Until some of the huge money generated from the EPL is invested in grass roots football, things are not going to change. On the face of it you'd' think it's a nothing tournament but unfortunately it's just another in the line of underachievement and poor displays from an England team, regardless of the level. I remember reading the All England Tennis Club haven't been able to develop players that can compete at the top level despite having the richest tournament (Andy Murray aside, but he was trained in Spain I believe). Maybe the people that run these organisations lack the knowledge an get voted in as part of some old boys network. Time for a shake up I think, the EPL is killing the national team.
The thing is, and I'm not sure how this will go down, do people really care ? I mean really ?
In England we definitely prioritise our clubs, probably more than in many other countries. People worry about the state of the national team here when they play, but the other 95% of the time I'm not sure how much of a burning issue it really is. My priority is Charlton Athletic, I'd love to see us pick a team of 21 year olds from south east London but to be honest if a team of 30 something Frenchmen got us further up the league then I'd take that.
The performance if the U21's has scandalised the nation; come the first game of the season it will be back to domestic football and the national team will be an afterthought again.
I can see where you're coming from but I can honestly say I wouldn't be happy with that. I don' think I'd have been particularly thrilled if I was a Watford fan last season. Just my take on it. I'm not bothered particularly about the Enland U21's just think it's a shame that we aren't developing home grown talent for our own domestic league.
I don't believe all this nonsense about the EPL ruining our national team. If players are good enough they'll make it through. We just aren't very good at football.
We play way too much football in this country - so when we get to these end of season tournaments the players are and look knackered. Then we expect them to play well against teams and players that have played significantly fewer games and get surprised when they don't play well.
I don't believe all this nonsense about the EPL ruining our national team. If players are good enough they'll make it through. We just aren't very good at football.
I don't buy the whole "if they're good enough, they'll play" because in reality that doesn't allow for player development with first team minutes does it ?
The real statement is "if they're good enough now they'll play" which means a promising 19 year old who just needs a season of game time to give him the experience required to start to fulfil his potential will sit on the bench in favour of a player who can do the job right now. Even if the difference in ability isn't great the manager will chose the experienced player as the "safe" option and who can blame him ? If results go badly he'll lose his job and the club could face financial ruin as the result of one sub par season such is the reliance on debt in the English game.
As I said above I'm not sure how much we really care about this issue other than when England are playing. If I said to you this year Charlton will finish 21st but will give Azeez, Poyet, Fox, Smith and Gomez serious game time or we come 6th winning the playoffs after signing four or five experienced players from abroad at the expense of the kids getting decent first team minutes. Both are realistic scenarios and I know which I would prefer.
I don't think that kids getting game time in the league is the problem. In fact the problem might be just the opposite. How many of the all conquering Spanish squad would be eligible for their U21s? In England there seems to be a view that if you throw the kids into the limelight quicker that they'll end up better. IMO you end up with players like Michael Owen who was possibly the best of his generation burnt out by the time he was 27. Guys like Del Piero and Baggio were used a lot more sparingly at that age and didn't make the national team until they had graduated the U21s, but were still playing international football well into their 30s. Honestly don't know what the answer is, but I'm pretty sure that it's not throwing money at the problem, chucking19 year olds into Premiership first teams and having someone like Stuart Pearce telling the press that he's sick of apologising and should be getting the players in front of the camera to explain themselves. One of the worst bits of management that I've ever seen.
Must admit i had some sympathy for Pearce up until last night because i'm sure if you said to most of the other countries they couldn't take their best players to the tournament then they'd struggle too, but his outburst after last night was pathetic. Let's face it we should still be beating the likes of Norway and Israel regardless of who is in the squad.
However the FA need to shoulder just as much responsibility. We took Rodwell to Brazil and he played in 7 minutes of the friendly. He played just 15 games for City in all comps last season, why couldn't he have been in the U21 squad? Phil Jones only played 24 games for United in all comps, surely he could've played?
When your strikers are Delfouneso, Sordell, Wickham, Zaha and Ince then you're always going to struggle though. Not a single out and out goalscorer in the entire squad.
When your strikers are Delfouneso, Sordell, Wickham, Zaha and Ince then you're always going to struggle though. Not a single out and out goalscorer in the entire squad.
The problem with strikers is that being a natural goalscorer/out and out striker is not necessarily something you can create with coaching - this is one position which to me is about instinct, players either have it or they don't.
