Pride before pixels, commitment before cameras

Before I tread onto that sacred ground that is England football criticism I shall first admit that I am not a football fan, I don’t support a team and given the option of watching a premiership game and setting myself on fire for 90 minutes – well, I’d bring my own blow torch!

But what I do have is a brain, some common sense and some basic problem solving skills (which is more than can be said for most of the England squad). Therefore, please give me just a few moments to voice some of my concerns.
Many things have been said over the last few weeks on how to improve the beautiful game. Technology has been at the very forefront of this debate with plenty of excuses at to why we should help the Germans more. But personally I think there’s a deeper cultural problem with football that needs to be slide tackled first.

I can’t stand to watch football mainly due to the sever level of cheating involved. A friend of mine says it makes it more exciting but frankly it makes me sick. Badgering the referee, theatrical diving, faking injuries – how these have become so indoctrinated in the game is beyond belief. Everyone may be appalled how the camera clearly shows the ball crossing the German line but they also show the German goalkeeper staring straight at it. Where was his honesty or his integrity when he grabbed the ball out of the net and exclaimed he had saved the day? On many occasions I’ve seen professional cricket players go up to the umpire and admit they dropped the ball even though they could have claimed it was caught. Why do we never see this in football?

In terms of development, apparently children don’t play 11 a side football in Brazil until they are sixteen. They spend their childhood constrained to the five a side pitch perfecting their ball control, balance and speed. They learn to be fast and manoeuvrable relying on their team mates in close proximity creating a style as deadly as it is delicate. Meanwhile, on the drizzling clay pitches of Woking, Saturday Dads scream the infamous two words at their twelve year old protégées drowning out any samba dreams that inspired them in the first place. “HOOF IT!” Even England admitted to practising this missile like approach during the tournament. Successful? We’ll let the record speak.

Foreign players in the premiership is another difficult subject. For me, it highlights the way football is a business more than it is a sport. Many commentators now say that talent from abroad stifles talent at home. Why spend years building bright young things up in academies when you can get a brand stamped on your chest and buy them pre-packaged from the continent? It is a sad reality of a league that has forgotten its roots and it’s a trend that plagues England management still.

But above all of these issues there’s another statement that I’ve heard one too many times - Club before country. Time and time again we were told England lacked drive, passion and fire. How could they be so lacklustre when they are wearing their countries strip? Has the novelty worn off already? I was infuriated to read that they were bored in camp and needed home comforts to help buoy their patriotic drive. It really is shameful.

To represent your country on the world stage is what every athlete dreams of. It is the highest honour to be the sporting emancipation of your nation. Steve Redgrave, Chris Hoy, David Haye did not need flat screen televisions to spur them on to victory. They did it with a flag around their shoulder and a universe full of determination. In the end if we are ever going to be a winning football nation again, then we need to get our priorities straight. When the team finds that fight, that commitment, that unprecedented want to achieve, then we won’t need ball tracking technology to beat the Germans.