Football Has No Place At The Olympics

I do not know about you, but I just cannot get excited for football at the Olympics. 

The draws were made yesterday for the group stages but the same nerves and excitement were not there as when the draw is made for the World Cup or European Championships. Waiting impatiently for England to be drawn out of the hat, fingers crossed tightly hoping to avoid the big guns; Brazil, France, Argentina, Italy and all the rest. 

It just was not there. 

At first I thought the obvious. Maybe it was because England are not competing, instead a Great Britain team is competing (or England plus Gareth Bale.) But then I realised that was not the answer. 

The answer is that football should not be in the Olympics. 

Sports people are united by the Olympics. The summer event is the pinnacle of their career; it is what they strive for. The dream of winning a gold medal in their specific field is what they train and build towards for four years. Many competitors have been dreaming of the Olympics since they were young children. They grew up seeking a gold medal. For them there is nothing bigger than the Olympics. 

That is the problem with football in regards to the Olympics. The World Cup is the pinnacle of a footballer's career; it is the accolade that every professional footballer dreams of winning. This is the same as golf, which is joining the Olympics in four years’ time, it has majors. These majors are what golf players want to win - not gold medals. Tennis is also the same with its four grand slams. 

It just cannot be right that footballer's and tennis players are taking a look around the Olympic village and treating it like a bit of fun. It is almost an insult to the athletes. 

And I have no doubt if you ask any footballer if they would rather be at the Olympics or in Poland and the Ukraine this summer for the European Championships, it will always be the latter. It is just not right. The Olympics are not a priority for them. 

Yes, in athletics, there is a European Championship at the end of June, but it is really for those people who won't make the Olympics. No athlete would swap the Olympics for a European Championship. 

You can understand quite easily why Arsene Wenger of Arsenal and Manchester United's Alex Ferguson have been very dismissive of Olympic football. 

I follow football and tennis throughout the year, and I know some good players have competed in both sports at the Olympics over the years. But when it is the Olympics I do not watch it and I do not try to find out how they are getting on. 

People will get excited that Rafael Nadal is playing at the Olympics as they may not be able to get tickets to Wimbledon. I understand that, who wouldn't want to see one of the best ever tennis players. David Beckham may well be in the Great Britain football side as one of the three over twenty-three players. It may be the last time to see Beckham play on an international stage, for many it might be the first time they have seen him play in the flesh - I cannot fault people for buying the tickets. 

It just does not do anything for me personally. 

Also I cannot take the players seriously. They are there for the wrong reasons. They want to be part of the Olympics because of what it means to everybody else, not because it means something special to them. I am sure many would rather be on their summer holidays. The Olympics is not such a meaningful occasion for them as it is to the majority of others competing in other sports such as rowing or cycling. 

I am glad that football will act only as a sideshow to the main event. The highlight of the Olympics will, and always has been, the athletics. And this is exactly how it should be. They are the real stars of the show, and it belongs to them. 

The only reason that the International Olympic Committee continues to give football a place in the games is the money that it makes. Football is the sport of the world and it is watched by billions around the world. Therefore if you give it a place in the biggest sporting event in the world people are going to pay to come and watch it. However this year football is the only sport that still has tickets available, whereas the gymnastics and athletics have all sold out. 

But at the end of the day it is not up to me. Great Britain is competing at the Olympics whether I like it or not. I believe the country will get behind the team but only because it is being hosted in England. By the time the 2016 Olympics come around I do not believe anyone will be the slightest bit interested. I just hope that if we do somehow win a medal that it does not detract from the other lesser known sports - the ones that deserve a place in football. I know many journalists will rather write about the football as it is a sport they cover every week of every year not just every 4 years. It is a sport they know about. It is much easier to write about Wayne Rooney then an athlete in the shot-put who they have never heard of before. 

For me I shall be watching the athletics, cycling and rowing. The sports that for me make the Olympics the Olympics. 

Euro2012: Will England fail again?

Put your hand up if you still think English players are amongst the best in the world.

Quite a few of you. Well you all have a bit more faith then I do.


With 51 days to go until the European Championships 2012 kick-off in Poland and Ukraine, I offer my opinion on why England continually fail at major tournaments and why I have do doubt they will fail again.

