So, what's wrong with England?

After crashing out of yet another tournament on the back of a poor performance, my first emotion wasn't anger; nor disappointment. It just left me feeling optimistic that things can change in the future. So, what should be done?

Looking at the match at a whole, we were thoroughly outclassed by a side that previously looked some way off the best two teams in the competition; Germany and Spain. I still believe that either Germany or Spain will win the tournament, but the gap in quality between England and Italy tonight was tremendous.

Let's go back to the start of the tournament to when the England squad was first announced. Roy Hodgson picked the squad which most people expected him to pick. I was disappointed to see that he didn't make any bold decisions in terms of selection. Stuart Downing's inclusion and Micah Richard's exclusion were of particular interest. Taking into account the lack of expectation surrounding England's chances in this competition, it would have been good to see some wild card players being picked. Perhaps Swansea's Scott Sinclair rather than Stuart Downing; or Norwich City's Grant Holt. Plus many felt that Micah Richards should have been picked rather than the eventual deputy right-back Martin Kelly. Though it has to be said that Glen Johnson played well all tournament.


Nevertheless, the real problems the England squad has is our footballing style; and our dwindling national pool. Spain and Barcelona have proven that the future of football lies in intricate short passing; much like Ajax's total football that dominated the early 1970s. Perhaps tiki taka is too extreme, but Italy played a short passing game tonight; and when they did attempt a long pass, it often came from the assured foot of Andrea Pirlo. There's a patience that comes with a short passing game, that's also imperative to success.

As expected, England regressed back to our tired, old, impatient, long-ball style. Andy Carroll did a good job of taking the ball down, but however once at his feet; he couldn't find a pass for love nor money. Our forwards also seemed nervous on the ball, particularly Ashley Young. The Italian players were perfectly happy to pass backwards if there was nothing on ahead; but the England players played a Milan Baros 'head down and run' style. This often lead to us getting crowded out and inevitably losing the ball. If we're to have any success in the future, we have to ditch these archaic tactics; and get our youngsters learning the more modern, short 1-2 passing style.


Lastly, the amount of imported foreign talent in English football has had an effect on the amount of quality game time that our English (and British) players receive. Martin Kelly played a reported 12 games all season, yet was included in the squad as the third best English right-back; (after Glen Johnson and Micah Richards.) If the national squad is going to have any success in the future, then it will rely on bigger clubs developing youth talent at the club, and buying from the lower leagues in English football more often.


After all, let's take a quick look at how many current Barcelona players came through their youth team: Puyol, Pique, Valdes, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, Thiago, Fabregas, etc.


Here's to the future of the England national team!