Are England set for a Golden Era?
SteemSports Presenter: @mojorisin
SteemSports Editor: @ldauch
Is the future of English football set for a golden-era?
England Under-17s' won the U17s World Cup at the weekend, beating Spain U17s 5-2 in Kolkata, to crown a phenomenal year for the nation’s age-group teams. And although success at younger age groups cannot guarantee success in later life, the future does look bright for the Three Lions.
Four years ago, FA chairman Greg Dyke gave the senior England team the target of winning the World Cup by Qatar 2022. He was laughed at by not only the likes of the German and Spanish media, but also the English media, and probably people within the FA.
2017 U17s World Champions England
This year, England have won the U17s World Cup, U19s Euros, and U20s World Cup. And the tournaments they didn’t win, they were beaten on penalties in the final and semi-final. That is some record.
Former Manchester United and England defender Phil Neville certainly thinks this could be the start of something special for England:
"I think history maybe tells you that if your youth teams are winning World Cups and European Championships then that group of young players can go on and hopefully win the senior equivalent. We have seen it with Germany and Spain in the past decade. That has got to be the plan and the aim for these players from the U17s through to the U21s.”
2017 U19s Euro Champions England
And surely, now having won these tournamnets, they have the belief that they can compete with the best. They have dominated age-grade international football this year, and surely now the future target must be to win the World Cup when these players bloom later in their career.
England U20s manager Paul Simpson is being optimistic and realistic:
"The players who won the U20s this summer, in five years' time they may be ready to go to a World Cup. It is still the target. We'd be delighted if we get success in 2018 - but we are looking at 2022. We have to change people's perceptions. We want to inspire a nation by being successful. The U20s and the U17s are doing that. You heard people saying that against Brazil [in the U17s semi-final] it was as if the players had swapped shirts.”
2017 U20s World Cup Champions England
To have won all these competitions and have out-skilled Brazil is testament to what England are producing. It has been the masterplan ever since England moved to their new base at St. George’s Park. At the new place, all age groups of England players train and stay there. There is a hotel there, and the facilities are second to none, and all players male and female, get to use the facilities.
The facilities at St George's Park are some of the best in the world
But England as a nation shouldn’t get carried away with the success of the age-graded teams. With the success of the Premier League, many junior players don’t actually make it into the top teams, and this is a major problem for the Three Lions. Top clubs have their own agendas and if young English players are good enough, they will break into the squads, but many players don’t flourish early in their careers and usually fall away into the lower divisions. So, the key is to have them playing regular football at any level, especially in their developing years.
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I would say that no, England are not set for dominating international soccer. It's obvious that they have managed to set themselves up in a way that they are producing young talent but there are two factors that make developing that talent into world class adult players.
Problem 1 is what you mentioned - the Premier League is not a good place for a young player to develop. With all the TV money flowing in, no club can afford to play young English players consistently enough for them to be able to develop to their full potential in their late teens. The league is so competitive that you simply need players that you are certain are going to perform (or you are at least reasonable to expect that). There are some young players who are getting some playing time, but they are certainly not enough. Additionally, the league puts a lot of pressure on managers and managers are always just a few losses from getting sacked. This means very few managers in the league have the luxury of making long term plans. This makes young players an unreasonable gamble most of the time and managers prefer established professionals that have already proven their consistency and that have more experience under their belts.
This is not a situation without a solution, but this leads us to the second problem: English players are usually unwilling to go play abroad.
What a young player needs to transition from a talented prospect to a world-class professional is a lot of playing time. And while a select few might get enough minutes to progress in the Premier League, most simply aren't going to. There might be young English players in may Premier League squads, but they are not getting the minutes they need to really polish their skills and mindsets and tune to the professional level. What happens to their peers from Germany and France who both have significantly better and deeper national teams as of now is that young players are ready to go get the playing minutes they need abroad. Yes, it's absolutely true that it's easier for young players to get playing time both in the Bundesliga and Legue 1, but if young English players were studying foreign languages and were ready to go spend time abroad, this would be a moot point. The current English U17 squad would all be looking at potential contracts all over Europe where they could be regular starters. If only they were open to playing in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands or Portugal...
But most of them prefer to stay on as a squad player at home without facing the stress of moving abroad and while collecting a serious wage. This limits their options immensely and they are left competing for places on squads in a league that favors older and more experienced players who don't require development and who can perform reliably enough today instead of in 2 or 3 years time.
So unfortunately, I do not think that this expected golden generation is going to really come for the men's team and most of those youth champions are going to squander their potential sitting on benches (or worse) and not getting the game time they need to develop to the top of their potential.
A very in-depth and thoughtful comment. However, nobody said they were going to dominate international football, but only time will tell if it will be successful. As for playing abroad, Only La Liga, Serie A and Bundeslegia are better than the Championship. And yes, that includes the French Ligue 1.