There was a time when I was like all of you. I believed that the England team was bursting at the seams with countless numbers of world-class players waiting to be propelled onto football's biggest scene. Player's that could match the legends that have appeared in the French, Brazilian and Italian national teams over the years.  I always saw a team that could with the World Cup, the European Championship and become the number one side in the world. A team that could add to the solitary World Cup win of 1966. (Did that actually happen?) I have to ask myself the question.

I have watched England since France 1998 and followed them in every tournament since - apart from the one they failed to make in 2008! (Failures like this should be unheard of.) With each failure I say to myself, next time. Next time we will come good, next time we shall win.

But of course the next time comes and go. 14 years since I started following England, 46 years since that World Cup win, now just weeks before the next big tournament, or failure, it seems the right time to give up.

I always looked at the likes of Campbell, Ferdinand, Scholes, Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard, Owen and Rooney and believe that the constant dreams of England finally performing on the biggest stage would come true. But as always I was left feeling the usual anti-climax.

Why is this? Why do we constantly fail?

I would offer the simple reason that we have a severe lack of world-class player's. However no-one ever settles for that reason. So let's look at the development of our youngsters.

Young English talent from the about the age of eight or nine are brainwashed that passion and belief will bring them success. This has never been true. Learning the basics of football and building on skills is often put to one side, or in some cases completely forgotten about. Also at this age it is also not unusual for boys and girls to be playing football on full-size pitches that to be honest most of us would struggle to run about on. They are taught to run everywhere quickly even for tackling. The focus is not on the ball but the player. It makes it look like Paul Scholes can tackle.

At an early age young English talent are not taught close ball skill, or to pass and move like many foreign countries. This is something that the Spanish and Brazilians show perfectly. Fitness work also seems to be second-best compared to countries such as Germany and Holland  - you do not see players of Emily Heskey's build in other teams.

There are a few players that are hand-picked from the poor-grass roots set-up in England are are put into a professional club. However only a few of these are then good enough to make the transition successfully enough to make the international stage. These are usually the ones who are picked by the prefessional clubs that follow a 'European' model.

Away from skills and fitness English youngsters learning the game see on the TV from a very early age that anger and belligerence are acceptable (for example Wayne Rooney's behaviour on and of the field or the Chelsea team surrounding referees.) This behaviour which is often mirrored by parents on a Sunday morning who happilly and loudly abuse the officials.

Let's also look at the players that currently make up the England team to see if the problem is there.

The team is made up of mainly 'experienced' players, those who have appeared in multiple matches at international level for several years or more. Apart from the most recent friendlies it is very rare that any youth breaks into the team. Capello, unlike those before him, made it clear that it was his intention to pick players based on form instead of experience, but this was clearly never the case.

Yes Capello does hold the highest win percentage of any England manager. But there is no denying that he controlled and managed a group of desperate, last chance saloon players who are, or nearly are, on their last legs.

Did I say last chance saloon? The 2010 World Cup should have been their last chance, however there is no doubt in my mind that whoever takes over for the European Championships this year and in to the future will continue to play the same players.

Whoever takes over will inherit a group of players with egos that are difficult to control, especially as The FA are not paying their wages.  Many managers have tried to control these egos, and until the World Cup 2010 Capello seemed to be doing so but as always the egos proved too big for the team. I don't think it is entirely possible unless we start all over again. The current players do not feel the need to preform on an international level. Player's retire early, such as Paul Scholes. Why? Club football is simply more important.

Problems do not just exist in the England national set-up though. Raymond Domenech failed completely to control his players when he was in charge of France, their egos were all far too big for the team. Age may also play a part. Both the England and France squads were old when they caused problems, however Joachim Loews young Germany squad are giving him no problems at all.

There needs to be a balance. However England can never quite find that balance.

The alternative view seems to be that the presence of foreign talent in the English Premier League leaves very little room for English players to play at the highest level. I do not agree with this, the view is absurd. If English talent was good enough it would get into England's top sides. It is that simple. Frank Lampard, John Terry and Ashley Cole all appear in the Chelsea side as regulars and Wayne Rooney is in fantastic form for Manchester United. Both sides have won the league with these players in the team. But arguable the next 'generation' of English talent is not talented enough. They are not nurtured enough from a young age to make the jump to Premier League standard like our international counterparts are.

