The decline of England

For years it has been a beckoning question, ‘why does England keep underachieving at international level?’ As simple a question as this may be, the answer is a lot more complex and multifaceted, but the primary focus must be on youth development.

Philipp Lahm

As good as the EPL may be, technically gifted English players seem to be ebbing rather than flowing. Where countries like Brazil, Spain, Germany, Italy and Argentina could line 2 or 3 quality starting elevens, you would be hard pressed to name a quality second starting eleven of English players.

This is only so evident after England were conveniently beaten by a second string German outfit back in November.

England would be best using the methods that Germany adopted to produce the players of the calibre of Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Ozil, Gotze, Reus, Manuel Neuer, Toni Kroos, Mats Hummels and the list goes on. Not only does this list go on, it seems like the conveyor belt of talented German players being produced is endless.

So how did Germany do it?

Mesut Özil

In 2001 German football decided that it was time for a change in philosophy and a revamp in the structure of coaching after their many years of decline in continental and global tournaments.

This revamp mandated that all professional German teams have youth academies. Requirements for these academies were meticulously devised and included everything from coaching qualifications to the number of floodlights around the training pitches.

Initially, a burden with no immediate return, investment in youth has become more of a springboard for success in Germany.

Dortmund's training facilities were substandard in 2000 and the club was forced to build a new academy. Now instead of simply meeting the minimum standard, BVB are experimenting with new ideas. Their youth teams often train with first-team coach Jurgen Klopp, and the club commissioned the creation of the "footbonaut," a training facility designed to give a player as many touches of the ball in one session as he normally would have in a week of normal training.

Furthermore, the spread of talent in German clubs also means that young players will have opportunities to prove themselves in professional teams. 

Leon Goretzka

Leon Goretzka, for example, started nearly every game for Bochum in the 2. Bundesliga last season (2012/13)—he only turned 19 in February. Bochum may be a small club, but their youth program was strong enough to support Goretzka's talent: The Germany U19 international, who has been with his hometown club since age six, won the gold Fritz Walter Medal in 2012, honoring him as his country's best U17 player. Now, instead of playing with a bigger club's reserve team in the third or fourth tier, he plays in the second division.

Compare this to youth football development in England where, until recently, there was no structure or governance on how clubs or academies were ran.

Yes, England may have finally turned the corner with youth development. Whether they have turned the right corner is another question entirely. 
It took Germany nearly a decade and a half to finally start reaping the rewards of their revamped philosophy, the question is not if only England can do it quicker but if at all.

fw

I'm Back...

Holy Moly... who would have thunk that I would be writing again?

I can't say it hasn't been on my mind, but truth be told, it's been more a matter of laziness that anything. Needless to say, I will be posting my views of football matters more.

fw

Ronaldo vs Messi

ill be the first to admit that im not a fan of ronaldo, and that i think messi is a better player.
that is not because i think ronaldo isnt a great player, it has a little more to do with the fact that i just cant stand ronaldo's attitude.
on top of that ronaldo has played in 2 of the teams that i detest in Man Utd & RM.

this though is not going to be a ronaldo bashing post, but an opportunity that im going to take to smell the roses. for, in ronaldo and messi, we are seeing to players that are head and shoulders above their peers, and who knows if in my lifetime i am going to ever witness two such great players that polarise opinions. yet no matter what side of the fence you stand, it is clear to see these two players are not only the best in the world but could well go on to be the best ever.

Ronaldo
i still remember ronaldo making his début for Utd as an 18 year old, and just the amount of confidence he had to take on players, try tricks and take shots.

his first ever goal for the Utd, a freekick, came against Portsmouth in 2004. i still remember the commentator's statement, in which he was saying the freekick was beckham esque and that if the backroom staff's comments were anything to go by, he would have a beckham esque career... what an understatement that was...

where ronaldo really excels, is in his sheer athleticism and power. with a wicked shot on him, if he gets anywhere near the 18 yard box left foot or right, he is shooting and you can almost be certain it is going to be a goal and if the keeper is unfortunate enough to be in the trajectory of a ronaldo rocket, he is going in the net with the ball.
ronaldo has left goalscoring record after goalscoring record in his wake, and at only 25, it is scary to think he could possibly get even better.

Messi
messi had a tough development as child, with no clubs wanting to take a chance on him because he was too short, and the treatment he needed being to expensive to justify for a player so young. only predicted to only grow to height of 4'9, in stepped fc barcelona to provide funding for his $900 a month treatment. what a great decision that turned out to be.

platini was incredibly creative and able to conjure things out nothing, ryan giggs could take players on and leave them in his dust, shevshenko was a natural born goal scorer who would bag you goal after goal.
what sets messi apart from other players is his ability to switch between these attributes with relative ease, which not only makes him an incredible player but also near impossible to mark because of his unpredictability.

so who is better??
WHO CARES!!!!

lets just enjoy the fact that we have the opportunity with modern media, such as on-line streaming and youtube, to watch two of the greatest footballers to ever grace the pitch week in week out.

fw

football Football FOOTBALL!!!!

