Things I Need To Say

[Lack of Action Man]

On the topic of the game

There were VERY few positives. Germany played the game as an 11 man unit, with each player fully aware of his role - where to be, which zones he had to stay in and which man he had to mark. The Germans were their usual highly organised selves - even though this German team (in my opinion) are relatively poor. Oezil is a talented player as is Lahm and Schweinsteiger but the rest of their team cannot be said to be in the same league as German legends past, such as Oli Kahn, Franz Beckenbauer and Jurgen Klinsman.

What this means is that OUR team must really really have been poor to be beaten by this German side. I look at our team and we are slow, lethargic and bereft of flowing football ideas. We seem to have no planned moves to execute nor do we have the ability (that international footballers should have) to think on the spot and create beautiful play from the ball at their feet. We do not play as a team we play as 11 individuals and to be honest we looked equally poor if not worse today, than the dark night when we lost 3-2 to Croatia. The exception to this is our goalkeeper - the former "calamity" James who has now matured into a fine stopper and actually saved us from a thumping 6 or 7 goals margin of defeat. It is a shame for James that he has matured at a time when the England team are indescribably poor. It is a shame for many England fans that another four years shall pass with the unexplainable dissapointment of a premature world cup exit - though I use the statement loosely since on our world cup display we most certainly deserved to be knocked out today.

On the topic of "the goal that never was"

Even Bastian Schweinsteiger has said "we were very lucky" (referring to Germany). How a goal such as that cannot be seen is beyond me. I'm pretty sure even Mr Blatter who was watching today's match saw it to be a goal - how can he defend the rejection of video technology? It works harmoniously in Rugby and Tennis why not the beautiful game?

Regardless though, my opinion has always been that to be true winners you should never rely on the referee to give you the game. As a team England should have performed much better and not had to rely on a decision to spur them on.

On the topic of the future of English football

The problem with English football in my opinion is not that we have too many foreigners in the game, it's that FAR too many English kids are turned away from football by academies. Kids with real talent also - I have seen from my own experience that inept coaching at youth level coupled with personal bias and favouritism as well as how ridiculously restricted places for talented young footballers have become are killing our game. By far too much emphasis is now placed on picking up talent at a young age, building a group of players and taking them all the way through to under 18 level only to release them. Instead we should be nuturing a wide range of players - our centre of excellence programme needs a drastic overhall. We need academies that are not just tied to clubs - places where our footballing talent can develop in association with the F.A. such places where skills can be developed and a wider range of players can make it to the professional level. Places where footballers can study academically as well as play at a high level - much like the former model of TEAM BATH.

The problem is that the longer we go without a major competition win, the less interest there is in the national side from young children - since the older generation become less interested and place less emphasis on passing national pride onto their children. My father has just about come to his end with England and whilst I still hold a shimmering light of misguided optimism I too am considering turning my back on following international football. But, it could be argued that I then lower myself to the level of the players in the England team - who class playing against the likes of Wigan and Hull for their clubs as more important than representing your country.

I am a fan of sport - I support both Bristol City and Bristol Rugby. I also enjoy Cricket. In both Rugby and Cricket our national sides show by far more passion, commitment and a higher playing standard than the football team. And this will translate throughout the nation. People will turn from football to Rugby - there is a Rugby world cup next year, I think it is guaranteed that our side will perform by far better than the football team. Need I remind you all that in the last 2 Rugby world cups England have been finalists twice? I just cannot see the football team ever achieving this. To be honest, I don't think that the team will ever progress further than the quater finals. Certainly not for another 20 - 30 years.

Finally

The way in which we teach football to our kids has to change. They need to be taught the technical aspect of the game - it's not all about having a 5v5 game with the mini goals. Young kids need to be taught Cryuff turn, backheels and stepovers so that at least in 20 - 30 years time when they mature, they will have a technical ability that will place them on a level playing field with the South Americans and Europeans. We need to keep the competitive edge yes, and the pride in our country too but on the whole we need to develop our young players so that they think with a footballing brain - maybe even look for more intelligent players at youth level and develop them so that they have the technical ability to be comfortable on the ball and unlock defences when playing the likes of Brazil and Germany.

Rant over

[dezgimed]

2 major problems at the kids level IMO is A) Favourtism by the management (one of the dads) and B) the 'clear it' mentality coached into the kids. ''Dont mess about in defense, CLEAR IT''.

No wonder we're hoof merchants.

[Lack of Action Man]

2 major problems at the kids level IMO is A) Favourtism by the management (one of the dads) and B) the 'clear it' mentality coached into the kids. ''Dont mess about in defense, CLEAR IT''.

No wonder we're hoof merchants.

Oh how many times have I seen this. The problem is that it isn'st just present at Sunday level, it goes right up into the profressional clubs.

More emphasis has to be placed on developing technical ability in our players as well as intelligent play with the ball at their feet.

[Gazred]

2 major problems at the kids level IMO is A) Favourtism by the management (one of the dads) and B) the 'clear it' mentality coached into the kids. ''Dont mess about in defense, CLEAR IT''.

No wonder we're hoof merchants.

There is still hope! My brother helps manage and coach a local youth side and the emphasis at the club is far more of the technical, they aim to play more like Spain or Arsenal. I can tell you from seeing them play first hand, they play some good stuff and this is kids of 10 and 11 doing it. The general infrastructure or instruction might not be there from the F.A or the goverment but people like my brother (and im sure there are many many more people out there like him) genuinely care about playing proper progressive football and continue to have that ethos regardless of what were used to seeing at club and national level in this country.