As Tottenham completed their neutralisation of AC Milan tonight, I set about worrying for England as I always do, but the sickening notion that he’d done a good job wouldn’t go away even after I’d torn off my ear in protest. AC Milan are quite a good team, I kept thinking. How could Redknapp beat them with his seemingly slightly less good team?

Inescapably, Redknapp is doing something right at Tottenham; something worth looking into. I always enjoy dismissing ‘Arry’s managerial achievements as the result of tens of millions of pounds worth of random combinations of players juggled to eventual form something like a team. I’ve always thought of his approach as too hit and miss and too reliant on top-class individuals for it to be taken entirely seriously. With Tottenham though, there is a sense that consistency has finally been achieved (their average league position is 4th), and what’s more, a sense that, albeit with a strong set of individual talents at his disposal, Redknapp has managed to form a team greater than the sum of its parts.

These are easy assertions to make, but they’re also uncharacteristically easy to substantiate:

1. Milan’s starting XI – if Ibrahimovic’s considerable price tag is included – cost far more than Tottenham’s and yet it was Redknapp’s team who dominated the game: notionally worse players outplayed their notional betters. Redknapp: the motivator.

2. Tottenham’s spending has been vast, but Redknapp has built a team from those individuals: his midfield of Modric, Huddlestone, Van der Vaart, Lennon and Bale somehow works well. Redknapp: the man with a plan.

3. I suppose there are things I should put here also.

It’s not just that Redknapp appears to be doing a good job at Tottenham though; it’s the nature of the job he is doing which tempts me to see him as a reasonable candidate for the job of next England manager:

1. He has proved himself capable of moulding a team from players who look incompatible.

2. That first point again

3. Etc

4. Etc

5. Etc

I mean, don’t take this as anything more than internet bla, but I’m coming around to the idea that he wouldn’t be awful. In writing this – in such a bloggy style – I have lowered myself to the position of ‘Second Hamster’ (which is, you will find, a reference to nothing in particular.)

Brooking reasons that Steve has done well post Brollygate leading FC Twente to the title in Holland, and is now manager of erm, under performing Wolfsbuirg.

The full Brooking quoite

“Could Steve do the England job again? I am sure if he continues to be a success his name will be in the frame again, If you think he will be a lot more experienced this time around and he has learnt his lesson, then why not? I wouldn’t rule out anyone. I think it would be very unfair to do that.”

Wrong on so many levels I will have to explain in bulletpoint form:

*No his name won’t be in the frame again, because he’s proven he was rubbish before. HE could win all teh trophies under the sun and his name won’t be in “the frame”.

*I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t want to come back, considering how successful he is now.

*He’s not that much more experienced. He’s managed in a different league sure, but his great experience is not that different from when he was made coach.

*If he’s learnt his lesson? You didn’t send him to prison, Trev, you fired him. For being rubbish.

*You wouldn’t rule out anyone? Except apparently, anyone who doesn’t hold a British passport.

*We don’t want him back. There would a massive uprising surely?

Anyway, I don’t really understand why Brooking would even mention McClaren, are we that short on English managers (And if we are, why are we so desperate to employ one?) that we have to look backwards continually?

Recent history has shown we’re more successful with a non-English manager (Sven = three QF’s, Fabio 1 second round vs Keegan = Group Stage, McClaren didn’t even qualify) so I’m not really getting the FA’s desperation to appeal to the right wing press who have the knives out for Johnny Forigener. Its about whats best for the England Team, and speculating about two years away is pretty pointless, and suggesting we give the job back to the biggest failure in the job in the last 20 years (He can share that title with Graham Taylor) is job absurd.

Nevertheless, a victory tonight is expected against a Bulgaria side that failed to make the World Cup and, purely to buck the trend of people predicting a dull England win, This Blog is predicting a 5-1 England win.

South Africa 2010 is barely finished, but already English football has shifted its focus onto the sequel: the World Cup in Brazil four years from now. Whilst we hope the FA and Fabio Capello are plotting entirely sincerely, we here at the England Blog are going to indulge in some fantasising over the exact shape the squad will take in 2014. Here’s what we hope will happen*:

Me (Ethan)

The average age of the squad I’ve proposed for 2014 is less than 25 and, although it’s important not to be overly reactionary after defeat, the fact that the oldest squad to make the semi-finals this time was the Netherlands’ with a mean age of 27.7 tells me that tomorrow’s World Cup football will require players capable of covering the entire pitch for the entire game. All of the players I’ve suggested will be young enough still to be capable of that. Some older players could, obviously, be incorporated alongside the likes of Wilshere, but creating the lineup I have was pretty fun.

