English football

Not surprisingly my first post on this blog is going to be about the tumultous condition of English football.


England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 is an absolute disaster and the performance against Croatia in front of a packed Wembley was very poor to say the least. But I've seen worse England performances than that, even though that doesn't make it any easier.
Too many players were off form and I really think the first goal unsettled everybody. From what I've seen and heard, everybody was up for it and were desperate for the right result, so you can't fault the players' commitment. But the first goal came out of the blue from a mistake and that is what changed the whole course of the game.
It's easy in hindsight to say what should have been done differently but I did think Steve McClaren chose the wrong tactics. We had been doing very well in the previous qualifiers we had played at Wembley playing 4-4-2 with Gareth Barry and Steven Gerrard in the centre of midfield.
The 4-5-1 just didn't work. To me that said to Croatia that England were happy to keep what they'd got and settle for 0-0. Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole found it hard to link up with Peter Crouch from the flanks. Crouch got a lot of flick-ons into good areas but others weren't reading the situation.
And as for the defence, well they were awful. I just wonder what David James has got to do to win another England cap, apart from playing the odd friendly! He's had a fantastic last couple of seasons - yes we know he was prone to errors - but he has been in just as good form, if not better, than Scott Carson.
Plus, he has the experience. This was a very untried back four - Micah Richards, Joleon Lescott, Sol Campbell and Wayne Bridge - and they needed someone with experience behind them who would talk. And one thing that David James can do is talk.
With going two goals behind and under even more pressure to chase the game, huge gaps appeared and people were chasing shadows. They were losing their composure and positional sense and Croatia looked as though they could score every time they went forward.
Disappointment
The players will be distraught. As much as the Premier League have made these players world stars they need the big stage to play on - to hone their skills and to pit their wits against the best.
I used to love it - playing in the World Cup in 82 and the European Championships in Italy. It was fantastic knowing that you were playing against these other world-class players - you may have played against them in the European Cup, but this was different, playing against them on the biggest stage. That's where you improve.
Some people think that the players are millionaires and so they don't have the motivation to play for their country as in the past, but I'm not having that. They do care.
I know that they love playing for England and desperately want to win. Some of them on the day might not be up to it, but that's not because they don't have the passion for it.
Re-group
Now we have to regroup. It's more than just Steve McClaren. He's obviously paid the price and the players have certainly not performed in this campaign. McClaren's tactics have been wrong at times - playing three at the back in Croatia, after we hadn't conceded a goal for four games with a flat back four. That decision alone was catastrophic in my opinion.
I support the FA's decision to sack him - he had to go. We've got to look further a field now. This is not just an easy call: McClaren goes and everything becomes rosy under the new man - whether it be Jose Mourinho or someone closer to home in Martin O'Neil or Sam Allardyce.
We have to regroup as a nation: Where are the next generation of players? Yes, the Under-21's are performing quite admirably, but this is a long-term thing.
We have to look at restricting foreign players in the Premier League - how that comes about I don't know as it may have to be decided in a court of law to restrict players plying their trade in other countries. I believe each individual has to be looked at and exceptions should be made on footballing grounds.
The Premier League is the milk and honey where everyone wants a taste. It's where players can earn fortunes, but it's not helping our cause.
We have to look deeper - are the academies good enough? Where are our elite academies?
We don't just need one centre of excellence; we have to have four or five in different areas of the country. It's not just about getting the right players; we need the right people involved to identify them. And the right people to coach them.
People may say 'OK but that will cost a fortune'. The FA and the Premier League are making millions! They need to put their hands in their pockets - dig deep. And the government has to back it also. Everybody's got to come together for the good of English football. Football is not just sport, it's a national institution.

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