Kunty McPhuck
Scust Szn has Returned
Fair points. I've always been envious of the talent France is able to produce so consistently. Y'all have 2 World Cups and 2 European Championships for a reason. How both countries see football is different. France's sophistication of the game was always made fun of and seen as "soft" by Brits who see 'real football' as hard-tackling, toughing through injuries and being able to run at full force the whole 90 minutes. Thankfully, through the consistent failure of the national team, English people are realizing how primative those 'values' were and it's not wonder the other European footballing countries laughed at England for years.
England only recently (and I'm saying this based on success our U21, U18 teams had in youth internationals) has been able to move past that archaic mindset and actually produce near the same level of talent at the youth level, but it often goes to waste come the transition into the English league which English clubs tend to prioritize profits (higher positions in the league) over football development and identity (i.e making sure English managers are hired, English players get playing time etc.)
I feel that's the biggest difference between us and France, Italy, Germany, Spain etc. The clubs in their leagues outside the top 2 biggest ones can't compete financially with English clubs (English league tv deals always negotiated in the billions of I'm not mistaken) and typically have their best players bought out every years by the top English clubs, so they're always developing players and preparing 5 so years ahead. Also their football associations historically have worked with clubs in regards to youth development whereas England has only recently really started copying their model.
I say this because Raheem is the more senior player and was in rhythm over Jadon who barely got a good run about.
This has been going on for decades and decades. Being a forward thinking English/British person is against the rules unless you come from a certain background. Its the old establishment hierarchy (which is at the heart of most of England/Britain ills over the centuries) thats kept English football from flourishing. You wouldnt know that English coaches played a big part in the Total Football concept. Do you know who introduced a high-pressing line prioritising team over individuals and not being afraid to using the academy players to Barca a English coach.
Venables and Hoddle were talking about controlling possession back in the 90's. Hoddle wanted Wenger to be technical director prior to him taking the Arsenal job. The need to control Possession was bought up all the way back in the late 50's and 60's which was totally ignored. The worst crime of all was coaches trying to recreate what Al Ramsey did for decades and decades but even that failed for him.



