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Death of the Beautiful Game

I have had two experiences of European football, touring Madrid and then Amsterdam. Given the questions regularly asked about the gulf between England and their continental neighbours, I was intrigued. Why does Spain have the finest passing side in world football whilst England struggles to shake its reputation for a direct and workmanlike style?

The theories are abundant, and the report produced by FA chairman Greg Dyke did little to trim the list. A popular hypothesis is the contrasting upbringing of our players and the world-beaters of traditional football power nations, like Brazil, Argentina and Spain. It is suggested that, where hardship forms an unshakeable will to improve and succeed, the same incentive is simply not present in the English game.

Whilst Luis Suárez was playing shoeless football on the streets Uruguay, England’s starlets were progressing in multi-million pound academies, chasing the promise of absurdly lucrative professional contracts. As Rio Ferdinand recently mused at the Oxford Union, how do we expect our young footballers to progress when they are given the world by 18? The days of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes or Gary Neville having to clean Eric Cantona’s boots to earn the respect of their club’s first team and continue their progression are an increasingly distant memory.

However, the time I have spent on tour has left me believing that there is another explanation, which is equally crucial. It is no coincidence that, when facing a strong Dutch side, we were forced to play for long periods without the ball. Many of the young footballers of Holland and Spain are brought up on pristine artificial surfaces. They are taught a mentality that leaves them wanting to pass the ball, to move and to preserve possession. What’s more, they are given the facilities and the opportunities to do it. The English youth system is a stark contrast; our youngest players are rushed on to 11-a-side pitches that are too big for them.

These are the same pitches that are often slanted, uneven and overgrown. As a result, we see a style of play that is physical and direct, more from necessity than choice.

Every young player wants to win and, for too many in England, the conditions they face make a technical approach virtually impossible. It is no surprise that, even at the highest level, our national teams often lack the skills to successfully compete on the biggest stage.

By providing our young players with 3G facilities, we will exponentially improve their chances of developing the technical skills the highest level requires.

Reducing the emphasis on results and the delaying the transition to eleven-a-side will only help. Until the English game commits to such fundamental changes, I cannot envisage an end to England’s dearth of international success

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