Why is is that these players, with a mix from other clubs such as Liverpool and Tottenham, fail to perform on the international stage? They can not be said to have 'failed to break through' after all they are playing for the biggest teams in the country, so with this it can not be said that they do not have the experience at the highest level. Is their a behaviour that is drilled into them at club level that once these restraints are moved they fail to play football as it should be played. I find this difficult to believe.

For those that watch the Premier League every week you will see much of the same style that England have played with other the years - inflexible, aggressive and with a focus on tackling the man instead of playing the ball. And lets not forget the long ball! Those few teams in the Premier League who try to be different, try to play like other European clubs are often kicked off the field. Something which is tolerated in England, but not across the continent.

This does pose a problem though. There is no getting away from the fact that English teams are among the elite in European competitions. Apart from this current season, English teams have dominated the Champions League for some time. Incidentally these are the same English teams who have a large number of foreign players. The same English teams who try to play a less traditional English style.

So what is the answer?

I don't have one, so sorry if you were expecting one. If change is so happen then The FA and The Premier League need to work together and not against each other. Otherwise we will be dreaming of more glory like 1966 for many more years to come!

Good luck to whoever takes over as England manager, but I don't think it will help them much.

England need a manager sooner rather than later

Since the departure of Fabio Capello England are once again back to square one. They have started that well known trip of going round in circles with no-one in sight to take control.

It reminds me of the stage we were at with a certain 'Wally with the brolly.' When Sven-Goran Eriksson stepped down The Football Association appointed his assistant which turned out to be an unforgivable mistake.

They can not afford to do the same again. It was the correct call to let Stuart Pearce take charge against Holland, but he can not stay in the long run, not even as a stand-in for the European Championships in the summer. His CV just does not have enough experience or success on it.

On reflection, it wasn't a bad performance against Holland but we should not read too much into the result. Pearce was brave to select the squad that he did and it certainly opens up more possibilities for the summer.

There is no denying that Holland played the game as a friendly. There is no point pretending that England played really well against world-class opposition, because they did not. Holland played at a walking pace for 90% of the game, and when they did step-up the pace they easily exposed the very fragile English defence.

Admittedly England were missing a handful of key players - John Terry, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard. Three players who can change a game, pull off that match winning moment and more importantly three players who the rest of the team can rally behind.

As for the players that were on the field. Ashley Young picked up from where he left off for England, he was by far the best player on the field and since his injury return he is getting back to his best. Adam Johnson looked threatening every time he picked up the ball, has a really eye for the game and looks more and more at home in the England team with every cap.

Off the field, the recurring message from The FA is that there is no rush to appoint a new coach. Personally I would like to know what their plan is as I'm not convinced they have one. Waiting until the end of the English season and then appointing Harry Redknapp or another candidate is not the right way to go, but it seems to be the option that The FA is taking. Whoever takes the job needs longer than two weeks to sort things out. Turning the fortunes of England is not going to happen with a short term fix. It's going to take a lot of time and a lot of planning.

Many people are taking a different view on the situation. They believe that the European Championships are not the main issue here, but that we should be looking 2 years down the line to the World Cup 2014. However this is wrong, I am pretty sure that people have been saying this since 1966!

My own view is that the powers that be need to bite the bullet and come up with some kind of arrangement with Tottenham that enables Harry Redknapp to take charge as soon as possible.

From leadership off the field to leadership on it, England need someone to take control. I am not sure why Stuart Pearce took Jo Hart into the press conference with him when he had no intention of giving him the armband. Hart had to face the question, 'are you going to be captain?' I imagine he had no idea. Naming the captain on match day is not the way to go, if there is no long-term leadership off the pitch then we at least need someone on it.

On the whole, we may be 4th or 5th favourite for the tournament, but instead off constantly looking two years down the line, and when that comes around looking two years down the line again, The FA need to act now and give us the best chance of being competitive in the summer.