Many of those players also carry an impressive turn of pace (once more aided by their lack of years) - a quality which has proved invaluable to Germany’s recent successes. Fundamental footballing truth remains: pace is and always will be difficult to defend against.

Another factor consistently ignored by English football, yet consistently triumphant at World Cups – Germany, the Netherlands and Spain, all key exponents of it in South Africa - is extreme technical proficiency. The likes of Rodwell and Gibbs combine physical prowess with an excellent first touch and passing accuracy – that combination, crucially, is no longer an advantage, rather, a necessity.

As an added yet important bonus, my lineup incorporates three left footed players (Gibbs, Delph and Wilshere); a key component in acquiring balance. I have never been entirely convinced that ‘balance’, a mythical concept paraded by all commenters on English football, is a signpost to success – look at Spain with Iniesta on the ‘wing’ – but certainly a mixture of right-footed and left-footed players adds variety to a team’s play.

The switch to 4-2-3-1 (five in midfield) is explained here

Matilda

The important thing that we must take away from this World Cup is that the “chuck stars into a formation” tactic doesn’t work. If you have a team in a stable system that all of the players know, star power isn’t that important. While it certainly helps, we can’t all have the goldmine of players that Spain has (I’m pretty sure it’s something in the water), and a great team can be built from good players. Hopefully Capello has realised all of this, and as everyone has been crying out for, starts fresh with the youth.

Hart is the obvious option in goal. At the young age of 23, he’s already lighting up the club stage, with inexperience being his main detractor. As a country we do tend to forget to give our goalkeepers experience and then wonder why they’re mediocre when they come of age, so we need to get Hart in as soon as possible to avoid that particular pitfall.

Our starting back four will all be too old come 2014, with the exception of Glen Johnson. Until a better alternative to Johnson comes up, he should stay in the side. Gary Cahill and Michael Dawson could prove to be an excellent pairing in the center, they’ve both been shining for their clubs but relatively unrecognized by Capello. Kieran Gibbs of Arsenal is a mere 20, with 4 years he could really grow into himself.

The midfield is tricky. Capello stubbornly stuck to the 4-4-2, with the big man-little man striking pairing. However I think, like my wonderful cobloggers, that a five man midfield will be key. Creativity can come from the wings, Adam Johnson and Aaron Lennon being my picks. We all oohed and ahhed over Johnson’s performance for City last season, with some development, he could be brilliant. Aaron Lennon put out a pathetic showing this World Cup, but I’ve seen him play for Tottenham and maintain that the boy can be brilliant (cue whinging Gooners). I have faith that he can get past that performance and begin showing up for England.

As for the center you would have one more defensive minded player, tenacious who could win balls and then send them forward, I’m seeing Jack Rodwell in this role. The creative play maker (or to be cliche the Beckhamsian role) would fall to Jack Wilshere. He currently favours the wing, but I think with a little more experience he could go to the center and really play excellent balls through. The final midfielder would be someone who tended to press up the field, similar to the way Gerrard did at Liverpool this past season, but I do reckon Gerrard will be rather too old come 2014. It is difficult to think of someone else to fill that role at the moment, though I’m sure a new face will emerge in the next four years. I would for now put Milner in as i think he, like Jack Wilshere, will mature into a more central role.

The obvious choice of striker is Wayne Rooney. Say what you like about his performance this June, his temper, or his looks, he’s an amazingly talented footballer. This formation would allow him to stick way in the front, where he excelled for Manchester United this past season, instead of him dropping back to look for balls.

Four years seems like an impossibly long time from now, and the names that are on our lips today will have certainly changed by then. But, like everyone and their dog’s been saying, Capello has to come up with a viable system, complete with actual tactics and roles, and develop it. England has plenty of talent, the issue is that they don’t know how to play with each other, if we could get that sorted out and nailed down, we could be world beaters.

