Lineker went to Spain to see how they had turned around their own misfortunes.  It’s difficult to see how, now they are currently European & World Champions but before this latest wave of success, Spain had an even worse record than England for underachieving in the big competitions.

Comparisons were drawn to the way La Liga attracted some of the best players in the world in the 1980’s while ignoring the importance of nurturing home-grown Spanish talent.  Gary Lineker himself was a success at Barcelona, as was English manager Terry Venables; and though Spain have only conquered Europe and the rest of the world in the past four years, it was a revolution that allegedly started when Dutch maestro and former player, Johan Cruyff, returned to manage Barcelona in 1988.

Cruyff stated that the national side would be perennial underachievers if the top teams in La Liga continued looking to foreign players for short-term success. Cruyff’s model was to produce better quality indigenous players by a matter of inclusion and focus on a longer term strategy that started at grassroots and ended with national success.  This coupled with the fact that when boys are coached to play football at an early age, they should be learning the skill of playing with the ball, not simply competing to win.  A criticism levelled at English football.

Jurgen Klinsmann kick-started a German revolution after replacing Rudi Voller as manager of Germany in 2004.  Klinsmann initially attracted criticism from some quarters with some poor results leading up to the 2006 World Cup.  He had axed many aging stars and attempted to change the way Germany play.  He wanted Germany to be less rigid, offensive and less constrictive in their play.  For change to take place Klinsmann, like Cruyff at Barcelona, needed to think long term and have the backing of the German FA to see it through.

England wasn’t the only nation to have a poor World Cup in South Africa.  Italy and France had shockers too.  But England’s last and only glory was 44 years ago now; and the England crisis is far deeper than other nations.

While English Premier League teams continue to enjoy European Champions League success the England national team have become worse.  So, as Jose Mourinho said, look at the clubs that have done well in Europe over the past few years (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool & Manchester United) and count their English players.  That is definitely a factor in England’s demise.  But England was failing to qualify for the World Cup and European Championship finals long before the Premier League and English football was filled with top foreign players.

Another cause for England’s poor standing in European and world football is a more entrenched problem.  Boys are told to compete and win over learning to be skilful. I left secondary education in 1981 and I remember way back then we were being told the reason every Dutch football player looks so comfortable and skilful on the ball, is because he is; and England players hoof the ball around and get the ball into the opponents’ penalty area as quickly as possible because that’s what they are taught to do from an early age.

Italy and France relied on past glory and older players, and England juggled unrealistic hope and expectation once again.  All were found out in South Africa, while Spain and Germany, along with Holland, were the best and most exciting teams in the World Cup finals.

Tonight England host Montenegro in a Euro 2012 qualifying game at Wembley.  Look at their squad and ask yourself, how many of those players would get into the Spanish or German starting eleven?

Will England win the next World Cup?

The short answer to ‘will England win the next World Cup?’ is definitely not. Furthermore, they won’t win it again until these deep-rooted problems are addressed; and that can only be achieved with a long term plan and strategy in place. By appointing Sven Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello, the English FA has put its head in the sand and attempted to buy the World Cup in the same way as the Premier League buy the best players in the world. So, the only thing England fans can do right now is be grateful they’re not Scotland!

Imagine a competition of top quality football being played by footballers that you are unlikely to have heard of before the tournament, who would probably die for their respective countries for the chance to wear the national shirt.

Imagine a tournament that would erase the disappointing parts of the recent World Cup and instill a new faith in the game, and you have the UEFA Under 19 European Championships.

This tournament has not exactly hogged the headlines despite the quality that has been shown in France where the competition is being held. I was fortunate to find the final game of the group stages being played last week, a cracking game between France and England.

The French team are top quality, passing the ball around like the full international team used to back in the nineties, and they led the game 1-0. While England never quite had the quality of the French team they bombarded the French goal late in the game and in the final minute grabbed an equaliser that sent them, with France into the semi finals.

If France look good, the Spanish team is a junior version of the World Cup winning international team and that’s who England needed to beat to progress to the final.

