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Post by helsinkiyellow on Jun 7, 2014 14:24:21 GMT
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Post by thehorse on Jun 7, 2014 15:29:10 GMT
Is it fair to say we are miles behind?
Obviously Belgium are a decent side, but are they better than England, it will be interesting to see who progresses further during the tournament.
I know they have a number of decent young players, but so do we in Shaw, Barkley, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sterling etc......probably others I've not mentioned.
It obviously helps that our population is bigger than Belgiums so in theory, more top class players should be produced but i don't think we are doing that badly.
Engand have won one tournament in almost 100 years since they started, as much as id like to win more.....only having won once, which was also at home suggests this was a bit of a rogue result rather than something we should expect every time we qualify......
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Post by joey on Jun 7, 2014 15:57:09 GMT
I think Belgium have possibly been a bit overrated. They certainly have a solid squad with a few star names (Courtois, Kompany and Hazard) but a lot of their other players aren't what I'd call top quality. People rave about Lukaku but for me his all round game isn't all there yet, I've seen him have some poor games whee the ball just bounces of him (plenty of time to work on that of course,and his pace and power will always be a threat). They don't score a massive amount of goals and I don't think they'll make it past the last 16, and it wouldn't surprise me if Russia topped their group ahead of them. Possibly a better bet in the Euros in a 2016, a couple of years more experience, better conditions and, crucially, some tournament experience for this group of players.
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Post by doobs on Jun 7, 2014 16:44:07 GMT
Who'd have thought it, make coaching courses free and you get 10 times more coaches.
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Post by scotchegg on Jun 7, 2014 17:53:18 GMT
Who'd have thought it, make coaching courses free and you get 10 times more coaches. That's what is killing grass roots football in this country. It is expensive to become an FA approved coach and most volunteers just haven't got the time or money to do it. The Belgium plan is no better than ours, they just push it at every level which means that kids have consistency throughout their development in the game. The premier league is worth billions and just a tiny amount invested into grass roots would transform the game in a generation. A 0.5% tax on transfer fees would fund every coach and volunteer in the country up to level 2. But instead we are just making a handful of people very very rich while killing the game.
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Post by thehorse on Jun 7, 2014 18:38:10 GMT
Its not just the FA that is to blame here though, yes, the lack of qualified coaches isn't ideal and the cost is certainly prohibitive, but if the young players don't already have the natural ability and skill level they aren't going to be playing professionally....let alone for england anyway, surely the players who have this head start in terms of ability, are already receiving the coaching at the professional clubs 99% if them are attached to from a very young age already.
For me, the bigger problem is the sale of school and other local playing fields by the local councils etc which mean these kids don't have anywhere to go and play to develop these natural skills before they reach an age where they are going to be playing properly organised games where they will be picked up by the professional academies. This is obviously a greater issue in the bigger cities as open spaces are at a premium compared to the villages n and around oxfordshire.......but due to the populations of these cities there are likely to be more players produced should the opportunities be there for them to play.
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