Rob

If we don’t learn a thing or two from the mistakes of this entire generation, there is something seriously wrong. Most importantly, we have to work out a system that suits the best players we have, and if the players don’t fit into that system, then its time to drop them.

I also agree with Ethan, that its time to start with youth. From now. If we can get a young group of players playing together, and enthusiastic about their country from a young age – before loyalty for their high playing clubs takes over entirely – then the future can be very bright indeed.

In goal – We have a great stopper in Joe Hart, and I think we should be starting the qualifiers with him, and establishing him as the Number One we’ve been missing since David Seaman’s ponytail went off into the sunset. Lets keep him between the sticks no matter what happens.

The Backline was a chaotic mess during the World Cup. Terry’s not quick enough anymore, Carragher’s gone, Upson’s not quite good enough. Rio Ferdinand was of course missing with injury, but the bigger question mark is his form and fitness in general, he spent alot of last season injured and out of form at Man United.

We do have one bright light however – Ashley Cole. He might hate us, and we might all think he’s not exactly the greatest guy in the world, but he’s a classy left back, and our best performer at the World Cup. I’d actually like to see him move abroad, I think that could only help the side.

Elsewhere, its probably time for a fresh start. In terms of the qualifiers for Polkraine, Rio is still a possibility, but he has to prove his fitness and form. I think Phil Jagielka (who also spent most of last season injured, but recovered well by the end of the season) is the ideal replacement, and would match him with Michael Dawson at centre half.

At right back, well Glen Johnson is great going forward, but he’s still suspect at defending. We don’t have a great many other options though. So he stays until Kyle Naughton starts playing regular club football in the top league.

Midfield is the tricky one, and the one that could make or break the side. Already we have alot of talent, but are too tempted to just cram the four best players into midfield. Tactics often win football matches, and we need to be more disciplined. If they don’t fit the system, show them the door.

We do have alot of talent coming through as well. Jack Rodwell at Everton seemed to start life as a defensive midfielder, but has been enjoying a more attacking role toward the end of last season, Adam Johnson has been making waves for a while now as a winger.

And it depends which formation we’re going for. If we assume Capello takes a route similar to the trendy 4-5-1, then he needs to stick Rodwell in to defensive midfield work – we don’t have a donkey work player, and if can do that job, he’s in.

We then need a creative midfielder, a playmaker. Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are great goalscorers, but they are not playmakers in the way that, say Xavi is. I say we stick Joe Cole in there, with Jack Wilshere on standby.

Left wing, Stick Johnson out there, and right wing, still Walcott or Lennon out there. You’ve also got Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor as able back ups. Lets say goodbye to SWP please.

Then I’d stick either Gerrard or Lampard up front, behind Rooney, the role Gerrard plays for Liverpool, and bench the other one. Then Rooney up front as the frontman. Start with this team now, and then in four years time, you got a pretty good line up with plenty of experience.

*Why not add your own below? Go on, you know you want to.

How can we get success like this?

Tradition dictates that all value judgements made before an England World Cup exit be immediately reformed in the weeks and days that elapse following it. The regularity of the clamber has undoubtedly dampened its effect over the years and, as such, scepticism about the extent to which anything England will change after the latest knockout is justifiable: therefore for suggestions to be anything but fantastical they’re going to have to be minimal. Here are five that fit the bill (over the course of five posts):

3.) Do try out some young players over the next couple of years

Seemingly in spite of FA policy, England’s Under-21 team reached the final of their European Championships last year and the Under-17s won their equivalent of the same tournament earlier in the summer. These players are worthy of consideration on their own merit, but with a longer-term vision in mind, thrusting them into the team early could create an unrivalled consistency of squad selection in which a team can grow organically.

Nevertheless, integration of the new guard will, rightly, progress slowly under Fabio Capello, a conservative coach not known for his development of young players. The old guard continue to offer experience and expertise that, if not worth anything in terms of winning World Cups directly, can at least be passed on to the likes of Jack Wilshere and Joe Hart.      

A new generation is ready, but it must be nurtured with care.   

