Are England's Players in Need of a Better Football Education?

Today’s England team are often criticised for failing to live up to expectations on the international scale. Many ponder the reasons for this given that the teams do so well on the European scale, although not with a full squad of English players, but many other European domestic teams share a similar line of success as their country. For example, the success of Barcelona and Real Madrid, AC Milan and Inter Milan, Bayern Munich has something of a correlation with their respective countries prospering in European or World Cups. Does anyone think that England’s successes are in correspondence to Manchester United/Arsenal/Chelsea’s? It seems that England players fall short of the mark compared to their continental peers; are they need of a better footballing education? England’s international success does not match the likes of Manchester United’s success in Europe.

It seems blasphemous to suggest that an Englishman would not receive a substantial education in football. However, when you put aside the notions of ‘heart’ and ‘pride’ on the pitch and think about it seriously, many of Europe’s top teams give a far better all round education to their students of the game. The current Barcelona squad, into which Pep Guardiola has instilled a Cryuff-inspired philosophy, have been widely admired. What most people forget is that it is not simply beautiful football but it has to be perfectly married with an abundance of discipline and understanding of the game.

Graduates of the Barça school La Masia are taught to think of the pitch divided up into eight boxes; all of which must be occupied by at least one player at all times. If a player sees an empty box he must fill it in order to ensure that the team are always in a good position to defend if they should lose the ball. Even when on the attack they are aware of the possible need to defend; this relies on, not only great discipline and awareness of what the team is doing as a whole but also, an in-depth knowledge of each individual player’s function within the team.

Each player knows what part their role plays in the context of the team, Sergio Busquets said recently: “Part of my role is to shuttle between the defence and attacking lines to make sure the ball circulates well and quickly. Often this pivotal position starts the play. Defensively I'm also an intermediate between our back four and the midfield and I try to mark and press so I can isolate the opposition striker from their midfield.”

Obviously, Barcelona raise the bar high for other teams but this understanding is not uncommon in Europe. Steve McClaren revealed that during FC Twente matches the players left out of the squad or players from the youth team would be asked to write a report on the match as they watch it, ready for submission after the game. Thus, broadening their understanding of the match and identifying the various team formations, changes in tactics etc.

I get the feeling that if you asked an English player what went wrong during the game and why they had failed to win you’d probably get a response along the lines of, “Well, they just wanted it more than us.” There is no doubt that the desire to win plays a part but you cannot expect players to flourish against more intelligent footballing opponents if they don’t understand the game inside and out.