Ukraine v England

[JOHNNYAITCH]

What I can't understand is why we don't follow the examples set by Germany,Spain And Belgium who restructured their game from the bottom upwards.Their set-up has proven to be successful,so why not copy them?

 

Twas on Sky the other day that one of the problems is that in those countries (Germany especially) their respective FA holds all the power. They decided what needed to be done to get more players coming thru and told the clubs that they had to do it. In England the FA does not have such authority, it cannot put in place a blueprint for youth development and tell the clubs to do it.

 

I suppose Spain was also different cos Barca has always looked to develop young players and i suspect that's partly cos of it Catalan identity..wanting to bring thru its own and Spain benefitted form that.

 

I'd lie to know more about what Belgium did as they have some great players and could be a real force in the WC

[JOHNNYAITCH]

Would love England to play in the COCACAF group for World Cup qualification.

 

Two qualifiers and one into a play off system from a group comprising of USA, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Jamaica and Panama, no wonder the USA are virtually guaranteed qualification every time. I think I'm right in saying that if Mexico finish 3rd in CONCACAF they will play Jordan for a place in Brazil and at the moment Mexico are woeful.

 

It is the World Cup but it should be renamed the FIFA Political Cup of World Football, recent qualifiers include, USA, Costa Rica, Iran, Australia and Japan. I'm all for smaller countries and countries where football is not the major sport qualifying but their qualification route should be more taxing than the CONCACAF group, they should earn qualification by football prowess not regional weakness.

 

Consider the above already qualified but the likes of England, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Serbia, Turkey, Romania, Norway, Hungary, Greece, France and others could all fail to make it leaving the thrilling prospect of Argentina vs Australia or Brazil vs Iran. I realize it is the World Cup but some of these teams from the weaker Regions should have to play the stronger European Nations to gain qualification. After all it is supposed to be the ultimate Football Tournament on the planet.

 

It's a good point but equally isn't part of the 'charm' of the world cup that you get a Costa Rica coming up against a Germany and giving them a good game? It's a celebration of football around the world

 

Otherwise might as well just pick the top nations in Europe and throw in Brazil and Argentina and have the same nations at every tournament.

 

And the FA cup should just feature PL teams as one of them is going to win it after all :)

[Tubbs]

I'm shocked that the football is the main talking point on this thread?

 

At least 4 times during the match I heard a bang, which I presume was from a firework/flare?

 

Surly this should be massively over-discussed and the relevant authorities informed?

[Paul6754]

It's a good point but equally isn't part of the 'charm' of the world cup that you get a Costa Rica coming up against a Germany and giving them a good game? It's a celebration of football around the world

 

Otherwise might as well just pick the top nations in Europe and throw in Brazil and Argentina and have the same nations at every tournament.

 

And the FA cup should just feature PL teams as one of them is going to win it after all :)

 

Yep it is part of the charm when they can compete and hence having the first or second team in CONCACAF play the highest non-qualifier in The South American group (or a non qualified African/European country) for a final place would help in that respect. Most of the groups turn out to be 3 good teams and a weak team and one group is termed "the group of death", IMO they should all be "groups of death" metaphorically speaking.

 

I was wrong about Concacaf, the top 3 teams (not 2) out of 6 automatically qualify and the 4th placed team will play New Zealand for a final place, so potentially 4 out of 6 teams have a very good chance to qualify.

 

It may be for logistical reasons that qualification is done this way but as I've said the tournament should be a Showcase of the best football teams and football players. Its still the World Cup as all the countries have the opportunity to enter.

[JOHNNYAITCH]

Equally the Champions League does not feature the best teams in Europe..are we saying that Kobenhavn (DEN) are better than Spurs (OK as it's Spurs they might be but you get my point) :)

 

I don't think the WC should be a showcase of the best football teams and football players; it's a celebration of football around the world and anyway the best 5 or 6 teams will be there as they will have qualified, the fact that teams 7 & 8 might not be does not mean that the best are not there

 

Plus lots of great players don't get to play in a WC cos they play for smaller/worse countries (Best, Weah) ; doing it the way it's done at least gives them a chance as they will try to qualify against teams that are equaly as "bad" in some cases.

 

I want the very best to be there and I want the world to be there so it's not just the best in Europe v Brazil and Argentina

[chrissy_g]

Let's bring a young-ish manager in who we expect to stay in the job for 10 years.

Someone who can have a vision for the national team, the way he would like them to play with the players to his disposal.

 

For me Glenn Hoddle was a massive loss. Visionary how we wanted the England team to play!