A gutsy performance from England’s young lions was not enough to upset the smooth passing game played by Spain, who were technically superior and sadly outclassed England.  Spain won the game 3-1 and you can see the goals here, the third Spanish goal is a cheeky but clever free kick that caught everyone by surprise.

In the other semi, France eventually saw off a spirited Croatia who had taken the lead in the third minute and threatened to upset the party for the home side. France had most of the possession after the goal, but Croatia were particularly dangerous on the counter.

France eventually equalised and took the lead in the game, lifting Croatia into the frenzied final part of the game. France held on for a 2-1 win and set up a mouth watering final against Spain which will be played on Friday at 7pm, and broadcast live on Eurosport.

On this evidence the future looks brighter than ever for the Spanish full international team and France have the qualities to re-build their under performing full international side from the youngsters on show. For England, they too showed that they have some key players maturing toward the next World Cup, but when it comes to class, they were outshone this time around.

The likes of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Fernando Torres and Lionel Messi failed to deliver on the biggest stage of all, though it’s worth noting the close attention Messi received that stopped him and that Torres was not match fit.  France, Italy and England above all other nations had a shocking World Cup and should all learn from Germany who gambled with a more youthful team.

The final was not a goal fest but I personally really enjoyed it.  Yes 4-3 would have been more exciting but apart from Holland’s bully-boy tactics, the match was brimming with attacking world class talent. Snyder, Robben and Van Persie for the Netherlands and Iniesta, Xavi and Villa for Spain.  The match was like a game of chess, each team attempting to outwit the opponent and building up play rather than toe-punting the ball around like headless English chickens.

As with each major football tournament where some players fail to deliver, a star or two are born.  Mezut Ouzil who apparently was courted by Manchester United before he signed to German club Werder Bremen in 2008 was as good as anyone in the 2010 World Cup and was unheard of outside Germany before the tournament began.  They will be lucky to hold on to him and resist the big money offers.  By contrast, David Villa had been touted as a world class striker for the past few seasons but he chose the World Cup stage to deliver.  No doubt Barcelona was very pleased to complete the signing before he scored five goals to share the Golden Boot.

I was surprised to see both Argentina and Brazil lose to Germany and Holland respectively at the quarter-final stage and am sure both countries will do better and be led by new managers at the next World Cup which is to be held in Brazil.

So by way of a 2010 South Africa World Cup roundup, here are a few awards:

My favourite goal of the World Cup was Giovanni Van Bronckhorst long range thunderbolt for Holland against Uruguay.

Best players of the tournament: David Villa, Diego Forlan, Wes Snyder, Mezut Ouzil & Andres Iniesta

Most surprising team performance: Ghana & Germany

Most underused commentary: “that was a great touch by Wayne Rooney”

Best team: Spain

And finally, here’s my 2010 World Cup XI

Goalkeeper: Castillas (Spain)

Defenders: Lahm (Germany), Lucio (Brazil), Puyol (Spain), Van Bronckhorst (Holland)

Midfield: Van Bommel (Holland), Ouzil (Germany), Iniesta (Spain), Snyder (Holland)

Forwards: Villa (Spain), Suarez (Uruguay), Robben (Holland)

World Cup 2010

According the the Castrol Performance data, Spain should take their chances at goal from distance in the World Cup 2010 final in South Africa, as the stats show that Holland goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg has been guilty of conceding most goals (3) in the finals from shots taken from outside the box.

Stekelenburg has conceded five goals in total in his six World Cup appearances, compared to just two conceded in the same number of games by Spain’s Iker Casillas.

Casillas appears to be a more reliable goalkeeper than Maarten Stekelenburg, having saved a higher proportion of shots than his Dutch counterpart.

The Real Madrid player has so far kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper at the 2010 FIFA World Cup (four) and proven decisive on many occasions including a penalty saved in the quarter final against Paraguay, despite UK TV commentators constantly telling viewers how shaky he looks!

In defence Carles Puyol’s headed goal against Germany has powered Spain to their first ever World Cup final, the Catalan centre half has won a greater proportion of aerial duels than Johnny Heitinga and his passing accuracy has also been superior. However the Everton defender has displayed great fighting spirit, making more defensive actions than Puyol.

