da betobet： This week the news has been dominated by the departure of England manager, Sam Allardyce.
da 888： ‘Big Sam’ had his contract mutually terminated on Tuesday after being filmed by the Daily Telegraph advising a £400,000 deal to circumvent third-party ownership rules. He was also filmed making derogatory remarks about predecessor, Roy Hodgson, and his assistant, Gary Neville, as well as the FA themselves over the expense of Wembley Stadium.
Such remarks, while possibly not illegal in themselves, fell below the expectations of good conduct set by the FA, who felt they had no choice but to send the former Sunderland manager packing.
While undoubtedly embarrassing for the FA, Allardyce’s dismissal could prove to be a turning point for the national team for the right reasons.
After the appointments of Hodgson and Allardyce, it seems the FA are determined to hire an English manager. That would be all well and good, but it is well-documented that there is a dearth of top English coaches currently, which could be the reason ‘Big Sam’ got the job in the first place.
Allardyce, who has also managed Bolton, Newcastle and Blackburn was almost seen as a runaway candidate in July after saving Sunderland from relegation. His arrival also seemed to bring with it two things England desperately needed; a strong defensive coach and motivation.
One of the big problems England face, however, isn’t just a case of tactics or motivation, but a case of identity. When you think of the most successful international sides of recent years, you think of the tiki-taka of Spain or the high-pressing of the Germans. You may even think of the solid defensive style of the Italians.
But with England, there is no such style. In Hodgson’s four-year tenure as manager, the general consensus is that England went from a counter-attacking side to one that sought to control possession. Looking back over the three tournaments, it’s difficult to remember them being either, with ‘ordinary’ the only adjective coming to mind.
While not everyone is a fan of Allardyce’s brand of football, it promised to make England difficult to beat and hopefully able win some games with counter-attacks. While Allardyce’s opening (and ultimately only) game against Slovakia was unspectacular and reliant upon an Adam Lallana’s injury-time winner, it at least delivered a result.
For all the FA’s rhetoric about wanting to match the best international teams and play attractive football, the tactics and performance of England didn’t quite add up. After all, it is doubtful the FA forked out £105m on the St George’s Park complex so we could grind out 1-0 wins against Slovakia.
So how can the FA go about achieving this dream? A good place to start would be to look at how the best do it.
Without going too in-depth, Spain and Germany have stayed at the top of the game over the last decade or so by their ability to not only churn out quality players but quality players who all play the same way. Spain, in particular, have been known for producing wonderful technical players, with Guardiola famously proclaiming in 2011 that there were many players like Wilshere at a time when the Arsenal man was seen as a poster boy for England’s ‘new generation.’
While managers Luis Aragones and Vicente Del Bosque no doubt did well to bring home two European Championships and a World Cup between them, they owe a lot to Barcelona. Since their domestic and European success, Barca’s La Masia academy has become world-renowned for producing players ready for the first-team.
Instead of doing this, England managers tend to look at ‘the next ‘big-thing’ and bringing them into the set-up, hoping it would all work out. First, it was Wilshere, then Raheem Sterling at the World Cup in 2014. During the summer just gone it was Dele Alli and Harry Kane, and Marcus Rashford is already looking like being the next man to carry a nation on his shoulders.
This is another problem with England; trying to shoehorn players in and complaining when they can’t do the job. Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez were given the chance on the back of superb Southampton performances then cast away because they were unable to turn in top showings alongside players they’ve never played with.
The difference with Spanish and German players is that a lot of them have played with each other at different youth levels, and often with the same coach. The results speak for themselves, and arguably Allardyce’s best decisions – in an England career blighted by poor decision-making – was to leave Rashford with the Under-21s.
For all of the complaining about Gareth Southgate becoming interim, it is difficult to argue with what he has done with the Under-21s. The likes of Nathan Redmond and James Ward-Prowse have been the picks of a solid side that know how each other play, and winning the 2016 Toulon Tournament is an achievement that shouldn’t go unrecognised. Last time around Southgate distanced himself from the job however and it seems unlikely he’d take it with the national set-up in such dire straits.
So what should England do now?
If the FA are so desperate to hire an English manager, there seems to be only one man who can provide all of the above, and that’s Eddie Howe.
Still young for a manager at 38, Howe has been tremendously successful at Bournemouth, steering them to three promotions and comfortably keeping them in the Premier League last year while playing attractive football. He has a philosophy – an identity, if you will – and he has no problem motivating his charges.
The only caveat with Howe is his experience. As has been said, Howe is very young and has only one full season of top-flight football under his belt. Throwing him in the deep end could not only backfire for England but also ruin the career of one of the country’s most promising coaches.
What would be ideal is someone experienced in working with big names and managing expectations for the next couple of years while Howe works as their number two. Maybe the FA could even look at persuading Arsene Wenger should he decide to call it quits at Arsenal?
In this time, Howe could work as the assistant; getting his philosophy across while acquainting himself with the set-up without the spotlight on him. By the time the 2018 World Cup finishes, the manager would step down and Howe would take charge of a side that would probably be more his than if he took over now.
Howe would still need an assistant, but who better than Southgate? A man with experience who will know the youngsters coming through the ranks. Having players like Rashford under Eddie Howe and Gareth Southgate is a lot more appetising than Allardyce and Sammy Lee.
If it didn’t work out, England could start again, but this time hiring from a larger pool not only from the Premier League, but from the Under-21s and Under-19s. A constant cycle.
The main sticking point for the FA would be hiring a foreigner, but the current Barcelona system stemmed from them trusting a Dutch footballer by the name of Johan Cryuff.
And look how it turned out for them.