Football is a funny old game game isn’t it? Spain are the team of the moment, but people in football have short memories and forget just how much things can change in such a limited space of time.
Many analysts and pundits are suggesting that the Spanish model of coaching should now be introduced into English football. But there are many questions that should be addressed first.
Are Spain really the right model to follow? Does their history suggest it is right to do so? And do they just happen to be experiencing the fruits of a a cyclical 'golden generation'?
In addition, will this Spanish team keep on winning? Will they even win one of the next two major tournaments?
The answers to all those questions (as the law of averages suggests)are probably not.
Football is, on the whole, both a cyclical and un-forgiving business and in two years time, we will probably all be talking about the next model we should be following.
It is important to remember that the Spaniards also crashed out in the second round of the World Cup four years ago, just like England this time round. They were a side well beaten by an ageing French team and there was no indication then of the world domination that was to follow.
In Euro 2004, they didn’t even progress past the group stages, so is it really the best idea to follow their model of coaching? (whereby they coach children to play the game for fun and not in a competitive manner. The main aim being to keep possession of the ball). In truth, is it actually even the Spanish FA who deserve the credit?
Spain have been fortunate in that they have so many players playing together at club level In many respects much of Spain's current success can be attributed to Frank Rijkkard and Pep Guardiola at Barcelona. Eight of the eleven players who started the World Cup final in South Africa play together at the Nou Camp and the understanding and continuity between them is there for all to see.
Players such as Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets instinctively seem to know where and who each other are. And while it does suggest that this could be the recipe to success, it is still unlikely to transmit itself to England in the near future.
The Premier League is, without doubt, the most cosmopolitan league in the world, and the top clubs such as Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City would do well to field even eight English players between them at the current time.
Even Manchester United regularly field more foreign players than they used to.
Tottenham and Aston Villa possess many English players in their starting line ups, but these are not players who are playing at the very top level of European football week in and week out. Although Tottenham will attempt to show the way this season and be successful in the Champions League, it is highly unlikely that they will advance past the last 16 at best.
What also has to be considered, is that the 'Barca' model is not one that always automatically brings success even at the very highest level. The Liverpool European Cup winning vintage of 1977 consisted of eight Englishmen, two Welshman and one Irishman. But bizarrely, this coincided with probably the most depressing period in English football history.
The national team failed to qualify for both the 1974 and 1978 World Cups, so the argument in this instance (probably the best example concerning a top English side) carries little weight, both in the ideology of top clubs having so many English players in their side or indeed bringing through as many English players as you can from the youth set-up's.
In opposition to the argument concerning clubs having too many foreigners. The Italian national team that travelled to the USA in 1994 are probably the best example. At that time Serie A was by far the most cosmopolitan of all the top European leagues, but it didn't stop the Italians progressing to the World Cup final that year.
In a domestic capacity, there was also the marvellous Dynamo Kiev team of the late 1990s. This was yet another example of a team which was virtually all made up of native Ukranians. However the national team of that period was nowhere near the top of the international football ladder.
On the other side of the coin however there are notable examples of strong club sides clearly aiding their national teams.
The Bayern Munich side of the mid 1970s coincided with perhaps the greatest period of dominance the (West) German team has ever had. While there were also the Ajax teams of the early 1970s who preceded the golden generation of Dutch football, when they reached two consecutive World Cup final's.
As with most things, there are arguments both for and against, but it is certainly not something that is carved in stone. Even though having so many players playing regularly together at club level surely helps, there are not many examples concerning England or English teams which really suggest it makes that much of a difference.
For me, the issues go much deeper. There is something intrinsically defective within the English psyche. There have been so many false dawns, but time and again we put that to one side and always believe that 'this time' it will be different.
Germany and (usually Italy) appear to have that X factor in their psyche that they can perform right up to the very final stages of mosts competitions, time after time. Perhaps this is not the case every four years, but certainly every eight or twelve years they seem to get to at least one major final.
England’s history suggests otherwise and perhaps, reluctantly, we just have to face reality.
These floors could be put down to a number of reasons. Perhaps the players suffer from severe home-sickness, or perhaps they are just a group of players unable to play well enough as a team due to the immense pressure. Maybe even the club issues that cause rifts within the camp are worse than we think. Who knows?
One thing is for sure. The trials and tribulations of the England football team cannot all be attributed to Fabio Capello's lack of English. It didn't seem to be a problem during qualifying did it?
Perhaps it is now the time to take a leaf out of the German's book. They are not afraid to use 'foreigners' who, under citizenship and naturalisation laws, qualify to play for Germany, despite not being born in the country.
Players such as Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski are examples of German internationals who have benefited from these laws and have gone on to flouish for their 'adopted' country.
I firmly believe that Mikel Arteta - now eligible for England and unlikely to ever play for Spain - should be brought into the England squad. He is a more mobile, more skilful and younger version of Gareth Barry and is better technically too. He is just what England require to free up the dynamic and under-utilised Steven Gerrard.
It's a must....
It is not all doom and gloom though. England do have promising young players and analysts who harp on about the development (or lack of) of youngsters in this country do not look at all the facts.
England won the European Under 17s title this year, reached the semi final of the Under 19s version and last year, progressed to the final of the Under 21s tournament. If that is not promising, I don’t know what is! Are we supposed to win the lot?
Joe Hart (goalkeeper), Adam Johnson, Jack Wilshere, Keiran Gibbs, Theo Walcott, Jack Rodwell, Tom Huddlestone, Jamie O’Hara and Mark Noble and are all gifted, technically able players.
It may be a cliche, but as I stated at the beginning of this passage, things can change frightningly quickly in football. Just ask the Netherlands...
They didn’t qualify for the World Cup in 2002, went out in the last 16 in 2006, but were only four minutes away from a penalty shoot out in the World Cup final this time round.
If you had read the press reports in South Africa, you would have thought that the Dutch were a far superior football nation to England, but history suggests that this is clearly not the case.
England are in some respects, very similar to the Netherlands in that they have endured endless high’s and low’s in previous tournaments and qualification campaign. In fact the Dutch are possibly even worse at penalty shoot-outs than England are.
Both nations lack the consistency of the Germans, the Italians or the Brazillians and fundamentally just have to wait their turn when it comes round. These nations at the top of the second tier of football require everything to just fall into place at the right time. Remember this was Holland's first final for 32 years. Success does not come easily, no matter who you are.
Maybe it’s just a matter of England having to wait until 2018 to win the damn thing, hopefully on home soil. We’d take that right now, wouldn’t we?...
PREDICTIONS FOR THE COMING SEASON:
For what it’s worth, these are my predictions for the Premiership season ahead:
1 Manchester United
2 Chelsea
3 Manchester City
4 Arsenal
5 Liverpool
6 Everton
7 Tottenham
8 Blackburn
9 Sunderland
10 Aston Villa
11 West Ham
12 Fulham
13 Bolton
14 Stoke
15 Newcastle
16 Birmingham
17 Wolves
18 West Brom
19 Wigan
20 Blackpool
TOP SCORER: Wayne Rooney (Man Utd)
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Wayne Rooney (It’s bound to happen)
YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Adam Johnson (Man City)
FA Cup Winners: Liverpool
League Cup Winners: Manchester City
Champions League Winners: Inter Milan
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