how can one sport bring so much joy??
ill tell you how... cause there is only one sport in the world that it dosnt matter how tall or short you are... how rich or poor you are... or what race or creed you are that brings all people of all walks of life together.

here's a bit of trivia for you... what was osama bin ladin doing as/before his chateau was invaded??
you guessed it... watching football.

you probebly didnt know, but public enemy number one of the world was a mad Arsenal FC fan, which is ironic seeing as the detest osama had towards the west.

could you just imagine the bloodshed that could have been saved if the galaxy of spearheads in congress had, instead of spending billions on the search for mr osama, had just requested the arsenal squad make a plee video to osama requesting him to stop the carnage...
if only...

non the less this is just an example of the pulling power of football.

so my dear friends, during this 'off-season' (hardly an off-season with U17WC, U20WC, U21 EUROs, Womens WC, Gold Cup and Copa America going on) lets take a second to reflect on joy this great sport has brought to many lives, and the upliftment it shall provide in the future.

fw

Why isnt the A-League being promoted??!!!

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on the subject but is it really that hard to see why A-League attendances are in free-fall??

Who can forget this ad in the first season:


I had that song in my head weeks before that season even kicked off. I would be in the shower just singing that song. Or be walking in the streets and break into song with people staring at me like I was nuts!!

I still wont forget the first ever A-League game I went to watch. It was prebebely the greatest footballing experience I've ever had. With a crowd of 20,000 at suncorp stadium just buzzing in anticipation of this new league. This anticipation fuelled by an expert advertising campaign.

I'll concede that one of the drawing factors for crowds in the first season of the A-League was the
fact that it was a new, more professional product, but the advertising team played a big part in getting crowds through gates.

Fast-forward 7 years and the marketing of the A-League is almost non existent!!
Why??!!!

I realise this may sound silly, but, wouldnt you want to build on the success of the A-League?? Wouldnt u want to keep the league in the fore-front of everyone's mind??
Well, not having a TV ad running is certainly not gonna aid your cause FFA...

Instead of trying to write a formula on how to develope a league from scratch, why dont we have a peek into what some of the younger leagues in the world, such as the J-League & MLS, are doing.

Take the MLS for example.
Seattle has a population of 600,000 and still manages to pack out a 35,700 seater Qwest Field Stadium.
Sydney has a population of 4.5m people and the largest average they've had in the 45,500 Sydney Football Stadium is 16,500.

Its not exactly rocket science where one of their selling points of the team is:



fw

Benitez, the big spender...

im pissed off...

first of all let me start by congratulating the boys on hard fought win this morning.

this leads me to why im pissed off... its all these commentators that seem to have it in for liverpool.

its as if all commentators rally together every week and decide on a new angle to attack liverpool from. the worst part of it is, its all unfounded pointless drivel...

statements like 'with the amount liverpool have spent they really should have a better squad'... STUPID.

out of all the players that benitez inherited from houllier, only gerrard and carragher remain. that means that all the money that benitez received from the sale of past players (which with such a crap bunch of players, wouldnt have been a lot) he used to rebuild the squad. granted the squad arnt world beaters as of yet, but didnt one of the greatest mangers (if not the greatest manger) the EPL has ever seen take 4/5 years to win a single title at the beginning of his tenor??

granted this crop of players arnt the worlds elite, but when benitez buys he sells in equal measure to fund his purchases.

wors still people saying he dosnt sign quality!!

is this a joke??!!

let me list some quality player he has signed over the years, that when negotiations were being made where considered inquisitive signings...

torres- this by far his greatest signing. he was in fact ridiculed for wanting to pay such an astronomical figure for a player that 'needs to many chances to score.' it was only after he proved his class that every man and his dog was saying he was an obvious signing... MUPPETS!!!

such an obvious signing that even SAF (sir alex ferguson for the noobs) didnt want him instead seekin out berbatoss...even chelsea with all their money didnt put a bid in for him or try to snare our bid...

glen johnson- some may say the verdict is out on him but in the small amount of time he's been on the pitch for us he's proven an attacking threat and a defensive rock. one of the bes right backs in england.

yossi benayoun- by far the most talented player in the squad with the ball at his feet. once again people were asking why buy a player who, at the time, was playing for a mid table club (west ham). he has proven to be the x- factor on more then one occasion for us and even popped up with very important goals for us in ECL.

mascherano- is there any better DM/ destroyer in the EPL?? i think not, yet alen pardew didnt even think he was worth of a place in a west ham starting eleven.

these are just a few players i can rattle off, off the top of my head.

benitez has spent a lot money to build the squad he currently has, he has also had to sacrifice the services of many. with a fraction of the budget of the other 'big four clubs' benitez has managed to keep liverpool in the top 4 every season bar one.

we should be applauding the man for this great feet no scorning him for not spending non existent money.

fw

Intro...

I was just sitting here at work with not much to do, so i decided id do something ive always really wanted to do... start my own football blog.

truth be told, i couldnt care less if no one read it, its just a way of getting my thoughts onto 'paper' and out of my head.

also, im tired of reading substandard articles by muppets who masquerade as journalist but are simply on witch hunts against certain players, managers, refs or figure heads.

so... im going to try stay as objective as possible... while giving you the low down.

fw