[JOHNNYAITCH]

Agree re Hoddle..he was tactically aware and knew how to use the players. I do wonder why he's never really done it at club level but there could be many reasons for that

[Tone]

Yep it is part of the charm when they can compete and hence having the first or second team in CONCACAF play the highest non-qualifier in The South American group (or a non qualified African/European country) for a final place would help in that respect. Most of the groups turn out to be 3 good teams and a weak team and one group is termed "the group of death", IMO they should all be "groups of death" metaphorically speaking.

 

I was wrong about Concacaf, the top 3 teams (not 2) out of 6 automatically qualify and the 4th placed team will play New Zealand for a final place, so potentially 4 out of 6 teams have a very good chance to qualify.

 

It may be for logistical reasons that qualification is done this way but as I've said the tournament should be a Showcase of the best football teams and football players. Its still the World Cup as all the countries have the opportunity to enter.

 

You are right in what you say in this and the other reply, but you underestimate (as so many people do) how far "soccer" in the USA has come since 1994 when the World Cup was hosted here.

 

Clint Dempsey recently moved back to the MLS with Seattle Sounders. They are regularly getting crowds of over 40,000. The MLS has higher average gates than the Championship and they have increased by more than 26% in the last 10 years.

 

Don't misunderstand me, I would rather watch the Vale, but the USA is making great strides. The standard is not what Vale experienced during that historic pre-season trip in 2012. :)

[For Us All]

Twas on Sky the other day that one of the problems is that in those countries (Germany especially) their respective FA holds all the power. They decided what needed to be done to get more players coming thru and told the clubs that they had to do it. In England the FA does not have such authority, it cannot put in place a blueprint for youth development and tell the clubs to do it.

 

I suppose Spain was also different cos Barca has always looked to develop young players and i suspect that's partly cos of it Catalan identity..wanting to bring thru its own and Spain benefitted form that.

 

I'd lie to know more about what Belgium did as they have some great players and could be a real force in the WC

 

Although Anderlecht and Standard Liège have invested heavily in their academies,the latter largely thanks to the £15m they received from Everton for Fellaini four years ago,the reality is that many of today's stars,including Hazard, Mirallas, Vermaelen and Dembélé,have emerged via youth programmes in other countries.

[For Us All]

England down to 17th in the FIFA Rankings?

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24069574

[Tone]

USA up to 13th....

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/sports/soccer/us-jumps-to-no-13-in-fifa-rankings.html?_r=0

 

Mind you, this is the same FIFA reprobates who thought it was a smart idea to hold the World Cup in Qatar. :)

[Paul6754]

You are right in what you say in this and the other reply, but you underestimate (as so many people do) how far "soccer" in the USA has come since 1994 when the World Cup was hosted here.

 

Clint Dempsey recently moved back to the MLS with Seattle Sounders. They are regularly getting crowds of over 40,000. The MLS has higher average gates than the Championship and they have increased by more than 26% in the last 10 years.

 

Don't misunderstand me, I would rather watch the Vale, but the USA is making great strides. The standard is not what Vale experienced during that historic pre-season trip in 2012. :)

 

Yep the USA has come along way football wise since 1994 and I don't underestimate it. I see it in the town I live in (I live in Massachusetts) and having spent the last 11 years travelling all over New England and beyond watching my son play football, I'd say the grass roots are certainly very healthy. I've watched the New England Revolution a few times (Ave attendance ca 15,000) and they are about Championship level but they desperately need a stadium of their own and play on grass not synthetic turf no matter how many g's it has.

 

There are good outfield players coming out of the USA, Dempsey, Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley, Jose Altidor etc to name a few and the number is going to increase over the coming years but I do feel the National Team has a relatively "easy ride" to the WC finals compared to many European/South American nations.

[JOHNNYAITCH]

Hazard, Mirallas, Vermaelen and Dembélé,have emerged via youth programmes in other countries.

 

I didn't know that..how does that work?

[For Us All]

I didn't know that..how does that work?

 

Hazard and Mirallas left Belgium at an early age and went to play in France with Lille and came through their academy,Vermaelen and Dembele did the same but through the Dutch system.

We have the same approach over here where we take young players from various countries and clubs such as Man.Utd have a long-term partnership with Royal Antwerp in the Belgian League.

[JOHNNYAITCH]

Gotcha...so nothing like the German system for example?

 

I was aware that Arsenal have a history of taking kids from overseas..maybe we need to encourage more English kids to join overseas clubs