Many of us expect the game will be decided in midfield where many key battles will take place on Sunday. Castrol Performance data suggests that midfield general Mark van Bommel has made more tackles (31) than Xabi Alonso (18) but the Real Madrid schemer has shown more attacking intentions with 14 shots, compared to just two for the 2010 Bundesliga champion.

Despite playing in midfield, Wesley Sneijder is the joint top scorer at the FIFA World CupTM with five goals, the Inter Milan playmaker has attempted 22 shots, compared to just five for Xavi.

However the Barcelona player has created far more goalscoring chances for his team mates, setting up 25 shots, a tournament record so far. Xavi has also delivered more passes than any other player at the 2010 World Cup (509).

The new Barcelona signing David Villa has become the all time Spanish top scorer in World Cup history with eight goals, five of these coming this summer.

Having recovered in time from an injury, Arjen Robben has managed to score three goals and assist another in just four appearances at this summer’s finals. The Bayern Munich winger has been more clinical in front of goal than his Spanish counterpart and has completed a higher proportion of his dribbles.

According to Castrol Performance data, central to the Netherlands’ path to the 2010 World Cup final has been their accuracy in front of goal, with the Dutch posting a competition-high 58.2% accuracy rate while only Germany can better their conversion rate of 17.9% (both including only quarter-finalists).

But the Dutch midfielders will need to stamp their authority early in the game if they don’t want Spain’s midfield to dictate the game, as they did in their semi-final win over Germany.

The Spanish midfielders completed 131 more passes than their German counterparts in Durban on Wednesday. On average, Spain’s midfield were distributing the ball to one of their teammates every 16 seconds compared to one pass every 27 seconds for Germany.

Unsurprisingly, Spain also dominate the possession ranking at the World Cup with a 67% average, a full 11 percentage points better than the Netherlands (56%).

Xavi, who teed up Carles Puyol’s goal, was the second player to complete more than 100 passes in a game at the 2010 FIFA World Cup after Argentina’s Juan Sebastian Veron. Interestingly, the Catalan schemer comfortably leads the tournament for successful passes, with over 200 completed deliveries more than the most prolific Dutch player, Mark van Bommel.

A shock 1-0 defeat to Switzerland sees Spain being the only seeded team to lose their opening match, though Italy and England gave less than convincing performances in their 1-1 draws with Paraguay and the USA respectively.

Brazil spluttered past North Korea while Argentina made hard work of beating Nigeria 1-0; and the most boring game of the six days so far was most definitely Ivory Coast 0 Portugal 0.

Nobody fancied Germany before they kicked off.  But after a 4-0 thrashing of Australia they are the only team that have decided to go for it from the outset.  Never one to dismiss Germany, I was pleasantly surprised in how they played ‘the beautiful game’ instead of offering a methodical utilitarian approach to winning a match.

So with South Africa beginning the second round of matches tonight, against Uruguay, they have the chance to top Group 1 and possibly seal their place in the knock-out stages.

In a pre-World Cup Finals article I suggested the following nations would qualify from each group:

Group A: Mexico to win, South Africa – runners-up
Group B: Argentina to win, Nigeria – runners-up
Group C: England to win, USA – runners-up
Group D: Germany to win, Serbia – runners-up
Group E: Holland to win, Denmark – runners-up
Group F: Italy to win, Paraguay – runners-up
Group G: Brazil to win, Ivory Coast – runners- up
Group H: Spain to win, Chile – runners-up

I am sticking by my original predictions though Spain are going to have to have a plan b if they are going to progress.

world cup qualifying

Last night I had the dubious pleasure of watching two of the teams who are among the favourites to win the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, both had already qualified and both through injuries or manager choice started their respective games without some of their best players. Both were facing lesser opposition and were expected to win, but there the similarities stop.

The earlier of the two games featured Spain away to Bosnia-Herzegovina in Zenica. Spain started the game without either of their favoured strikers David Villa and Fernando Torres although the latter did warm the bench – where he stayed throughout the game.