I don't think that kids getting game time in the league is the problem. In fact the problem might be just the opposite. How many of the all conquering Spanish squad would be eligible for their U21s? In England there seems to be a view that if you throw the kids into the limelight quicker that they'll end up better. IMO you end up with players like Michael Owen who was possibly the best of his generation burnt out by the time he was 27. Guys like Del Piero and Baggio were used a lot more sparingly at that age and didn't make the national team until they had graduated the U21s, but were still playing international football well into their 30s. Honestly don't know what the answer is, but I'm pretty sure that it's not throwing money at the problem, chucking19 year olds into Premiership first teams and having someone like Stuart Pearce telling the press that he's sick of apologising and should be getting the players in front of the camera to explain themselves. One of the worst bits of management that I've ever seen.
I have to humbly disagree. Take a look at the Spain squad lots of those players are getting decent game time at their clubs. Guys like Tello, Thiago, De Gea etc have played fairly reguarly for big clubs. The reason they don't have lots of full caps is more to do with the strength of the national team (which is a reflection of their youth policy). Then l look at the England u21's. I don't recognise half the players, those that I do, a few get time for their clubs but mostly this is marginal off the bench for a minute type stuff.
I genuinely believe short-termism is one of the root causes of England failing to bring players through.
England are a middle of the road international football team and have been for about 20 years, regardless of what the ridiculous FIFA rankings say. Bottom line is we aren't that good and haven't been for a number of years.
The likes of Spain, Germany and Italy are in a completly different league to us when it comes to international football and that isn't going to change anytime soon.
We have the English media to thank for overhyping expectations and the players. Wayne Rooney being a prime example.
England are a middle of the road international football team and have been for about 20 years, regardless of what the ridiculous FIFA rankings say. Bottom line is we aren't that good and haven't been for a number of years.
The likes of Spain, Germany and Italy are in a completly different league to us when it comes to international football and that isn't going to change anytime soon.
We have the English media to thank for overhyping expectations and the players. Wayne Rooney being a prime example.
England are a middle of the road international football team and have been for about 20 years, regardless of what the ridiculous FIFA rankings say. Bottom line is we aren't that good and haven't been for a number of years.
The likes of Spain, Germany and Italy are in a completly different league to us when it comes to international football and that isn't going to change anytime soon.
We have the English media to thank for overhyping expectations and the players. Wayne Rooney being a prime example.
Should have added at all levels.
I think the question is why though ? A rich country, large football obsessed population, decent climate and infrastructure. Why are the players not coming through ?
Don't worry chaps, we have a chance to redeem ourselves shortly. The U20 world cup starts at the end of next week. We're in a group with Egypt, Chile and Iraq!!
England are a middle of the road international football team and have been for about 20 years, regardless of what the ridiculous FIFA rankings say. Bottom line is we aren't that good and haven't been for a number of years.
The likes of Spain, Germany and Italy are in a completly different league to us when it comes to international football and that isn't going to change anytime soon.
We have the English media to thank for overhyping expectations and the players. Wayne Rooney being a prime example.
We're now ranked 9th overall. Wasn't there a time last year when we were briefly 2nd?! I agree that we're not world beaters but we're in the top 15 for sure.
FIFA rankings are farce and seem to be based on the amount of games you play more than anything. How Brazil can fall out of the top 20 is beyond me.
"I honestly don't believe I should be here answering questions on behalf of the players," added Pearce.
Erm, yes you should, that's your job. "They should be here answering questions on why their performances were so poor, to be honest with you.
No, you should "I don't think it's my responsibility at this stage to answer for a performance as bad as that.
Erm, yes it is "We've lost games before, but collectively in this tournament we haven't delivered for whatever reason. The players have to come out and be strong and ask themselves 'how am I going to get better?'"
Whatever reason? Surely you should know the reason. If you haven't worked that out, you are as clueless as people suggest. It is your job to improve the players and make them into better players. Yes there's sympathy and understanding that you couldn't pick your best team but we still lost to Norway and Israel!!
I agree that Pearce shouldn't be as defensive, but I think it is quite refreshing for a national manager to come out and question the players rather than feel the need to protect them 100% of the time.
