One of England’s greatest rivalries in sport is that of their footballing one with Germany. However, the Germans are so far ahead of the English that they don’t even consider them serious rivals. Why and how do they seem to produce better players? Why do they keep producing teams that can compete and have a very good chance of winning each tournament they play in?
How can England catch up with Germany?
Many clubs in England have very good academies, but is this enough? Germany, like England, have had their bad tournaments. In the 2000 European Championships and the 2004 World Cup they failed to progress past the group stages. In cases like these there’s no point in looking back; make a plan, stick with it and move forward. The Germans agreed. They invested in academies, players’ education and increasing the number of elite coaches. They looked at how they wanted to play the game, how they wanted to be seen to be playing by both their home fans and also football fans from around the world.
The Guardian newspaper published a report in 2013 which, if true, is staggering, and shows how far England are behind. The report stated that statistics from UEFA show that Germany have around 27,000 more coaches with a “B” licence, 4000 more with an “A” licence and 1000 more with the highest qualification, the Pro licence, than England. Looking at stats like this, is it a surprise that Germany are streets ahead of their English counterparts with so many more coaches available and teaching?
It may come down to something as simple as population. Germany have a population of around 30 million more than England and really should be expected to produce more players and coaches. But back when Germany was split and there was West and East Germany, the western side had only a slightly higher population than England and still were doing considerably better.
Is the opening of the FA’s centre of excellence going to be a platform for a successful future? Last year, the then National Development Manager of the FA, Nick Levett, now Talent Identification Manager, said that England had a 10 year plan. He had this to say: “Since the end of 2009 we have been developing a new pathway for children to learn and play the game which focuses on skill and technique development, so smaller-sided version of the game. In terms of coaching, we are very much leading the way around Europe in youth and age-appropriate coaching qualifications”
Are the young players getting enough playing time, and has the influx of foreign players resulted in fewer young English players making the grade? Ultimately, it seems England’s youngsters are not getting the chance to shine once they hit the age where regular football will bring them onto the next level. This may be down to too many clubs buying players from abroad who are around the same age but are closer to the finished article and have been exposed to regular football when they needed it most.
In Germany, a core of the 2014 World Cup winning team progressed through the German Under-21 team and featured at the 2009 European Under-21 Championship tournament. Ex-England international and now TV pundit Phil Neville believed that at the same tournament England could have had six or seven of their World Cup squad playing in the U21 tournament, thus giving them much needed experience. Why did they not go?
History shows that even if English players go to these kind of tournaments, there is no guarantee that they later feature in the senior manager’s plans. In 1982 and 1984, England won consecutive U-21 tournaments. Very few went on to have decent senior international careers. The most successful of them was striker Mark Hateley, who went on to win 32 caps, scoring eight goals.
There are signs that England are trying to improve to catch up with their European counterparts, but it may take longer than the 10 year plan they have in place. Academies need to be doing more to produce English talent; clubs need to do more where possible to give home grown talent experience and the same goes for the national team, be it at U21 level or senior level. Then there would finally be a chance that England would be in with a great chance of competing with the world’s top nations.
That being said, forward steps are being made at club and international level and the signs are positive. If it continues, the future of the English national side could well be a bright one.
