England pays the price for a strong Premier League

In 1966, England won the World Cup in their own country thanks to the likes of great players like Sir Bobby Charlton, Geoff Hurst, Bobby Moore. Since then England have failed to reach the final of any major tournament even though they have had the best players and Premier League has become bigger than ever. In the last two major tournaments, they lost in the first knockout round and they were thoroughly outplayed in both the matches. Even though they had very good players in Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney, Ferdinand, Terry, Cole and David Beckham, they failed to combine as a team and deliver on the big stage. One of the causes for this can be attributed to the managers who stuck on with the ineffective 4-4-2 as teams like Spain and Germany became tactically strong with 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3. However, the main cause for this is the lack of English players playing in the Premier League as compared to the local players who play in Germany, Spain, Italy and France.

The Premier League is known to be the most competitive league in the world and has attracted some of the biggest names in the world. However, this has come at the cost of the performance of the English national team. Just 35% of the players of the players in the Barclays Premier League are English. Almost every Premier League team revolves around a foreign player. Chelsea revolves around Mata and Hazard, Arsenal around Santi Cazorla and Arteta, Manchester City around Silva, Aguero and Toure, Everton around Fellaini, Swansea around Michu and de Guzman, Spurs around Bale and Dembele, Newcastle around Cisse and Cabaye. Manchester United can be considered an exception for they have the likes of Carrick, Rooney, Welbeck, Jones, Smalling, Zaha and Cleverley in their ranks.

The insane amount of money that is provided to the managers nowadays means that they can buy whichever players they want from around the world. This has resulted in the arrival of more foreign players and the usage of English players have become relatively less. One example of this is Scott Sinclair who was fast becoming a very good player at Swansea only to have had his progress hampered by moving to Manchester City where he made just 3 starts during the course of the season due to the amount of foreign stars they have. James Milner and Joe Hart are the only regular English players for Manchester City where seeing academy players has become a rarity.

The reluctance of coaches to move from 4-4-2 has cost the team badly. This coupled with inability of the England team to retain possession is the reason why they go down easily against teams like Spain, Italy, Germany which are handled by tactically astute managers who are easily better than their English counterparts. As of today, what chance does England stand against a Spanish team that retains possession so well and easily breaks into opposition defenses or a German team that defends so well and is devastating on the counter. The only players in the English teams who play like Spaniards are Jack Wilshere and Carrick, who is composed on the ball and retains possession. What England must do is drop the older players like John Terry, Lampard, Gerrard and Joleon Lescott and play youngsters like Jones, McEachran, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere, Welbeck and Walker.

For having a realistic chance of performing well in the 2014 WC they must play differently and bring in young blood. The team must find an alternate for Joe Hart, who performs superbly one day and poorly the next. Jack Butland should be an able alternative for Joe Hart. In defense, they must play Walker and Baines on either side with Gary Cahill and Ryan Shawcross in the centre. Jack Wilshere and Michael Carrick should be the midfield duo with Wilshere being given a free role to attack and Carrick to shield the defense and control the game. The team must play around these two and use their vision and passing abilities to the maximum in order to have a realistic chance of winning against big teams. Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner must play in the wings but also drift towards the centre to complement the midfield. Wayne Rooney must play the No.10 role with Danny Welbeck or Daniel Sturridge upfront as the striker.