Why does the Enland team consistently fail in International competition?

I read the debate on here about John Stones with interest. I did not join in because I did not watch the whole game and because I am never happy that I get the full picture when watching football on TV. Nevertheless, that debate has raised some more general questions about the English game as compared to the way that Spain play. Once again, Spain dominated possession and in the end this domination got them back into a game that appeared to be lost. The first 80 minutes could be viewed as a Spanish attempt to tire the English by getting them to chase and play their pressing game. Having tired them out, they hoped to win the game in the last 10 minutes. In fact, they were 2-0 down by that time, so they were only able to rescue the game. But had the game gone on longer, Spain were the only possible winners. As the England midfield tired, they became trapped up field as the Spanish broke. Stones was beaten by his man for the first, but that can always happen in a one v one situation. The space was created because midfield was not close enough to the back four when Spain broke quickly in order to form a cohesive defensive unit. When you allocate responsibility for the goal you do so according to your understanding of how the game is played, and I do not want this to become another issue about who is right and who is wrong. What I want this to be about is styles of play, and whether the English style of play is effective in summer conditions and opponents with a different way of doing things. The posters who say that John Stones plays in a continental style are right. But should his be the face of the future, or is he an anachronism that quickly gets consigned to history. I guess that the answer lies with whether Pep Guardiola has the success at Manchester City that he has had elsewhere.

If Guardiola is a success, if he wins the Premier League, if he goes on to win the European Cup, then his style of play will be emulated by other teams in the Premiership. Everyone will look for a sweeper-keeper who can play with his feet and who can pass the ball. Keepers will be taught early that this needs to be part of their game. If Guardiola is a success, then central defenders will become footballers and not just stoppers. If Guardiola is a success, keeping the ball will be much more important than it is now and players will have to read the game better when in possession and they will all have to become confident with their first touch, their passing and their movement off the ball.

The fans in England enjoy a game that is played in a different way. They enjoy more physical contact, they enjoy more box to box action, and they enjoy a longer passing game with frequent exchanges of possession. The Guardiola way, if emulated throughout the leagues would give fans a different game, a game that does not sit well with what English football watchers want. Indeed, the success of the Premier League at selling their style of game abroad suggests that the world wants to see the English style of Football. There is no doubt that it is a more entertaining style because it is a style that gives both teams a chance. The problem is that it is not the best way to ensure your team wins in International competition.

So, as football fans, what do we want? Do we want entertaining football every Saturday, but no success in international competition, or do we want less interesting football in the Premier League and a chance of success in the World Cup. John Stones represents the cusp of a possible change. His style is a Spanish style. Should he stay here and hope the rest catch up, or should he go to Spain, where he fits right in already. I suspect that only Guardiola has the answer to that question.

 

Most of our players are over rated, and we have not had an English manger that know's how to adapt the players to international football since Bobby Robson.
Just look at Woy no idea what so ever.

 

Is it fair to expect the players to spend the season playing for their clubs in a particular way, and then play a different way internationally. Is it any surprise that they fail to adapt most of the time.

 

Whenever I see the phrase sweeper keeper I can't help think that Pep would have loved Dave Watson.

 

Agreed

 

Perhaps England should try and play an English game instead of trying to be a poor imitation of Spain.

 

Perhaps, but the English game was developed the way is was because it is played in the cold and the damp of an English winter. International football tournaments are played during the heat of the summer. They are often played in countries with far hotter summers than we experience, and some of the games take place in day time. In those circumstances, if you can make your opponent run more than your team has to run, you are more likely to win the game because your opponent will get tired. As I say, it is not necessarily more entertaining, but it does win games, especially in hot weather. The development of the game in hotter climates has reason to be different from the way that it developed in cooler climates.

This does not really explain the German success rate though. Germany is colder and dryer than the UK in winter, and warmer and dryer in summer. Their game is different to the British way, but also different to the Latin way, a hybrid if you like. More muscular than the Latin way, but more possession oriented than the British way.

 

You've answered your own question.

We do not fail in international competition except when it comes to tournaments, which are preponderantly played in conditions with which we are not as familiar as many other countries' teams.

 

We have had enough talent in this country to win every World Cup since 1966
The Germans have had less talented players but have a much better success rate - why ???
Firstly - we used to put foreign players on a pedestal and were in fear of them - that's until many of those players started playing in the Premeirship - we could see then that our own players were as good and in many cases better than players from other countries.
Secondly- we have such deep seated rivalry better Premeirship teams that this spills over into the national side - I think Spain also suffers from this
Thirdly - no other national team suffers from media scrutiny than England - in many cases this has crushed our players and managers.
It's a psychological problem - so England players have to be chosen on their mental strengths before their football abilities.

It will take an exceptional manager to sort the England team out - especially if he start to choose players that the newspapers don't agree with.
And probably those managers have been present but have been under the radar.

 

This post will not use quotes

 

Tried quoting you...

 

Must be me then Nez doing some thing wrong, put it darn to owd age

 

I think people are having issues. But I'm doing mine through Tapatalk. So it might be an issue with the site from a webbrowser