World Cup 2010: League Managers Association Chairman Howard Wilkinson Worried about England’s Future
Howard Wilkinson, Former Technical Director of The Football Association, fears that the future of England's International football may be heading towards a dark path following the team’s dismal performance in the FIFA World Cup.
Wilkinson believes that the current crop of players was the best England have had in a long time, and if they could not muster a strong challenge, then certainly there is a serious problem for England.
England was sent packing by Germany after a 4-1 defeat in their Round of 16 match.
He said that he does not foresee the same brand of footballers once again coming together for England, at least not in the next World Cup.
Wilkinson added that he is certain that the pool of players available when Brazil World Cup in 2014 comes around would be a whole lot different and much smaller.
According to Wilkinson, the team that went to South Africa was built in years; even since the ’98 World Cup, the Federation was looking out for players that would be mature enough and good enough when the 2010 World Cup came around, but what transpired on the pitch was, in simple words, shameful.
He was the Technical Director of the FA from 1997 to 2002, and was responsible for identifying and nurturing a number of young talented players that eventually made it to the team in 2010.
But his fears were slightly tempered by Sir Trevor Brooking, the FA’s Director, who pointed out the success of England’s Under-17 team, who in May won the European Championships.
This was the first time since 1993 that England’s youth team had won something of that magnitude, and Brooking was the man who oversaw the development of that team. He said that although Wilkinson’s fears are fair given the circumstances, he is quite at ease as far as the youth of England is concerned.
Wilkinson, in his tenure, produced his Charter for Quality that was specifically designed to give a proper structure for youth development at club academies.
The main idea behind Charter for Quality was to focus on harnessing the technique of players rather than on results, and make sure they had capable coaches to guide them.
Wilkinson strongly believes that the unnecessary influence of Premier League and the infighting within the FA hampered his blueprints, which resulted in them not making full use of the Golden Generation of English football.
Wilkinson, who these days heads the League Managers Association, points his finger at the top of FA, which he believes is not stable enough to breed youngsters.
The disappointed former FA man said that the record of Chief Executive for Football Association is as poor as the managers of the England team. Wilkinson also took charge of the England team as a caretaker manager in the 2-0 defeat against France in ’99 and later in 2000 in a World Cup qualifier against Finland.
He added that another shortcoming of the FA is constant delay in the construction of the National Football Centre, which was proposed in 2001, but has still not been built.
The Football Centre at Burton was planned with the aim to provide world class training and coaching for the England team, but it still is a fair way off and due to open not until 2012.
The object at the core of his worries remains the lack of talent in the pool of young players, who will be expected to fill in the shoes of Terry, Lampard and Gerrard.
Wilkinson’s worries may be justified looking at the woeful performance of the England team, but still Brooking’s point that the Under-17 England team did win the European Championships this year should give a ray of hope to English fans, and who knows, maybe a change is what the English team need. The pool of players, who are absolute superstars for their clubs but are mere mortals when it comes to international football, may yet be replaced by new talent who can actually mix it with the best at the International level.
Tags: