Sport - are we in need of a crisis?

There is a popular saying in British politics which asserts the need for a crisis to pre-empt any change.  This seemed to true after Iceland’s 2 - 1 defeat of England on the 27^th June; in the immediate aftermath of the game their coaching team, led by Roy Hodgson, resigned with immediate effect which was followed by a myriad of reasons for the team’s demise the following day in the associated press.  There was an article in the Daily Mail written by a prominent ex-player turned pundit admonishing the environment within professional academies stating that it was too easy for young players since the passing of traditional apprenticeship schemes requiring young players to sweep the stadium and clean professional players boots; modern players it seems are too soft (http://goo.gl/1MfNhD).  Criticism was also levelled at the standard of coaching in an article published in The Times (http://goo.gl/MX7gOQ).  Whilst there may (or may not depending on your viewpoint) be elements of truth in these articles they do not discriminate between successful and unsuccessful teams – it is likely that there are poor coaches and relatively sanitised academies in teams that performed well at this summer’s European Championships.  Indeed, the vast majority of the hugely successful Wales team will have come through systems similar if not the same to the England players.

Two weeks on and the furore has subsided.  Other than some cursory comments from commentators who really should be concentrating on teams still in the tournament, there has been little media attention.  Most of the clubs from which the England squad were selected, along with many others, will have already started their pre-season preparations, likely with no change to plans established prior to England’s exit.  The truth is that within the club system there really is no crisis; most (if not all in the Premier League from where the squad were selected, more on this later) have successful academies that have produced professional players, if not for the parent club then another in the league structure and thanks to the Elite Player Performance Programme (EPPP) receive substantial financial support from the Premier League.  Furthermore, an announcement was made this week that a number of professional academy teams would be competing in the EFL trophy (formerly Johnston Paint) providing young players with a more competitive format to ply their trade (although the senior league teams may not agree) in the season 2016/2017.

Within football (the UK at least) there is a discord between the success of the domestic league and its national team for which there is no easy solution, despite knee jerk commentaries issued by the media following a disappointment in a major competition.  There may be a huge number of eligible players who do not get the opportunity to play in a league that showcases their ability but who have been successful in the age group system at national level.  England 21’s were successful in their tournament campaign this summer.  This may be because of overseas players or more experienced domestic players being picked ahead of them; this is a detrimental outcome of having such a thriving and financially strong domestic league, very few in the Premier League would want to see this challenged on the premise that it might strengthen the national team I suspect.  Rugby Union seemed to have navigated this issue well with centralised contracts for international players however it is difficult to see a situation when football may follow suit, especially if, like in Rugby Union, players are removed from their clubs for extended periods.

As far as discriminating factors are concerned the one striking factor is the lack of diversity amongst the England team in terms of competitive leagues from which players were selected from. Moreover, when you consider the home nation teams within the tournament, only Wales and ROI selected players playing in overseas competitions and only one in each instance, Gareth Bale and Robbie Keane.  England selected their entire squad from the Premier League.  This is in stark contrast to the other teams contesting the semi-finals; Germany, France, Portugal were all made up of players selected from a host of leagues around Europe.  This broad range of experiences in terms of playing style and tactics may be an important factor at major competitions; however how the home nations achieve this (should they see value in it) when lucrative contracts are available for young players at their parent clubs is hard to imagine.