Guest Blog (@NultyDave
Before the last round of internationals, Jack Wilshire was praised
and vilified in equal measure for comments he made regarding who should be
eligible to play for England, the Arsenal midfielder taking to Twitter to
explain his comments. However, he also gave a view on what an English identity
was and his view of how England plays, “We have to remember what
we are. We are English. We tackle hard, are tough on the pitch and are hard to
beat. We have great characters. You think of Spain and you think technical but
you think of England and you think they are brave and they tackle hard. We have
to remember that.”
Xabi Alonso famously
commented that he didn’t view tackling as a skill but as a last resort and saw
it worrying that many people found tackling to be a skill to be proud of. In
many match day programmes, youth and reserve team players get interviewed and
list tackling as one of their strengths.
In today’s internationals
and Champions League matches the emphasis on technical ability overshadows all
others. It’s no surprise that the teams that win the Champions League are
gifted with the best technical players. Last year’s final between the German
heavy weights of Bayern Munich and Borrussia Dortmund served up a final of
fascinating technique with plenty of players operating at the peak of their
powers.
Even when Chelsea were
victors, with a style many saw as defensive, there was no denying the number of
technical players within that Chelsea team.
But with today’s emphasis
on technique and technical players, the emergence of the Number 10 as the key
player in many teams’ formations has become more prominent. Does England need to unearth such a player in
order to become competitive at International level?
Look around the top teams
in the Premier League, the vast majority of teams are utilising a 4-2-3-1
formation. The player behind the
striker, the number 10, the free role, in between the lines, the playmaker –
whatever you want to call it, needs to be a certain type of player. A player
who dictates the tempo and links the midfield with the attack. Coutinho,
Kagawa, Ozil, Oscar, Mata, Eriksen the list goes on and these are the ones that
play in the Premier League. Does England possess such a player? Maybe it is
against the English mentality to play this way.
When Wilshire described
tackling hard, fighting and battling on a pitch it could be seen in a negative
light. Here is, perhaps, the nearest thing England has to the type of player
that seems in abundance for other nations talking not of ball retention,
possession and technique but of running harder, faster and tackling everything
as hard as possible.
Greg Dyke, the FA
Chairman, recently revealed his plans for moving England on; he does not
believe the World Cup can be won next year. He wants an overhaul of coaching
methods so maybe England can produce a player that can unlock the tightest
defence, receive the ball under pressure, thread passes through and have the
touch and vision to dictate the attacking tempo of the whole team.
The nearest England have
produced in recent years is Wayne Rooney but his style is nothing like the
players mentioned earlier. He is a typical “English” forward, all action, hard running,
dynamic and aggressive. There is no denying he is world class on his day but he
perhaps lacks the class and finesse of what other teams want a number 10 to be.
In South America, the
number 10 (Maradona anyone?) is revered like no other position. In Argentina
the position is known as enganche, the hook who links the team together.
Many
players have been brought to the Premier League, who have played this position
on the continent, only to be banished out to the wing. The systems used by
managers in the hustle and bustle of the English league fail to incorporate a formation
that suitably finds a role for a traditional playmaker. Modric at Spurs was
pushed out wide before becoming a more orthodox central midfielder, Coutinho
has played wide left, Kagawa at Manchester United is another example.
So if
English teams fail to utilise these players in this position, how will an English
version ever evolve?
When the country wants
England to compete at the very highest level, it is time to develop players who
can play this role or even just introduce a style at club level that uses a
player in this way. If just one, one world class player, emerges who could play
the playmaker role and be integrated into a team that works hard, is brave and
all the other typical English traits then just maybe Greg Dyke’s target of
victory in 2020 doesn’t seem so ridiculous after all.
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