Football General Analysis: Why do England continuously fail to produce a conveyor belt of technical talent?

Francesc Fabregas, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, David Silva; Rafael Van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder, Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben; Juan Roman Riquelme, Pablo Aimar, Esteban Cambiasso, Juan Seba Veron. A list of individuals, that all currently play today. Not all of the listed actually make their national side, while some do not hold a place in the first eleven, for their nation. What is the common theme, which links these individuals, and separates them in a rather stark manner, from players of our national side? Technique. Simple as. It could also be argued that tactical nous also plays a pivotal role in the division. They are all players, who of the current generation, are among the elite, in terms of technical ability.

Eleventh of February, earlier this year. The European Champions, Spain, take on an England side supposedly rejuvinated from the great depression of Steve M’Claren’s disastorous reigime, to a side which apparently, could now challenge a side which is arguably the best in the world. However, the Spanish tore into England, passing the ball at will, the sublime skill of thier midfield quartet dominated the English midfield, renderring their height and superiority in strength useless; Carrick and Barry struggled to maintain possession, as the Spanish pressing game prevailed, while Xavi, Iniesta, Alonso and Senna had no issue whatsoever in stroking the ball around with sheer class. The gulf in technique was there for all to witness – the English are far behind their European rivals, in this area of the game at least.

We must remember, that Cesc Fabregas – one of the rising stars of world football, fails to break into the Spanish starting midfield. Not due to the preference of the coach, though because the players ahead of him are tehcnically able, to such a standard. Would Fabregas struggle to make the English midfield? Quite clearly, a balance within the English central area is yet to be discovered, though with the continuous failure of employing the Gerrard-Lampard partnership within this role, a five, or four man midfield would surely include Fabregas.

Cesc: Would surely make the English national starting eleven?

So why is it, that only Paul Scholes added to possibly Frank Lampard, possess the almost natural ability to read a game impeccably, to kill and progress a ball within one movement? Why is it, that English teams suddenly look rather average and languid in terms of technique, when faced against a Spain, or a Brazil? I take you back to November 2005, when Juan Roman Riquelme, aided by Maxi Rodriguez and Cambiasso, ripped the English midfield to pieces – not with pace, drive or power, yet with simple, sublime, deft caresses of the ball, neat imaginitive flicks as well as the eye for a killer pass. Argentina were defeated, though the ease at which Riquelme controlled the game was staggering, and only once he was substituted, did England begin to take a firm grasp on the tempo and fluidity of play.

Holland is a nation, with roughly a population of sixteen-million people, whereas England has a population of roughly sixty-million. This puts to bed the assumption that the size of England contributes to their lack of technical players, due to Holland’s seemingly endless conveyor belt of technical talent, including the great Johan Cruyff – arguably the most technically gifted, and tactically aware, attacking player to ever have played the game. So why is it, that a nation such as Holland can produce such technical talent, whereas England can not? The fundamental issue, lies with grass-roots football.

Cruyff – A product of Holland’s brilliant youth system.

On any given Sunday in Britain, children all across the land play football on turf which could resemble a war zone, on a pitch three quaters the size of a normal playing field, if not greater. The advantage to stronger, quicker individuals in immense, as small, slower, more technically gifted players are outmuscled, out ran by bigger, more powerful players, who come the end of the day, may only possess the technical ability of 1/5th of that of a smaller player. However, the emphasis on power and the nature of the playing conditions, means that naturally, strong, quick, athletic players will be chosen for sides as opposed to smaller kids. Youngsters playing for Sunday League teams are not educated on the tactical aspect of the game, to any degree of the imagination.

In Holland however, youngsters play games on much smaller pitches, usually with artificial, even turf. They are taught further, regarding the tactical aspect of the game and the emphasis on technical ability is much, much greater than that of in England. A recent programme aired on television, in which Chelsea searched for a young player to fit into their youth side, a Chelsea scout announced the following;

It is impossible to make it if you haven’t got pace

One begs the question – has the man ever watched the beautiful game? Has he seen Paul Scholes, the Premier League’s most consistant performer throughout the last ten years, shred defence, upon defence apart. Not with power, pace or strength, yet with positioning, excellent technical ability and fantastic accruacy in a pass. Would it be fair to say that Scholes is the only English player os his generation, that possesses the technical ability and tactical nous to rival that of a Xavi, Sniejder or Iniesta? Even Steven Gerrard, found himself rather bemused at Rafa Benitez’s request that he vastly improove his game to succeed at the top level, upon the Spaniard’s arrival at Anfield.

The fact was, that although Gerrard, for all his drive, power and commitment had the potential of a fantastic individual, he did have the continental variation to his game, via which he could truly control the pace and fluidity of play, simply by a patient game of passing the ball – Gerrard always tried the killer ball, always looked to release a team mate – he did not have the tactical awareness to contain the ball, to dictate the tempo of a game or the patience to do so either, both of which have been greatly instilled in the Anfield dynamo since the arrival of Benitez, and it is evident in Gerrard’s game currently.

TheFA need to note the methods of Spain and Holland, in order to consistantly produce players among the world’s elite in terms of technical ability, or suffer the consequences, which ultimately, amount to an even further period of time without a national trophy. An emphasis on technical prowess, creativity, and awareness needs to be prominent among all tiers of the English game. How this achieved? Instead of using vast amounts of financial resource used to pay Sven-Goran Eriksson for leaving his post, or similar amounts for McClaren and Capello, the grass-roots of the game such be completely rejuvinated, to mirror the conditions of other European contries, whereby the technical aspect of youngsters is favoured and thus allowed to flourish above mere pace, and strength.

The English national side is clearly nowhere near the level of Argentina, Brazil, Holland, Spain or Italy in terms of technical ability, and until this changes dramatically, further years in the darkness, in terms of national success, seem to be what lies ahead.