Here are a few of them (33 ’23s and under’): 

Goalkeepers: Scott Loach (Watford), Joe Hart (Man City); Defenders: Micah Richards (Man City), Nathaniel Clyne (Crystal Palace), Kyle Naughton (Tottenham Hotspur), Chris Smalling (Man Utd), Phil Jones (Blackburn Rovers), Michael Mancienne (Chelsea), James Tomkins (West Ham), Nedum Onouha (Man City), Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur); Midfielders: Fabian Delph (Aston Villa), Jack Rodwell (Everton), Lee Cattermole (Sunderland), Jordan Henderson (Sunderland), Mark Noble (West Ham), Junior Stanislas (West Ham), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Adam Johnson (Man City), Victor Moses (Wigan Athletic); Strikers: Nathan Delfouneso (Aston Villa), Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Connor Wickham (Ipswich Town), James Vaughan (Everton), Fraizer Campbell (Sunderland), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), Danny Welbeck (Man Utd), Zavon Hines (West Ham), Andy Carroll (Newcastle)

*Please try the links – they take ages to find and usually (except for the odd self-indulgent one) enhance the ideas put forward

Mesut Özil ripped apart England’s under 21s a year ago

Sitting, inconsolable, in the aftermath of England’s 4-1 mauling at the hands of Germany, I started to wonder how good watching the game must’ve been for anyone supporting Die Mannschaft, and for that matter how good supporting the German national team must be at most tournaments – what with their record of nine semi-finals in the last twelve World Cups and all. As initially self-defeating as that sounds, it actually led me to quite the epiphany – you don’t have to be German to support the Germans.

Supporting someone at tournaments, however tenuous the link used to justify that support, always makes it more fun. Once you accept that then the next step is deciding who you’re weighing in behind. Here’s why it should be Germany:

Long term, I, and indeed we, are stuck with the Three Peons. But for the remainder of this World Cup at least we’re entirely free of the intrinsic restrictions that are the nationalities we’re lumbered with – and therefore free to pick a team. Free to pick our favourite. And if you’re as sick of losing as I am: free to pick the favourite.

For me that favourite is Germany on all counts. The Team, as they’re brilliantly known, is filled with creative sparks like Mesut Özil and Thomas Mueller, their counter-attacking instincts have out-shone even Spain’s tiki taka, and they look a strong bet for the title*. In short Germany are the perfect second team (if only they could be our first).

Unconvinced? “Thou art a traitor” you say? I understand that for the unsophisticated English pallet Germany will always be the old enemy, but surely for true devotees of the beautiful game – such as myself, of course – World Cups are about appreciating the subtleties and artistry of some of the best teams in the world, not ingraining stereotypes and insisting on maintaining out-dated rivalries.

In fact, even for the unsophisticated pallet the German’s have something to offer – something to appeal to a quintessentially English value system. For we need to remember that the Germans began the World Cup, as hard as it is to believe now, as underdogs. Their own fans wrote them off and the bookies had eyes only for their average qualifying campaign, which had two draws, and friendly losses to Argentina and England.

Die Mannschaft’s fight ‘against the odds’ surely has to earn your admiration. Not only because it requires an unwavering level of mental fortitude, but because the success that they have attained is built on everything that you would hope success be built on. Paul Hayward’s excellent article, looking at the fundamentals behind their consistently exceptional performances since Euro 2000, identifies the DFB’s careful and efficient investment in youth football as key to the results which are coming now. Satisfyingly, then, their on-field art appears to be the product of oh-so-logical craft.

Furthermore, Germany’s systematic approach to youth development provides hope for the future of English football – because it is proof positive that things can change if the right decisions and investments are made. For this as well as the aesthetically superior brand of football that Özil, Mueller and co have offered us over the past three weeks, the Germans deserve our support tonight. If you can’t – and we definitely can’t – beat them, join them.

*Of course, Germany are now well-and-truly jinxed.

I accidentally put this up yesterday…

Mesut Özil ripped apart England’s under 21s a year ago

Sitting, inconsolable, in the aftermath of England’s 4-1 mauling at the hands of Germany, I started to wonder how good watching the game must’ve been for anyone supporting Die Mannschaft, and for that matter how good supporting the German national team must be at most tournaments – what with their record of nine semi-finals in the last twelve World Cups and all. As initially self-defeating as that sounds, it actually led me to quite the epiphany – you don’t have to be German to support the Germans.