Other notable absentees included Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez and Cesc Fabregas, while Marco Senna came off the bench for the final 25 minutes by which time the game was over.

Bosnia had the best chances in the opening ten minutes, Spain could thank Casillas for two world class saves and a glaring miss from Bosnia’s Vedad Ibisevic which kept the score at 0-0.

Within three minutes of that miss Spain were two up and in cruise control with goals from Gerard Pique and the man of the match for me David Silva. While Bosnia continued to mount pressure the Spanish controlled the game with their usual fluid passing and movement, a real joy to watch.

After 90 minutes the score was 5-0 to Spain but a barmy few minutes of injury time saw the brave Bosnian team deservedly pull two goals back to lose the game 5-2.

Sevilla striker Alvero Negredo making his first start for Spain had an awesome game, scoring twice in the second half as well as setting up two of the other goals, he really epitomises the depth quality in this current Spanish team and this on his debut!

And frankly that is exactly the problem with England, there really is no depth of quality at all in the squad.

I already knew what to expect for the England v Belarus game and so it came as no surprise that despite the scoreline England were dreadful. Missing Rooney and Gerrard and with Joe Cole not match fit England have no creativity, despite the inclusion of pacey little wingers Wright-Phillips and Lennon.

Capello may just as well have started with Beckham feeding Crouch from the half way line- it always ends up that way – which at least would have saved a lot of headless chicken activity from the two wingers.

There was not a great deal of viewing pleasure to be had from the later game, other than the fact that England won the game with a convincing scoreline. What did Capello learn? I imagine he learned that two head down and run wingers are no better than one and while they are both top players at club level on their day, they are simply not good enough at this level, despite SWP scoring a goal.

He would also have learnt as England coaches before him, that while Crouch is not the most elegant of players he will score goals and make things more difficult for defenders than Emile Heskey manages to.

He will also have seen like all of us that Glen Johnson needs urgent coaching in his defensive play and that Wayne Bridge is suddenly nowhere near the class of Ashley Cole.

One thing that I learnt from the game was that wouldn’t it be great to have eleven James Milners in the side, an honest hard working and quality player who came on as sub for Bridge and covered not only the left back position but every where in between, a shame his beautifully created chance near the end of the game hit the post and didn’t reward him with a goal.

daniel jarque

Spanish football is mourning the loss of Espanyol captain Daniel Jarque who died in his hotel room in Italy where the team were on a pre-season tour on the 8th August.

Jarque had earlier taken part in the teams afternoon training session and was left by his room mate at the hotel, talking to his girlfriend on the phone. When he didn’t show up to eat, the room mate made the discovery that Jarque had died. It was later confirmed the player had died from a cardiac arrest.

The 26 year old midfielder had been with Espanyol from the age of twelve and has been a well respected player throughout the Spanish League. His death has stunned footballers and fans alike and the tributes have flooded into Espanyol

Espanyol’s closest rivals geographically, Barcelona offered condolences via the clubs website, while Raul of Real Madrid told a press conference: “That such a young man, a great professional and sportsman, has suffered this has left us very upset.”

It is two years since millions of tv viewers witnessed Seville’s Antonio Puerta collapse on the pitch during a game against Getafe, the player later died in hospital from multiple organ failure.

The gulf between the only two European teams to have won all four of their World Cup qualifying games was clear to see.  Spain were comfortable on the ball and showed such tight control, with near perfect first touch. Where as England looked to rush a pass, quicken the pace; and with a poor first touch, the England players were so tired chasing the game, and anytime they managed to win the ball, they were too tired to do anything with it.

Spain looked as good as they did last summer in the Euro 2008 and are quite possibly the best football national team in the world today. Tonight in Seville was the third time Spain have beaten England in the past two years, and they deserved it with two fantastic goals.

David Beckham came on to play the whole of the second half along with Frank Lampard, Robert Green, Matthew Upson and Peter Crouch. They were joined midway thorugh the second half by West Ham’s Carlton Cole.  They replaced Stewart Downing, Gareth Barry, David James, Phil Jagielka, Emille Heskey and Gabriel Agbonlahor, respectively.

