England failure good? (Not a thread for hating England, do that elsewhere)

[kyan]

England failure 'would be good'

Former England defender Paul Parker believes failure to qualify for Euro 2008 could be the wake-up call the English game needs.

If Russia beat Israel on Saturday, England will be all but eliminated from the qualification race for the finals.

"I hope England do not qualify because we really need to have a look at our game," Parker told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"Youngsters are not coming through. We are told they are not good enough but they are not getting opportunities."

Parker was part of the last England side that failed to qualify for a major tournament, the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

And he says the authorities must address the issue of foreign players and English players coming through the ranks.

"We keep using the excuse that there are no players coming through which I think is feeble," he added.

"Despite that, we want to jump on plans and drag players in from abroad and yet they are good enough.

"Football has become a must-win business. Managers can't take gambles because they are being put under pressure for their jobs due to the amount of money in the game.

"There is something wrong with England as a whole that we are not producing players. We are not bothered about looking for talent here.

"If England do not qualify, I would like to think there would be a review of the game.

"Hopefully, we would start right at the very bottom and try to improve our game by using English players at the top clubs rather than seeing them being sent out on loan.

"We can't look at it and just hope. If Israel get some kind of result and England get through, do we just sweep it under the carpet? I think that will be completely wrong because we need to get it sorted out."

Meanwhile, Russia striker Alexander Kerzhakov says England are struggling to qualify for Euro 2008 because money has diminished the work ethic of the players.

"England have a team of big stars who earn an awful lot of money from playing with their private deals," he said.

"Russia have a compact group of players who don't have anywhere near as much money, but with far more hard workers on the field. That's the difference between the countries.

"That's why we are in a strong position and England have been left just hoping."

England need Israel to pick up at least a point against Russia, or for Macedonia to beat Croatia, if they are to realistically stay in with a chance of qualifying.

And Kerzhakov says he has little sympathy for England's plight.

"I understand that the Euro 2008 finals without players like Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney would be strange," he said.

"But England have not performed on the field and Russia have more points, so that is how it should be.

"It isn't always the superstars who win football matches. We deserve to be in the finals because we've lost only once and that sums up our consistency."

England take on Austria in a friendly on Friday before their final qualifying game against Croatia next Wednesday.

BBC SPORT | Football | Internationals | England failure 'would be good'

So what do u guys think? Will failing to qualify for Euro 2008 help us in the longterm? I think it would make the problems the NT is facing unavoidable & undeniable and something will have to be done to sort them out. The only problem is the FA is so incompetent, even if they knew the solution to the problem (which isn't at all obvious) they'd probably STILL choose the wrong option.

English football needs to have a good hard look at itself, whether the NT qualifies or not this summer...

(and McClaren should go).

[Dellas]

well i don't want to see a quality side like England not in the Euro...however it will be gd because i hope for your sakes McClaren will be sacked. I think that the big stars need to learn what failing is all about...cos perhaps if they don't qualify it will help them to learn to work well as a team and that they should be playing better for their national team...

The main prob with the team is all the big name players coming together and playing well and I think that if you get a competent manager you could be up and running in no time and challenging for every cup

this is of course if you don't qualify.

If you don't qualify it will just give Platini more ammo which I would rather not do.

[NJ10]

i dont believe failure to qualify will be good. i think if we were to somehow sneak into Euro 08 (and i dont think we will, cos i think Croatia & Russia will both win tomorrow), then the scare we have had would serve as the "wake up call". we dont have to miss out on a major tournament for there to be an inquest into the running of our national side.

the FA are incompetent, that is for sure. they make big mistakes and get away with it because no one seems to have to answer for them. McClaren was never the first choice, thats obvious. They wanted Scolari, Wenger, Hiddink, Mourinho ahead of him and when it became apparent that they werent getting any of those top class coaches, they settled for a Yes man who wouldnt upset the applecart, they thought the qualifying group would be easy enough for McClaren, and they might just get a bit of form at the right time for Euro 08, and lets face it, at a major championships, anything can happen. they didnt bargain on such a poor campaign, and for Mac's bad decisions (i.e. sticking with Paul Robinson) to be so cruelly exposed so soon.

of course people like Gerrard, Owen & Terry are coming out and defending McClaren, and do you know why? because under him, they are guaranteed their starting places. that has been a problem with England for years.... but in a way, i can see McClaren's (and SGE's before him) problem. its a five letter word.....M E D I A....lets say McClaren has a brave pill, decides he's sick to death of waiting for Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard & Wayne Rooney to replicate their club form for England. drops all three of them, and picks Gareth Barry, Owen Hargreaves & Darren Bent, three players who have been in form and receiving a lot of media praise (i know they havent but for arguments sake....). England lose a big game, those three players arent particularly to blame....but.......whats the first thing the media will say? "Why have we got WORLD CLASS players like Gerrard, Lampard & Rooney sat on the bench?"....its a catch 22 situation. He's damned if he plays them, damned if he doesnt. The only way he can win is if he manages to get them playing the way they can for their clubs, which im afraid Mr McClaren seems unable to do.....

I honestly dont know whether the FA will sack Mac after the Croatia game, i dont know if they should do either. Who will they get instead? Sam Allardyce?? Stuart Pearce?? Martin O'Neill?? are they any better as coaches? they are certainly inferior to Sven Goran Eriksson....and he was pillorised by the press.....

its a damn fucking mess if you ask me.

[henry14]

The first mistake was terminated coach Sven after the 2006 World Cup. Due to so , the FA should look for a new manger for resume from the Euro 08. But until now, that coach is not so successful to lead England perfectly.
There is just remain one match which is against Croatia at home. Virtually that will not be an easy game.

[kyan]

Sacking Sven wasn't a mistake, it was time for a change, he'd had relative success but he'd been in charge of the team for 6 years! People wanted a change... The mistake was putting McClaren in charge.

Originally Posted by NJ10

i dont believe failure to qualify will be good. i think if we were to somehow sneak into Euro 08 (and i dont think we will, cos i think Croatia & Russia will both win tomorrow), then the scare we have had would serve as the "wake up call". we dont have to miss out on a major tournament for there to be an inquest into the running of our national side.

But will there be? I reckon if we scrape through the bigwigs and coaching staff and media will be cooing on about England's grit to keep battling through and making it against all the odds & everyone's attention will be diverted.

but if England don't make it, the country's economy loses a lot of money, which makes it a more pressing issue for the government than if the country makes it but does shit.

[Werdna]

Doesn't matter either way. English football isn't going to improve in the near future.

Our best player, Joe Cole is as rare as diamonds on the moon in England and he is pretty much the only creative player we have and still gets critisized if he loses the ball once a game!

Also the players who are very experienced and good aren't clever enough football wise, tactically etc. Or to put it another way, which of the current English players could anyone really imagine being a manager?

We don't have anyone who can read a game, adapt the play on the field, be creative and try different things.

If we have a game where the manager gets the tactics perfect and the opposing manager can't change things England looks good otherwise they're like a fish out of water when things change and I don't see anyone in England changing that unfortunately.

[russe||]

That annoys me more than anything. Just because McClaren is utter rubbish doesn't mean sacking Sven was a mistake. The fact Sven has gone back to being a very good club manager doesn't change the fact he was a crap national manager.