Supporting someone at tournaments, however tenuous the link used to justify that support, always makes it more fun. Once you accept that then the next step is deciding who you’re weighing in behind. Here’s why it should be Germany:

Long term, I, and indeed we, are stuck with the Three Peons. But for the remainder of this World Cup at least we’re entirely free of the intrinsic restrictions that are the nationalities we’re lumbered with – and therefore free to pick a team. Free to pick our favourite. And if you’re as sick of losing as I am: free to pick the favourite.

For me that favourite is Germany on all counts. The Team, as they’re brilliantly known, is filled with creative sparks like Mesut Özil and Thomas Mueller, their counter-attacking instincts have out-shone even Spain’s tiki taka, and they look a strong bet for the title*. In short Germany are the perfect second team (if only they could be our first).

Unconvinced? “Thou art a traitor” you say? I understand that for the unsophisticated English pallet Germany will always be the old enemy, but surely for true devotees of the beautiful game – such as myself, of course – World Cups are about appreciating the subtleties and artistry of some of the best teams in the world, not ingraining stereotypes and insisting on maintaining out-dated rivalries.

In fact, even for the unsophisticated pallet the German’s have something to offer – something to appeal to a quintessentially English value system. For we need to remember that the Germans began the World Cup, as hard as it is to believe now, as underdogs. Their own fans wrote them off and the bookies had eyes only for their average qualifying campaign, which had two draws, and friendly losses to Argentina and England.

Die Mannschaft’s fight ‘against the odds’ surely has to earn your admiration. Not only because it requires an unwavering level of mental fortitude, but because the success that they have attained is built on everything that you would hope success be built on. Paul Hayward’s excellent article, looking at the fundamentals behind their consistently exceptional performances since Euro 2000, identifies the DFB’s careful and efficient investment in youth football as key to the results which are coming now. Satisfyingly, then, their on-field art appears to be the product of oh-so-logical craft.

Furthermore, Germany’s systematic approach to youth development provides hope for the future of English football – because it is proof positive that things can change if the right decisions and investments are made. For this as well as the aesthetically superior brand of football that Özil, Mueller and co have offered us over the past three weeks, the Germans deserve our support tonight. If you can’t – and we definitely can’t – beat them, join them.

  *Of course, Germany are now well-and-truly jinxed.

How can we get success like this?

Tradition dictates that all value judgements made before an England World Cup exit be immediately reformed in the weeks and days that elapse following it. The regularity of the clamber has undoubtedly dampened its effect over the years and, as such, scepticism about the extent to which anything England will change after the latest knockout is justifiable: therefore for suggestions to be anything but fantastical they’re going to have to be minimal. Here are five that fit the bill (over the course of five posts):

1.) Keep the manager.

The CAPITALISATION mob need no excuse to slip some xenophobia into their World Cup blame game and they’ve certainly enjoyed throwing insults at Fabio Capello in the course of the last week. But the underlying insistence that an English manager could do better is strange and wrong.

No Englishman, available or otherwise, offers the level of experience or natural ability necessary to coach the failing national team. Placing an under-qualified candidate at the helm of one of the most fragile ships in world football is unwise in the short-term and only distracts from the systematic inadequacies which have led to a lack of genuinely high-quality English managers in the long- term.

Another - new - foreign coach then? Perhaps, but not yet. Capello’s England have failed once, but it is another unfortunate feature of the reactionary rubbish that comes out after any defeat that the manager is scapegoated above and beyond the players.

The former Milan and Juventus man made so many right decisions in South Africa: he was right not to answer calls for Joe Cole’s inclusion – the media was wrong. He was right not to trust a faltering, possibly injured Wayne Rooney up-front on his own – the media was wrong. He was rightly desperate to include Owen Hargreaves in his squad – clearly aware of danger of lacking a genuine midfield destroyer. A variety of factors combined to cost England, but not Capello. 

Regardless even of that, consistency in itself, the part-time fan will not observe, so often breeds success in the place of quality. Another two years of Capello now brings World Cup experience (lest we forget that this was his first international tournament), consistency and quality – and saves a rather substantial sum of money too. The Football Association has already made one right decision.  

Of course, Fabio is unlikely to stay on beyond the Euros, but the point about consistency still stands in that that tournament is a legitimate long-term goal in itself and the manager’s continued presence will aid the transition between the World Cup and said Championships.

*Please try the links – they take ages to find and usually (except for the odd self-indulgent one) enhance the ideas put forward

Part two tomorrow.