Well, I think for the England national team dominating world football and a Golden Era would be two very similar things. In my opinion England could be deemed having a Golden Era if they are seriously competing for World Cups and Euros, getting to finals and even winning some. Otherwise, it wouldn't really be a Golden Era, I think. So while I used a bit of exaggerated language with that phrase, I did mean a very similar thing and I feel my points still apply.
I'm sorry, but to me that's kind of preposterous. Where are the PSGs, Monacos and Olympiques of the Championship to play against? What Championship team could reach a Champions League semi-final or final? While the Championship is indeed competitive, it lacks what any second tier lacks - top-level sides.
But more importantly and back to the context here, if young English players are willing to go play abroad, it doesn't mean all of them have to. The Premier League and the Championship would still be an option, but it will not be the only option. Young players don't have to play in the best or most competitive leagues in the world, they have to play regularly at a professional level and playing in the highest local tier of football has its benefits and gives the players experience even if that's in Portugal, Belgium or even the Ukraine as long as it's in the stronger better coached teams. Young players need a suitable stepping stone and for many of them neither the Premier League, nor the Championship are suitable to be that for their careers. All those people that could be developing somewhere else are missing out just because they are not willing to make the move. And I'm certain there are many people like that in those current youth squads that are doing so well and their talents will be wasted.
Obviously PSG are better than every Championship side, they have a bottomless pit of money. However, beyond them or Monaco, no other French team would survive in PL and many would struggle in the Championship. It's the same as the Dutch, Portuguese and Scottish leagues. It's a shame because I preferred the days of Ajax, Benfica and Aberdeen being competitive. Now they have no chance because of a lack of money.
I disagree on your assessment of the French teams compared to the English ones. I think there are at least a few more French teams who would not have a problem avoiding relegation in the prem and beating sides like Crystal Palace, West Brom, Swansea, Stoke and West Ham on regular basis and enough others that would by no means struggle in the Championship. Sure the bottom of the French table is pretty bad compared to the biggest teams in the world, but so are most teams playing in the Championship.
I think it's pretty clear that tLigue 1 is still a great place for a young player to play and it's still a significantly better destination than the Championship for a young player who wants to develop and to be noticed. Look at the outgoing talent coming from both leagues and you'll see a significant difference.
I wholeheartedly agree with your second point about Ajax and Benfica. The fact that some leagues are turning into feeder leagues for the wealthier ones is making international club football a bit more boring with fewer and fewer clubs coming from outside the top 5 leagues that capable of any upsets as all their talent gets mopped up by the big boys. But this is what makes those leagues perfect for younger players right now and this is what British and especially English young players are missing out on. Ajax is a much better destination for a young footballer than any club in the Championship even if you think the Championship is a better league than the Eredivisie. Manchester United are much more likely to sign a player from Ajax rather than the Championship, right? Average top-tier football is still a better carrier choice and a better experience than high-level second-tier football not just because of the competition, but because of the stadiums, fans and staff and that's also important.
On top of this, I'm not sure the style of play in the Championship is the best environment for expanding an English footballer's skill set.
Good points on all, and I agree with you mostly. Young players will definitely benefit from playing for Ajax or Lisbon or Grenoble, but playing in the championship, albeit a completely different game, is still a good league to get matches in. As for the stadiums and fans, other than your Ajaxes, Benficas and other top teams, the championship has better support, and stadiums in many cases.
Now I'll have to look up info and photos about Championship stadiums :P There certainly aren't stadiums larger than Amsterdam Arena and Der Kuip and fans there are pretty awesome too. But if you go outside to the top few clubs, the Championship tends to have the larger stadiums than the Eredivisie. Roda JC play at a stadium with a capacity just bellow 2000 while Burton Albion's ground that is the smallest in the Championship holds just below 7000.
It makes sense that there would be some really nice grounds with great supporters there, too with historic clubs as Villa, Sunderland, Sheffield W and Leeds.
Where are you from and which team do you support?
A great post @steemsports. May england be real. Golden era.
Thanks. Let's hope so. It's been 51 years of pain. I can handle another 5 if we win the 2022 World Cup.
Follow me @mojorisin for more quality posts.
These young lads have fantastic potential, just hope that the media and the spotlight doesn't get to their heads.
Being a professional footballer goes to their heads nowadays. Let's hope they just become bigheaded brilliant footballers.
Englands weakst spot seems to be the goalkeeper position since after David Seaman. Where are the new ones playing? Are they playing at all or just earning money sitting on the bench? I think this will be crucial for a possible English renaissance.
I don't know about the youth keepers, but definitely the keepers now cant even tie Seaman's shoe laces.
England is set to rampage.
They've got a golden crop of kids in this group! I think the key for England is to promote the finest in this bunch up through the age groups all the way to the seniors - so important they progress together. If four or five from this group get to the senior side England will be a force
The problem won't be England nurturing the talent, it will be the top clubs. As @rocking-dave said, the top Premier League clubs won't nurture young talent because they can't afford 1 season without success.
Also, I truly think that England can make a difference the world cup.It has a good team and the best striker in the world.do anyone agree with me ?
No on all accounts, but I hope you're right.