Can England Win the World Cup 2010?
English Football Needs to be Reviewed for South Africa and Beyond
Sep 9, 2009
Can England Win the World Cup 2010?
England's resounding 5-1 victory over Croatia may have excited sports fans and given the team an all important qualification for the football World Cup in South Africa, however, a quick glance at the make up of teams within the English Premier League is enough to show the number of foreign players incorporated into the teams. Indeed there are significantly more English players in the Second Division than in the Premier League, and moving up to Premier League status for these players is notoriously difficult as they do not have the all-important experience of playing football at a level acceptable for the national team. For England to manage to build a team similar to Bobby Moore's 1966 World Cup Squad a review of English football appears necessary.
How Can England Build a Successful Team Similar to the 1966 World Cup Squad
If England wish to focus on building a successful international football team, like the 1966 World Cup Squad, surely they need to start concentrating on bringing on their own players and this starts in the arena of the football league. Players in the lower football divisions are unlikely to ever make the national squad, their football is not of a high enough standard as they have not played against top class teams or players.
Whilst it is undeniable that grass roots schoolboy football in England is successful, it does seem that somewhere along the line the promising young players drop off. Whether this is a failing on the part of the Football League and scout systems is debatable.
Certain members of the current England squad have played for the team for a number of years and this seems likely to be due to the dearth of high class English players within the Football League particularly moving up from lower divisions into the Premier League. David Beckham, for example, has played over 100 matches and a younger, more dynamic replacement has yet to be discovered.
Focus of the Premier League
The focus of the Premier League now seems to be mainly on winning in Europe which certainly downgrades both the English FA Cup and the Carling League Cup, leading unquestionably to diminishing the number of players suitable for the national team.
Foreign players are transferred in to the Premier League at exorbitant transfer rates, for example Chelsea, where almost every first team player is a foreign national and also Arsenal, whose first team members are mainly younger foreign players. Whilst this focus upon importing players has an impact upon Premier League teams and raises their games significantly, thus contributing to excitement for fans, Wayne Rooney has, arguably, been the only significant English-trained and developed player for several years. Indeed, both England and Manchester United seem to rely upon Rooney's skills for successful match outcomes.
England's Challenge for the World Cup and Beyond
Whilst, in no way disputing England's brilliance in the match against Croatia, it is to be hoped that they will be able to raise their game for the World Cup, as they have not been challenged too much within their qualifying group. Certainly for the future, it would be marvellous to see the promising national schoolboy footballers being transformed into capable and exciting players in all areas of the Premier League.
Also See: How Did England Qualify for the World Cup?
