Marginal gains are not why England fail... it’s the football
CArEFul now. We are getting dangerously close to that pre-World Cup moment. You know the one. Team England is surveyed in all its glory: the squad, the staff, the camp, the base, the psychologists, the consultants, the dossiers, the analyses. Optimism abounds and then some wizard of the soundbite declares:
This is the best- prepared England team of all time.
It’s coming. Never misses. Win or lose, England are always the best turned out — in their minds, at least. roy Hodgson (below) often talked about tournaments as if the results were little more than a distraction from the process.
And while Gareth Southgate has been extremely impressive so far, there is a whole raft of Football Association staff with much riding on blinding us all with their science.
We have already had acres of space devoted to Dr Pippa Grange — the FA’s head of people and team development, no less — plus consultations with experts from the fields of rugby league, rugby union, cricket, canoeing, cycling, boxing and swimming. Southgate travelled to the Super Bowl, met both Stuart lancaster and Eddie Jones, and made the obligatory visit to Sir Dave Brailsford to discuss how Team Sky do it. Well, all the stuff they care to remember and keep on record, anyway. And England are practising penalties. Even the nerve-racking walk from the halfway line, heart pounding, head full of what-ifs. It cannot possibly be the same in training, of course, because these are penalties without consequence. Yet that is the problem with marginal gains. These aren’t the reasons England fail. The basics, that is where it falls down at tournaments. Keeping the ball, picking a pass, match strategy, speed of thought. The stuff on the periphery the FA have mastered. In 2014, England’s training camp was considered right down to locating the most picturesque backdrop for the filmed images. And the white sails of the little yachts in the bay, bobbing along beneath perfect blue skies, did their job beautifully. The players, sadly, did not.
Nothing wrong with preparation. Nobody thinks England should arrive at the tournament, stubbing out a last tab in the car park, like a Sunday league team. Nobody thinks players should be left alone to handle the pressure of tournaments, or book the hotel on lastminute.com.
We just focus overly on the margins because it is harder to address the heart of the matter. The fact that, in all likelihood, no amount of scientific know- how will bridge the skill gap, technically or intellectually, against Brazil or Germany in the quarter-finals. The football is what kills us. If we ever get that right, it won’t matter where we sleep.