapped by the FA back in 2007, which would have all but ended any realistic hopes the national team harboured for future success.
But now, with Brooking in a role higher up the hierarchy and with the National Football Centre set to produce an exciting new wave of talent, suddenly the outlook doesn’t look so bleak for English football after all.
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