In the build up to qualification the U21s were averaging 3 goals a game. It must be quite a shock to Pearce to see this massive change in performance.
there's an interesting book called Why England Lose... a few reasons were provided. One was that most English footy players only come from a very narrow section of society (i.e. traditional working class for the most part, which is a smaller pool than a few decades ago), them not having the time to play and develop (down the park/on the street for all hours like in Brazil), and England historically only winning a certain percentage of games anyway. The reason we won in 1966 and got to the semis in Euro 96 was because we were at home, where our record is a lot better. Throw in the fact that our coaching is behind that of other developed nations in terms of how we train - game based rather than skills based. Not saying this book had all or any of the answers, but it was interesting
I've never understood this common myth that the FIFA rankings are rubbish. They generally have us as 7th-9th in the world. We regularly make the quarter finals of major tournaments, suggesting that, yes, we are in the top 8 teams. You get the odd discrepancies, I personally feel CONCACAF tournaments are awarded too many ranking points, inflating the US's position, and obviously any tournament hosts play no competitive matches in the 2 years leading up to the tournament, so tumble down the rankings. A 4 year ranking period would solve that issue (much like Golf has a 2 year ranking period so that rankings are overly effected by injury).
I personally feel CONCACAF tournaments are awarded too many ranking points, inflating the US's position
The problem is that the US is a massive nation surrounded by (other than Canada) second/third world nations who have populations a fraction of the size of the US. In US's group they have Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico, Honduras and Panama. Other than Mexico with a population of 112 million they are mostly competing against much smaller nations. If you reduce the ranking points for Concacaf then it affects these smaller nations as well.
I don't think that kids getting game time in the league is the problem. In fact the problem might be just the opposite. How many of the all conquering Spanish squad would be eligible for their U21s? In England there seems to be a view that if you throw the kids into the limelight quicker that they'll end up better. IMO you end up with players like Michael Owen who was possibly the best of his generation burnt out by the time he was 27. Guys like Del Piero and Baggio were used a lot more sparingly at that age and didn't make the national team until they had graduated the U21s, but were still playing international football well into their 30s. Honestly don't know what the answer is, but I'm pretty sure that it's not throwing money at the problem, chucking19 year olds into Premiership first teams and having someone like Stuart Pearce telling the press that he's sick of apologising and should be getting the players in front of the camera to explain themselves. One of the worst bits of management that I've ever seen.
I have to humbly disagree. Take a look at the Spain squad lots of those players are getting decent game time at their clubs. Guys like Tello, Thiago, De Gea etc have played fairly reguarly for big clubs. The reason they don't have lots of full caps is more to do with the strength of the national team (which is a reflection of their youth policy). Then l look at the England u21's. I don't recognise half the players, those that I do, a few get time for their clubs but mostly this is marginal off the bench for a minute type stuff.
I genuinely believe short-termism is one of the root causes of England failing to bring players through.
I think we agree on most points, definitely the last one. But if England were picking their strongest eligible players there wouldn't be any that you've not heard of. What pressing appointments did these lads have that kept them away from the representing their contry U21 level? Even if you don't accept my argument that they're too young for international football there was no competitive fixtures for the full side. England could have been motoring into the qualifiers next season with a core group that knew they could be successful on the European stage.
It's a poor argument to say that these "better" players are past the point of playing for the U21s. Maybe they'd develop their technique a bit more if they weren't stuck into their club and country first teams and infected with a fear of losing and the hustle and bustle of trying to deal with much more experienced players. Try and pull something off and get it wrong and you're a laughing stock on MOTD/Sky/the papers, but pull the same trick for the U21s and you're applauded for your skills. Some of the goals in the Italy Israel match were breathtaking: training ground stuff - because in some senses that's what it was.
What pressing appointments did these lads have that kept them away from the representing their contry U21 level?
Andros Townsend was banned... Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and a couple of others went with the senior team to Brazil, a few minutes of game time/the whole experience was presumably deemed to be more important than playing in this tournament.
I've never understood this common myth that the FIFA rankings are rubbish. They generally have us as 7th-9th in the world. We regularly make the quarter finals of major tournaments, suggesting that, yes, we are in the top 8 teams. You get the odd discrepancies, I personally feel CONCACAF tournaments are awarded too many ranking points, inflating the US's position, and obviously any tournament hosts play no competitive matches in the 2 years leading up to the tournament, so tumble down the rankings. A 4 year ranking period would solve that issue (much like Golf has a 2 year ranking period so that rankings are overly effected by injury).
I cant understand how Portugal have such a high ranking? (They are 6th)
Recently, they've drawn against NI, Gabon, Isreal and lost against Ecuador.
