England under 21s playing badly, are we really surprised?

Has it really come as a shock to us that England under 21s have gone to Israel and come back a laughing stock? Stuart Pearce had to pick a squad from an ever shortening list and work quickly to try and get that group to bond and play organised football. Not even the best manager in the world could be expected to take a weakened group of players who have barley played together and get them to play the ‘beautiful’ football the media are loudly calling for. There are many issues with the under 21s, the FA (and Hodgson), the parent clubs, the players attitude and Pearce himself and put all that together are we really shocked that they came away with nil points.

Pearce has very publically stated that ‘the teams that bring their best player are the teams that win tournaments’ now it doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out does it. This, however, is a luxury that hasn’t just harmed the under 21s at major tournaments but also the senior side, who often go to World Cups without some big names. Usually this is because of injuries or in some cases (Ferdinand) simply because players and clubs don’t want to risk injuries. But it’s different this time round, Pearce is only saying exactly what we are all thinking, why did players such as Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jones shuttled off to Brazil to play in a meaningless friendly when they could be getting invaluable tournament experience. Hodgson will have his readymade excuses but if we are ever going to move on as a country we must begin to take these opportunities seriously, the only way to implement a ‘footballing philosophy’ is to start at the bottom and work up. It won’t change overnight but with the well-publicised lack of first team opportunities for young Englishmen how does it make any sense to then select them as a sub for the senior England team when they could be playing a major role in a tournament?

After a long hard slog where clubs have played up to 69 competitive games the last thing they want to see if their young prized possessions boarding a plane to play 3 tournament games in quick succession. Having said that they hardly need to fly their whole squad out to the USA to play some money spinning friendlies days after the PL has finished (Chelsea and City). This surly has to be an English thing ‘Club v Country’ as you only have to look at the Spanish, Dutch and German squads to see some very big names (more talented that any English player) participating in this tournament. I would also like to draw your attention to Juan Mata who finishes the 2011-12 season by winning a Champions League medal, he then was in the Spanish squad for the Euros, followed by coming to London to play in the Olympics and finally started the longest season in Chelsea’s history. I would argue performing as one of the top 4 players in the league. This would not have happened if he was English and yet he plays for an English club. Is it all just a myth that clubs don’t want to play for the national team or is it more that the players themselves use any slight knock to pull out?

That moves me nicely on to the players themselves. Many older pros have come out and blasted the young players suggesting that once they sign a pro deal they think they have made it and perhaps this is true. As long as they are picking up a nice wage there not as worried about playing football they just want the lifestyle. If this is the case then the thought of having to go to Israel, when you could be sunning yourself with lovely looking ladies, probably doesn’t appeal much. The ones who did make the trip looked like their minds where already on the beach. However when you look at the squad who mainly consisted of Championship players or reserves did we really think we stood a chance anyway? Nathan Clyne and Daniel Rose were only ones who you could consider as Premier League regulars and they both missed games.

There has been problems with English players breaking into PL teams for a number of years but is that the clubs fault, or is it the players who lack the drive and passion to work hard every day to prove that they are good enough to be first team regulars. Many players come and are hotly tipped to be the next ‘superstar’ but then seem to disappear off the radar, that can’t all be down to the clubs. There are many examples of clubs paying big money and the players failing to fulfil their promise. Carroll, Sinclair, Bentley, Wickham have all been handed big contracts and then it seems to go to their head and they fail to kick on. What have they got to work for when they can sit on the bench and still get paid tens of thousands of pounds? It now takes a special individual to ignore all the temptations that come with being a PL star and just focus on becoming a world class footballer. 

A squad thrown together playing under a manager who is more interested in moaning about the people who aren’t there is hardly the atmosphere for them to thrive under. Pearce was of course just pointing out how he hadn’t been helped by people above him, but as a player I imagine it is not the nicest thing to keep hearing that your manager would much rather have other ‘better’ players to choose from.  I’m still confused what qualified Pearce to get the job in the first place, a rather average spell at (financially poor) Man City is his only other experience. He is not renowned for having a specific philosophy or a man who wants to implement the passing creative game. He did well at first taking quite strong teams to the semi and finals of tournaments and always qualifies strongly but that’s needs to come alongside really building something that can continue into the senior side.

England need to come up with a long term plan and they need to do that quickly I personally don’t see where Pearce fits into this and I wouldn’t be happy if they replaced him with Southgate. The under 21s need an experienced manager who has a style of play that compliments the senior side but also has a voice that can be heard within the FA. Clubs aren’t going to change their mind-set, especially the successful ones, so it is up to the FA to adapt and be strong. We live in a modern globalised society that wants evrything now but that is not realistic when it comes to changing the fortunes of the national side. England needs a plan and they need change otherwise it won’t come as a shock if in 2 or 4 years’ time we finish the tournament in exactly the same position. That’s sad.