The England team players  who played the full match were Glenn Johnson, Ashley Cole, John Terry, Michael Carrick and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Of all the England players, David Beckham’s performance was head and shoulders above all others.  I cannot believe anyone can doubt that David Beckham is still one of the best 22 England players in the world, and continues to outplay wide players such as Stewart Downing and Shaun Wright-Phillips, who tonight were preferred to David Bentley, Aaron Lennon and Ashley Young.

I’d like to hear from ANYONE who STILL argues as to whether David Beckham is good enough to be included in the England team.  And yes, over the past 12 years, David Beckham has proved he is as important a player for England as the late, great Bobby Moore.

There always has been and always will be two completely opposed camps when it comes to the topic of England’s ‘Golden Boy’. Either he is the saviour of the modern national team, remembered for his 110% commitment to the cause who embodies the term ‘professional’. Otherwise he is the most overrated, hyped celebrity dead ball puppeteer who had one good game against Greece in 2001 (“..and even then he missed 9 other free-kicks in the same match”)

Personally, I do not subscribe to either of these camps and such extreme views of one player are surely dangerous.

David Beckham has shown both of these sides at various points in his career but what stands out from his strengths and weaknesses is his inconsistency. Although mentally very strong when he is not on song, no amount of inspiration or extra training will lift him and we must come to accept that.

It is the blind judgement demonstrated by Sven Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren that has damaged his career.

There have been times when he should have been left out, to rest, regain form and consider his future. But would Sven drop “Golden Balls“? Never.

Yet over the past two seasons managers’ philosophies have been to overlook him purely on past form, despite his current resurgence. If this were the case Geoff Hurst would never have had a chance of playing in the World Cup Final.

I am just as sick as the majority of the nation of hearing about the Greece game as vindication of David “Golden Balls” Beckham’s merit. That was almost 8 years ago and much has changed.

Beckham’s rebirth at LA Galaxy and the work he has clearly put in to earn a move to AC Milan, never mind star in their run of form, makes his inclusion imperative. Anyone who has seen his two goals in recent weeks cannot help but praise the refreshing return of invention and creativity to his repertoire.

I could very well write a similar blog on the topic of Emile Heskey, another player stuck in the ‘marmite’ mould.

Yet tonight against Spain I hope for England’s sake that Fabio Capello rewards the late renaissance of these two big characters with a cap and that they can continue to replicate the form we have loved them for.

Just to make it interesting, Capello will be without the services of three of his most naturally gifted players, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney are all ruled out through injury. It does give the coach the chance to promote some of the talented youngsters from the fringe of the squad and those players will be looking to stake a claim for a place in the World Cup squad.

Former England football captain David Beckham looks almost certain to equal Bobby Moore’s haul of 108 caps in tonight’s game, although he may have only a bit part to play in this game. Once again Beckham has gone away and worked on his fitness in a bid to remain a contender for the England team. His loan move to AC Milan has seen the player once again enjoying football at the highest level and his inclusion is totally justified.

Equally justified is the call up to the senior squad of Aston Villa’s James Millner and West Ham’s Carlton Cole, both who have played a huge part in the England Under21 squad in recent years, both have been selected on current form, which is reassuring.

It will be Capello’s biggest test so far, Spain are currently Euro champions and are playing excellent football with total confidence. They have an almost unfair abundance of top midfield players at present, while Cesc Fabregas is injured he has yet to become an automatic choice for Spain and the fact that Everton’s Mikel Arteta doesn’t even make the squad speaks volumes of the depth of skill that they have available.

I expect the England football coach will select the very much in form Michael Carrick, to adopt the role of holding midfielder, a position that he has filled brilliantly for United all season, leaving Lampard and Barry to link up with the pacey wingers Ashley Young and Shaun Wright Phillips.

Carlton Cole looks sure to get a chance to prove himself at long last, he has been the nearly man for so long, it is great that his form with West Ham has been rewarded.

A loss will not be the end of the world against Spain, but a win would certainly send confidence soaring.