I imagine Portugal's position is largely based on their results at 2012. Beat Denmark, Holland and Czech Republic, drew Spain, only going out on penalties. Where we struggled past Ukraine(who would have had a low ranking due to being joint hosts) and Sweden, drawing Italy.
So on balance you'd expect them to be a couple of places above us assuming broadly similar WC qualifying campaigns over the winter.
I don't think that kids getting game time in the league is the problem. In fact the problem might be just the opposite. How many of the all conquering Spanish squad would be eligible for their U21s? In England there seems to be a view that if you throw the kids into the limelight quicker that they'll end up better. IMO you end up with players like Michael Owen who was possibly the best of his generation burnt out by the time he was 27. Guys like Del Piero and Baggio were used a lot more sparingly at that age and didn't make the national team until they had graduated the U21s, but were still playing international football well into their 30s. Honestly don't know what the answer is, but I'm pretty sure that it's not throwing money at the problem, chucking19 year olds into Premiership first teams and having someone like Stuart Pearce telling the press that he's sick of apologising and should be getting the players in front of the camera to explain themselves. One of the worst bits of management that I've ever seen.
I have to humbly disagree. Take a look at the Spain squad lots of those players are getting decent game time at their clubs. Guys like Tello, Thiago, De Gea etc have played fairly reguarly for big clubs. The reason they don't have lots of full caps is more to do with the strength of the national team (which is a reflection of their youth policy). Then l look at the England u21's. I don't recognise half the players, those that I do, a few get time for their clubs but mostly this is marginal off the bench for a minute type stuff.
I genuinely believe short-termism is one of the root causes of England failing to bring players through.
I think we agree on most points, definitely the last one. But if England were picking their strongest eligible players there wouldn't be any that you've not heard of. What pressing appointments did these lads have that kept them away from the representing their contry U21 level? Even if you don't accept my argument that they're too young for international football there was no competitive fixtures for the full side. England could have been motoring into the qualifiers next season with a core group that knew they could be successful on the European stage.
It's a poor argument to say that these "better" players are past the point of playing for the U21s. Maybe they'd develop their technique a bit more if they weren't stuck into their club and country first teams and infected with a fear of losing and the hustle and bustle of trying to deal with much more experienced players. Try and pull something off and get it wrong and you're a laughing stock on MOTD/Sky/the papers, but pull the same trick for the U21s and you're applauded for your skills. Some of the goals in the Italy Israel match were breathtaking: training ground stuff - because in some senses that's what it was.
Agreed. Rodwell, Oxlaide-Chamberlain etc should have been there. If your country wants you at any level and you say "no" then you should be banned from competing internationally for the next five years. Can you imagine De Gea, Tello or Thiago saying "no thanks" to Spain?
Our normal excuse is that they have played too much football in the season, this time it's not enough experience. Personally I think the experience of tournament football is more important then playing in a friendly, a player will learn more on loan in the lower leagues then playing reserve football in the premier league.
I question the attitude of the players as they are being treated like stars like they have already won it by having bbq's, relaxing in the pool etc I've noticed these tournaments are turning more into holiday camps where keeping players happy instead of training and prepared seems to be the focus. Redmond seemed the only player who had any desire to give it his all and I believe it's because he was new to the set-up and had something to prove. It's not how good you think you are already it's how good you want to become.
Technically and Physically we should be at the same level as any of those sides in our group, I think we lost it Tactically with little instruction or game plan no discipline in the squad against Israel instead of getting the ball behind the defence and using the width we decided to go narrow with Zaha, Shelvey, Ince & Wickham at one point all getting in each others way trying to walk it though the middle the amount of shots we took from outside the area was just painful to watch.
I think Peace and his staff did very little to find and attempt to fix the problems as the game went on very rarely did I see him on the touchline giving advice.
I may add that Italy, Spain, Netherlands and Germany. Most of their sides in their respective leagues have the same philosophy and their players at a young age have been taught and brought up with that way of playing and it's the same way with their national youth set up and senior side.
It's a problem Brendan Rodgers has at Liverpool he has a philosophy very similar to those in Spain yet due to his players not having that tactical knowledge not growing up with that way of playing he's finding it hard, so he has turned to signing players who do have that knowledge and are good technically or Young players where over a few years can make that transition.
