ENGLAND AND THE NEVER- ENDING CYCLE OF FAILURE

ENGLAND AND THE NEVER- ENDING CYCLE OF FAILURE

England’s last success came back in 1966 when they won the world cup for the first and only time.

The Premier League is the richest and probably among the most attractive leagues in the world but England is consistently struggling to achieve results at the world stage. There were in total 106 players from the Premier League at the Euro 16. Austria (4), Belgium (12), Czech Republic (1), England (23), France (9), Germany (3), Iceland (1), Italy (3), Northern Ireland (5), Poland (3), Portugal (2), Republic of Ireland (12), Romania (1), Slovakia (1), Spain(6), Sweden (1), Switzerland (13), Wales (13) The England team was the third most expensive assembled team in Euro 2016 after Belgium and Germany but the performances by the players on the field were disappointing and not in tune to the paychecks they receive.  “BREXIT” IN INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL One of the major reasons seems to be the lack of hunger from a majority of players to win in major international competitions. English players are surrounded by the best of players from all over the world in the Premier League and as many will observe the success is mostly due to imports than local players. NUMBER OF OVERSEAS PLAYERS PER PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM  Arsenal- 17 Chelsea- 15 Liverpool- 15 Manchester United- 18 Manchester City- 20 Tottenham Hotspurs- 10 Leicester City- 10 Stoke City- 11 West Ham- 10 Everton- 10 Crystal Palace- 10 Swansea- 9 Watford- 10 Bournemouth- 10 Southampton- 11   To succeed at the international level players have to gel as a team within the shortest possible time and many at times it all depends upon the personality of the coach and his skills to make the team unite as one to perform optimally at every match. With the England team, this was lacking, and though individually, their players were highly talented as a team they looked very ordinary. Take the example of Chile, Wales, Iceland, Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and even Italy. These teams are punching above their weight and it is all due to their superior team spirit and a cohesive, well-drilled team play. THE GAFFER PROBLEM England is also consistently failing to appoint a coach who is innovative, ambitious, and an achiever. They need a strong leader, a no-nonsense manager, and a top tactician. Someone who can make hard decisions, and can replace the prima-donnas in their team with hard-working, gutsy players. Over-dependence on certain star performers is one of the other reasons why England has failed to succeed again. For example, Roy Hodgson picked Jack Wilshere for the Euro 2016 squad even though he had just played 141 min this season for Arsenal. Most of the coaches appointed in the past were conservative in nature and thus the team looked very ordinary and always struggled. LIST OF PREVIOUS ENGLAND MANAGER’S AND THEIR RECORDS

MANAGER  NAME TERM RESULTS
Graham Taylor 1990-93 Failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup
Terry Venables 1994-96 1996 European Championship, (semi-final)
Glenn Hoddle 1996-99 1998 World Cup, (second round)
Kevin Keegan 1999-2000 2000 European Championship, (Group stage)
Sven Goran Eriksson 2001-06 2002, 2006 World Cup (quarter-final), 2004 European Championship (quarter-final)
Steve McClaren 2006-07 2008 European championship (Failed to qualify)
Fabio Capello 2008-12 2010 World Cup (second round)
Roy Hodgson 2012-16 2012, 2016 European championship (quarter-final, round of 16) 2014 World Cup (Group stage)

The hype around the England team was always higher than the potential and that created additional pressure on the players and the team. The expectations from the fans always remained constant with false hopes, even after consistent failure. This is primarily because the media carry forward what they see in fans, and an over-coverage of players in the Premier League, making them stars one second and brutally maligning them the next second. Failures of the English team are now easily forgotten each time due to the performances of these players in the Premier League and therefore before every big competition the English team was expected to perform miracles. Though the English players are highly talented and a few of them would walk into any international side when they are a part of the national team they struggle miserably. England can overcome these consistent failures at major international competitions and to put a full stop to these failures England should appoint a coach who fits well in every respect to take the best out of these talented players. The new manager has to ensure that they all fight for each other and work as a team. The Euro 2016 underdog’s success should provide enough learning opportunities for English players to script a new journey for the England team.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *