You’re Carlo Ancelotti. You’re
deciding who would be the better signing – Wayne Rooney or Luis Suarez.
It’s a no-brainer. Rooney is miles ahead.
In fact I wonder how good Luis Suarez actually is. He’s got quality and ability – probably more than most. But looking good in the Dutch league and standing out in one of the most average Liverpool sides I’ve seen in my lifetime does not constitute a top-level player.
I watched him closely at the Confederations Cup and he had little impact. An enforced rest bit a huge chunk out of the end of his club season, so I expected a fresh and energized Suarez to take the tournament by storm. Instead it was Forlan who looked the better player, with Cavani finding the net in the latter stages.
Suarez and Rooney have similar
international records, but in comparing the two, the big difference is
that Rooney has stood the test of time at a massive club with the very
highest expectations. Suarez just has to be 'good' at Liverpool to win
over the fans who are desperate for a new hero after years of
underachievement.
At United, Rooney is obliged to make a massive contribution to a side winning trophies. And he did just that.
We don’t have many top-class players from England so you would think we would treasure the rare ones that come along to light up our game.
People seem to have forgotten just how good a footballer Wayne Rooney actually is. I suspect United won’t know how good he is and how big a contribution he makes until it is too late. If he goes…
For England Under 20s to finish bottom of their World Cup group without winning a game, shows something is seriously wrong with the system. Same goes for the Under 21s and even the national side. Premier League clubs’ academies are an absolute joke, they need to produce better players or they need to be accountable.
The analysis of the U20s failure has been lamentable, so-called experts choosing to focus on England finishing so far behind war-torn Iraq, rather than looking at the football reasons for failure.
Do they think having a war in England is the answer? I doubt it, but things we can’t affect shouldn’t distract us. Let’s focus on the reasons we’re so bad.
The U20s problems were the same ones
we’ve had for years. The players stayed in their positions too rigidly,
and that meant when we were in possession there were few realistic
options on the ball.
Players were closed down or too far apart for the kind of passing game we need if we are to move forward as a football nation. That’s down to Peter Taylor’s archaic coaching.
But an equally worrying problem was the fact that some of the England U20s couldn’t control the football.
On 10 minutes Larnell Cole snatched at a chance when Harry Kane was totally unmarked to his left.
On 25 minutes Kane failed to control a simple pass when he was in on goal, the ball ballooning miles off his toe.
On 27 minutes Cole made an opening on the right but Kane and Luke Williams were in the middle standing touch tight to defenders - no clever movement, no dynamism from either of them.
On 45 minutes Ross Barkley pinged the ball out of play under no pressure with a terrible pass and a promising move broke down.
On 53 minutes keeper Sam Johnstone boomed the ball high into the Turkish sky and unsurprisingly Kane didn’t win it so England gave up possession.
For the first Egypt goal captain Conor Coady turned his back and bought a dummy, he looked scared of the ball – it seems they don’t make them like they used to in Liverpool.
For the second it was a two-on-two and both England defenders (one of them, Eric Dier, came through Sporting Lisbon’s academy) went to the ball, and the unmarked Egyptian scored. Basic stuff.
Even some of England’s better players
in the final game against Egypt – Barkley, John Stones, James
Ward-Prowse (headsgone from Taylor taking the Southampton kid off) and
Cole – showed little signs of having the kind of ability on the ball
that will have an impact at the very top level, I mean the highest
level.
Harry Kane’s first touch was usually his last. He headed a golden chance straight at the keeper, and then missed the target from 3 yards out towards the end.
He’s been educated at Tottenham’s academy for several years so how embarrassing for such a big club that Spurs have a player from their system who cannot control a football.
I will point out that Spurs have a 21-year-old called Tom Carroll who looks really composed on the ball but even if he becomes a regular, he’s the exception that proves the rule - Tottenham’s record of establishing players from their youth academy in their first team is disgraceful. The last was Ledley King, who made his debut last century.
They’re not the only club.
In 2009 Arsene Wenger said Academy product Sanchez Watt, who had just scored on his Gunners debut, was 'close to the first team.' He didn’t just say he was 'promising', or 'had talent', or some loose generic comment of positivity so as not to demoralise a player who was never going to make it.
He said Watt, a Londoner, was close to the first team. Watt made a permanent move to Colchester this summer, so what went wrong? This is a player capable of dynamic runs, unpredictability, he could make things happen on the pitch, Wenger described him as a “street player”, the Spanish press claimed Barcelona had been watching him. Having represented England at various youth levels, the progress stopped. Why?
Southampton have an ambitious, long-term aim of 50 per cent of the first team being Academy products but apart from Saints which other clubs care passionate about producing quality young English players?
If some of you are reading this thinking that the clubs don’t have a duty to the England team, well yes they do. The Football Association contributes financially to player development and significantly subsidises the cost of courses for coaches at clubs.
The FA are well aware of their role in turning young English players into top class professionals – but it seems the clubs are not.
Each Premier League outfit should take a leaf out of Bayern Munich’s book – their target every year is to provide two players good enough for the Bayern first team from their youth system, two good enough for top flight football, and two more good enough to be professionals. If only English clubs cared as much about their academies.
Chris Waddle would play on the right and come in on his favoured left – defenders didn’t know if they were coming or going. John Barnes teased full backs with tanstalising wingplay; Laurie Cunningham’s quick feet usually bamboozled whoever was in front of him.
That’s why I’m excited to see Jesus
Navas in the Premier League next season. If he’s told to go out and
express himself he could have a major impact. He runs with the ball,
he’s fast, he can go either way – down the line or cut inside, and
there’s a good chance of an end product. What a shame fellow Spaniard
Isco chose not to join him, that’s a big blow for City.
Cardiff breaking the bank for Cornelius is hardly like Swansea signing Michu
Denmark sit fifth in their World Cup qualifying group after losing 4-0 at home to Armenia three weeks ago. It was, by his own admission, the lowest point in manager Morten Olsen’s career, and Danish icon Peter Schmeichel described the result and performance as the 'worst ever.'
Seems strange then that the man who led the line for Denmark that night has just become Cardiff City’s record signing, and at the same time has become the man trusted with firing the goals to keep Bluebirds (Redbirds?) in the Premier League next season.
The £8.5million capture of striker
Andreas Cornelius may turn out to be a good one, but it’s not exactly
outshone Swansea’s capture of Michu in the scouting stakes.
Good luck to him, I hope he doesn’t turn out to be Cardiff’s version of Mauro Boselli who left relegated Wigan this week three years and no Premier League goals after a £6m move from Estudiantes.
Last summer Saints celebrated entering the Premier League by losing the thick red and white striped kit that has been synonymous with the club for well over a hundred years.
They introduced an all-red top with a white pin stripe. The criticism wasn’t loud.
This season it’s an all red shirt with no stripes. It’s just not Southampton Football Club and while there is a fans’ campaign to ‘Save Our Stripes,’ it seems people like me who like to hold on to some sort of sentimental link to football’s history and traditions are in the minority these days.
In fact I wonder how good Luis Suarez actually is. He’s got quality and ability – probably more than most. But looking good in the Dutch league and standing out in one of the most average Liverpool sides I’ve seen in my lifetime does not constitute a top-level player.
I watched him closely at the Confederations Cup and he had little impact. An enforced rest bit a huge chunk out of the end of his club season, so I expected a fresh and energized Suarez to take the tournament by storm. Instead it was Forlan who looked the better player, with Cavani finding the net in the latter stages.
Little impact: Luis Suarez could not help Uruguay make the Confederations Cup final
Get up: Giorgio Chiellini gestures towards Suarez after he had his penalty appeal turned down in the Confederations Cup
Below par: Suarez has performed well in a weak Dutch league and an average Liverpool team
At United, Rooney is obliged to make a massive contribution to a side winning trophies. And he did just that.
We don’t have many top-class players from England so you would think we would treasure the rare ones that come along to light up our game.
People seem to have forgotten just how good a footballer Wayne Rooney actually is. I suspect United won’t know how good he is and how big a contribution he makes until it is too late. If he goes…
Top of the class: Wayne Rooney has performed consistently well for United over a number of seasons
On the move? Rooney, who enjoyed a weekend at
Glastonbury, has his heart set on leaving Manchester United after a talk
with David Moyes
Festival fever: Wayne and Coleen Rooney were Glastonbury this weekend
Who to sign? Carlo Ancelotti would be better signing Rooney than Suarez for Real Madrid
Premier League clubs are failing England's young Lions
Premier
League academies are failing football and the national team. All clubs
need to take a long hard look at their youth set-ups and question what
they’re doing. For England Under 20s to finish bottom of their World Cup group without winning a game, shows something is seriously wrong with the system. Same goes for the Under 21s and even the national side. Premier League clubs’ academies are an absolute joke, they need to produce better players or they need to be accountable.
The analysis of the U20s failure has been lamentable, so-called experts choosing to focus on England finishing so far behind war-torn Iraq, rather than looking at the football reasons for failure.
Do they think having a war in England is the answer? I doubt it, but things we can’t affect shouldn’t distract us. Let’s focus on the reasons we’re so bad.
Poor summer: Harry Kane and the England U20s finished bottom of their group
Missed opportunity: Larnell Cole did not star for England out in Turkey
Players were closed down or too far apart for the kind of passing game we need if we are to move forward as a football nation. That’s down to Peter Taylor’s archaic coaching.
But an equally worrying problem was the fact that some of the England U20s couldn’t control the football.
On 10 minutes Larnell Cole snatched at a chance when Harry Kane was totally unmarked to his left.
On 25 minutes Kane failed to control a simple pass when he was in on goal, the ball ballooning miles off his toe.