I don't think that kids getting game time in the league is the problem. In fact the problem might be just the opposite. How many of the all conquering Spanish squad would be eligible for their U21s? In England there seems to be a view that if you throw the kids into the limelight quicker that they'll end up better. IMO you end up with players like Michael Owen who was possibly the best of his generation burnt out by the time he was 27. Guys like Del Piero and Baggio were used a lot more sparingly at that age and didn't make the national team until they had graduated the U21s, but were still playing international football well into their 30s. Honestly don't know what the answer is, but I'm pretty sure that it's not throwing money at the problem, chucking19 year olds into Premiership first teams and having someone like Stuart Pearce telling the press that he's sick of apologising and should be getting the players in front of the camera to explain themselves. One of the worst bits of management that I've ever seen.
I have to humbly disagree. Take a look at the Spain squad lots of those players are getting decent game time at their clubs. Guys like Tello, Thiago, De Gea etc have played fairly reguarly for big clubs. The reason they don't have lots of full caps is more to do with the strength of the national team (which is a reflection of their youth policy). Then l look at the England u21's. I don't recognise half the players, those that I do, a few get time for their clubs but mostly this is marginal off the bench for a minute type stuff.
I genuinely believe short-termism is one of the root causes of England failing to bring players through.
I think we agree on most points, definitely the last one. But if England were picking their strongest eligible players there wouldn't be any that you've not heard of. What pressing appointments did these lads have that kept them away from the representing their contry U21 level? Even if you don't accept my argument that they're too young for international football there was no competitive fixtures for the full side. England could have been motoring into the qualifiers next season with a core group that knew they could be successful on the European stage.
It's a poor argument to say that these "better" players are past the point of playing for the U21s. Maybe they'd develop their technique a bit more if they weren't stuck into their club and country first teams and infected with a fear of losing and the hustle and bustle of trying to deal with much more experienced players. Try and pull something off and get it wrong and you're a laughing stock on MOTD/Sky/the papers, but pull the same trick for the U21s and you're applauded for your skills. Some of the goals in the Italy Israel match were breathtaking: training ground stuff - because in some senses that's what it was.
Agreed. Rodwell, Oxlaide-Chamberlain etc should have been there. If your country wants you at any level and you say "no" then you should be banned from competing internationally for the next five years. Can you imagine De Gea, Tello or Thiago saying "no thanks" to Spain?
Do we know they were asked and said no?..i cant see them saying it tbh.
I would imagine its more a case of FA/Hodgson/Pearce agreeing that they dont go due to recent/future senior involvement.
I agree that Pearce shouldn't be as defensive, but I think it is quite refreshing for a national manager to come out and question the players rather than feel the need to protect them 100% of the time.
In the build up to qualification the U21s were averaging 3 goals a game. It must be quite a shock to Pearce to see this massive change in performance.
Really? But he was happy to come out and do interviews and take acclaim when they were on a 9 match unbeaten run and not conceded a goal.
Maybe the players should come out and talk about his tactics and dressing room management.
I've never been a big fan of Pearce, sat close to the away bench once when he was at Man City, did not stop screaming and ranting for the whole 90 minutes, didn't seem particularly insightful stuff either. Remember Fowler just looking at him thinking what on earth are you going on about. Was early in his career to be fair.
Comments
In England we definitely prioritise our clubs, probably more than in many other countries. People worry about the state of the national team here when they play, but the other 95% of the time I'm not sure how much of a burning issue it really is. My priority is Charlton Athletic, I'd love to see us pick a team of 21 year olds from south east London but to be honest if a team of 30 something Frenchmen got us further up the league then I'd take that.
The performance if the U21's has scandalised the nation; come the first game of the season it will be back to domestic football and the national team will be an afterthought again.
The real statement is "if they're good enough now they'll play" which means a promising 19 year old who just needs a season of game time to give him the experience required to start to fulfil his potential will sit on the bench in favour of a player who can do the job right now. Even if the difference in ability isn't great the manager will chose the experienced player as the "safe" option and who can blame him ? If results go badly he'll lose his job and the club could face financial ruin as the result of one sub par season such is the reliance on debt in the English game.
As I said above I'm not sure how much we really care about this issue other than when England are playing. If I said to you this year Charlton will finish 21st but will give Azeez, Poyet, Fox, Smith and Gomez serious game time or we come 6th winning the playoffs after signing four or five experienced players from abroad at the expense of the kids getting decent first team minutes. Both are realistic scenarios and I know which I would prefer.
