Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
We’ve got the system and the talent, now the kids must be given a chance
It suggests the England DNA programme is bearing fruit
OBVIOUSLY, you knew that Germany would knock England out of that semi-final on penalties. You were telling everyone in earshot on Tuesday night that this is what always happens. Like hysteria over four consecutive days of sun, and warm, overpriced Pimms at Wimbledon, it wouldn’t be summer without it. But doesn’t it feel a bit different this time? Doesn’t it feel as though we can do without those drawn-out inquests into the turgid state of English football? Because, for once, this has undoubtedly been a successful summer for the national sides. The Under-20s won the World Cup, the Under-17s lost the European Championship final on penalties to Spain, and the Under-21s made it to the last four of the Euros alongside Germany, Spain and Italy. Astonishingly, England played 17 major tournament games this summer and weren’t beaten once in normal playing time. And no other country reached the semifinals of all three competitions. However you want to cut it, that’s progress, and suggests the England DNA programme introduced by the FA at St George’s Park less than three years ago – to give the national sides an identity and start competing with the world’s best – is starting to bear fruit. Even if, as Spain’s U-21s showed so breathtakingly, they still have a way to go to beat the very best. As Germany U-21 coach Stefan Kuntz observed, England are starting to produce players in droves rather than batches. In other words, just like Germany have been doing since the turn of the millennium when they were falling behind the world’s best and they decided their clubs would have state-ofthe art academies whose best products fed into first teams. Which brings us back to the age-old English problem, summed up by U-21 coach Aidy Boothroyd: “The problem is that we get players to a certain ceiling and then they can’t get into Premier League teams because other players are bought.” Last month, Frank Lampard said the main reason so few English youngsters realise their potential is a lack of all-round academic education. He may have a point. But it’s the break in their football education – or rather, the lack of a finishing school – that’s a greater problem. It’s no good St George’s turning out players who are good enough to succeed at full international level if they don’t get a regular chance to apply themselves at their Premier League club. Look at Lampard’s old club Chelsea: they had four players in the U-17s final, three playing against Germany on Tuesday and two who picked up World Cup winners’ medals with the U-20s. How soon can any of those nine expect some sort of a first-team run at a club, which, last season, loaned out 38 players? It’s the same at most Premier League clubs. The demands for instant success are so incessant and the amount of money they can spend on established players so huge, that few England youngsters will have a direct path into their club’s first team. Unlike Germany, where 19 of their U-21 squad are Bundesliga regulars. It also doesn’t help that, unlike Germany, there is no desire among Premier League clubs to prioritise the needs of the national side. If the DNA programme continues to churn out winning sides, and they work to full international level, England may start appearing in the semi-finals and finals that matter. But if these groups of kids do not take their winning ways to that level, we can be pretty certain where the blame lies. Not with our schools, academies, coaches or international set-up. But with a Premier League that, in its desire to remain the richest, most cosmopolitan show on Earth, leaves behind the English kids who want to succeed in it – and, thus, leaves the national side as permanent also-rans.