On 27 minutes Cole made an opening on the right but Kane and Luke Williams were in the middle standing touch tight to defenders - no clever movement, no dynamism from either of them.
On 45 minutes Ross Barkley pinged the ball out of play under no pressure with a terrible pass and a promising move broke down.
On 53 minutes keeper Sam Johnstone boomed the ball high into the Turkish sky and unsurprisingly Kane didn’t win it so England gave up possession.
For the first Egypt goal captain Conor Coady turned his back and bought a dummy, he looked scared of the ball – it seems they don’t make them like they used to in Liverpool.
For the second it was a two-on-two and both England defenders (one of them, Eric Dier, came through Sporting Lisbon’s academy) went to the ball, and the unmarked Egyptian scored. Basic stuff.
Looking good: James Ward-Prowse was one England player to do well
Watt happened? Arsenal's Sanchez Watt showed a lot of promise but never progressed at the Emirates
Harry Kane’s first touch was usually his last. He headed a golden chance straight at the keeper, and then missed the target from 3 yards out towards the end.
He’s been educated at Tottenham’s academy for several years so how embarrassing for such a big club that Spurs have a player from their system who cannot control a football.
I will point out that Spurs have a 21-year-old called Tom Carroll who looks really composed on the ball but even if he becomes a regular, he’s the exception that proves the rule - Tottenham’s record of establishing players from their youth academy in their first team is disgraceful. The last was Ledley King, who made his debut last century.
They’re not the only club.
In 2009 Arsene Wenger said Academy product Sanchez Watt, who had just scored on his Gunners debut, was 'close to the first team.' He didn’t just say he was 'promising', or 'had talent', or some loose generic comment of positivity so as not to demoralise a player who was never going to make it.
He said Watt, a Londoner, was close to the first team. Watt made a permanent move to Colchester this summer, so what went wrong? This is a player capable of dynamic runs, unpredictability, he could make things happen on the pitch, Wenger described him as a “street player”, the Spanish press claimed Barcelona had been watching him. Having represented England at various youth levels, the progress stopped. Why?
Southampton have an ambitious, long-term aim of 50 per cent of the first team being Academy products but apart from Saints which other clubs care passionate about producing quality young English players?
If some of you are reading this thinking that the clubs don’t have a duty to the England team, well yes they do. The Football Association contributes financially to player development and significantly subsidises the cost of courses for coaches at clubs.
The FA are well aware of their role in turning young English players into top class professionals – but it seems the clubs are not.
Each Premier League outfit should take a leaf out of Bayern Munich’s book – their target every year is to provide two players good enough for the Bayern first team from their youth system, two good enough for top flight football, and two more good enough to be professionals. If only English clubs cared as much about their academies.
Jesus could be the next Waddle or Robertson
The
penchant for narrow midfields and 4-4-2 becoming unfashionable as well
as ineffective, have seen the death of the orthodox winger. I loved
those players; Forest’s John Robertson used to hug the touchline before
pushing the ball past his full back, wrapping his left foot round the
ball and slinging over a cross any hungry striker would devour. Chris Waddle would play on the right and come in on his favoured left – defenders didn’t know if they were coming or going. John Barnes teased full backs with tanstalising wingplay; Laurie Cunningham’s quick feet usually bamboozled whoever was in front of him.
Exciting prospect: Manchester City's new signing Jesus Navas could play like wingers of old
Wing kings: John Robertson and Chris Waddle were two players who starred on the wing
Cardiff breaking the bank for Cornelius is hardly like Swansea signing Michu
Denmark sit fifth in their World Cup qualifying group after losing 4-0 at home to Armenia three weeks ago. It was, by his own admission, the lowest point in manager Morten Olsen’s career, and Danish icon Peter Schmeichel described the result and performance as the 'worst ever.'
Seems strange then that the man who led the line for Denmark that night has just become Cardiff City’s record signing, and at the same time has become the man trusted with firing the goals to keep Bluebirds (Redbirds?) in the Premier League next season.
New boy: Andreas Cornelius has joined Cardiff for a club record fee of £8.5m
Star signing: Swansea signed Michu for £2m last summer
Good luck to him, I hope he doesn’t turn out to be Cardiff’s version of Mauro Boselli who left relegated Wigan this week three years and no Premier League goals after a £6m move from Estudiantes.
Where are the white stripes?
Still
on the subject of Cardiff City, there was uproar when they switched
from blue to red shirts last year, and yet nobody seems to have said
much about Southampton’s change of kit. Last summer Saints celebrated entering the Premier League by losing the thick red and white striped kit that has been synonymous with the club for well over a hundred years.
Where are the stripes? Southampton have revealed their all red kit
This season it’s an all red shirt with no stripes. It’s just not Southampton Football Club and while there is a fans’ campaign to ‘Save Our Stripes,’ it seems people like me who like to hold on to some sort of sentimental link to football’s history and traditions are in the minority these days.