However the FA need to shoulder just as much responsibility. We took Rodwell to Brazil and he played in 7 minutes of the friendly. He played just 15 games for City in all comps last season, why couldn't he have been in the U21 squad? Phil Jones only played 24 games for United in all comps, surely he could've played?
When your strikers are Delfouneso, Sordell, Wickham, Zaha and Ince then you're always going to struggle though. Not a single out and out goalscorer in the entire squad.
The problem with strikers is that being a natural goalscorer/out and out striker is not necessarily something you can create with coaching - this is one position which to me is about instinct, players either have it or they don't.
I genuinely believe short-termism is one of the root causes of England failing to bring players through.
The likes of Spain, Germany and Italy are in a completly different league to us when it comes to international football and that isn't going to change anytime soon.
We have the English media to thank for overhyping expectations and the players. Wayne Rooney being a prime example.
A combination of the above I'd imagine.
FIFA rankings are farce and seem to be based on the amount of games you play more than anything. How Brazil can fall out of the top 20 is beyond me.
As hosts of the next WC they aren't playing any competitive internationals.
Erm, yes you should, that's your job.
"They should be here answering questions on why their performances were so poor, to be honest with you.
No, you should
"I don't think it's my responsibility at this stage to answer for a performance as bad as that.
Erm, yes it is
"We've lost games before, but collectively in this tournament we haven't delivered for whatever reason. The players have to come out and be strong and ask themselves 'how am I going to get better?'"
Whatever reason? Surely you should know the reason. If you haven't worked that out, you are as clueless as people suggest. It is your job to improve the players and make them into better players. Yes there's sympathy and understanding that you couldn't pick your best team but we still lost to Norway and Israel!!
In the build up to qualification the U21s were averaging 3 goals a game. It must be quite a shock to Pearce to see this massive change in performance.
The problem is that the US is a massive nation surrounded by (other than Canada) second/third world nations who have populations a fraction of the size of the US. In US's group they have Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico, Honduras and Panama. Other than Mexico with a population of 112 million they are mostly competing against much smaller nations. If you reduce the ranking points for Concacaf then it affects these smaller nations as well.
It's a poor argument to say that these "better" players are past the point of playing for the U21s. Maybe they'd develop their technique a bit more if they weren't stuck into their club and country first teams and infected with a fear of losing and the hustle and bustle of trying to deal with much more experienced players. Try and pull something off and get it wrong and you're a laughing stock on MOTD/Sky/the papers, but pull the same trick for the U21s and you're applauded for your skills. Some of the goals in the Italy Israel match were breathtaking: training ground stuff - because in some senses that's what it was.
Andros Townsend was banned...
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and a couple of others went with the senior team to Brazil, a few minutes of game time/the whole experience was presumably deemed to be more important than playing in this tournament.
Recently, they've drawn against NI, Gabon, Isreal and lost against Ecuador.
So on balance you'd expect them to be a couple of places above us assuming broadly similar WC qualifying campaigns over the winter.
I question the attitude of the players as they are being treated like stars like they have already won it by having bbq's, relaxing in the pool etc I've noticed these tournaments are turning more into holiday camps where keeping players happy instead of training and prepared seems to be the focus. Redmond seemed the only player who had any desire to give it his all and I believe it's because he was new to the set-up and had something to prove. It's not how good you think you are already it's how good you want to become.
Technically and Physically we should be at the same level as any of those sides in our group, I think we lost it Tactically with little instruction or game plan no discipline in the squad against Israel instead of getting the ball behind the defence and using the width we decided to go narrow with Zaha, Shelvey, Ince & Wickham at one point all getting in each others way trying to walk it though the middle the amount of shots we took from outside the area was just painful to watch.
I think Peace and his staff did very little to find and attempt to fix the problems as the game went on very rarely did I see him on the touchline giving advice.
I may add that Italy, Spain, Netherlands and Germany. Most of their sides in their respective leagues have the same philosophy and their players at a young age have been taught and brought up with that way of playing and it's the same way with their national youth set up and senior side.
It's a problem Brendan Rodgers has at Liverpool he has a philosophy very similar to those in Spain yet due to his players not having that tactical knowledge not growing up with that way of playing he's finding it hard, so he has turned to signing players who do have that knowledge and are good technically or Young players where over a few years can make that transition.
I would imagine its more a case of FA/Hodgson/Pearce agreeing that they dont go due to recent/future senior involvement.
Maybe the players should come out and talk about his tactics and dressing room management.