FA’S Reed warns England U21s not to come across as arrogant
Recent poor showings prompt stark message Director says review can help team take next step
The man charged with shaping the future of English football has said it is part of his job to turn the national team from semi-finalists to finalists to winners in major tournaments.
Les Reed, the Football Association’s technical director, added that Gareth Southgate had already changed the perception and “profile” of English coaches and that he wanted to make sure there were more Fa-trained managers working in the Premier League.
At the same time, there was a warning to the under-age groups, after the dismal performance of the Under-21s at this summer’s European Championship, against being guilty of “arrogance” and “overconfidence” at tournaments.
Reed revealed he had been involved in “two or three debriefs” with Under-21 coach Aidy Boothroyd, but defended the decision to give him a new two-year contract before the finals in Italy, where England did not win a single match.
Reed, who succeeded Dan Ashworth in December, having left his role as Southampton’s vice-chairman the previous month, has spent the past few months carrying out an in-depth audit of the work he has inherited. “I guess the key to my role now is to review all that and ask questions about what we need to do to take that next step,” the 66-yearold said. “How do we go from contenders to winners, how do we go from semi-finalists to finalists, and how do we convert final appearances into wins?
“That’s what it’s all about: England winning at the top level. We’ve got high standards; we need to set stretched targets so I’d like to think that by the time I’ve gone we will have had a really good go at winning something at senior level.”
Reed rejoined the FA with the organisation in a strong position, with success at major tournaments – not least in Southgate leading England to a World Cup semi-final. Beyond that, Southgate has also done much to repair the image and morale at the organisation and of English football.
“Gareth’s appointment and his pathway towards that appointment and the way he embraces the entire SGP [St George’s Park] player development pathway has changed the profile of the England coach,” Reed said. “What Gareth has brought is a lot more understanding and acceptance of responsibility towards the whole pathway. And therefore is a real good leader to have at the top.”
It is hoped that Southgate’s success will also “increase the pool of potential successors” when he leaves – and encourage clubs to employ more English managers.
There is, however, pressure on Boothroyd, whose contract, Reed
Qualifying standings said, was “already in place” when he took over. “Yes, we underperformed [at the Under-21s], we had good quality players, we had a good quality squad, and we did underperform. So was it Aidy? No, it wasn’t. It was a number of things.”
What were those things? Players being “talked up”, “new contracts and negotiations”, Reed argued, adding: “I think when you want to win tournaments you need to be confident. You need to have a bit of a swagger.
“But it doesn’t need to border on the arrogance and I think getting that balance right, I didn’t think we achieved that completely. The boys, themselves, we had a lot of feedback from them. They hanged themselves and said they underperformed; it wasn’t Aidy. That’s all well and good when you’ve underperformed and it’s all over. The question now is what are you going to do about that as a player?
“It was probably overconfidence. It was a mental thing in believing they were going to win the tournament and probably being overconfident and then realising in game play that there is another team out there and it’s not a walkover.”
Even so, there is huge enthusiasm about the crop of young English players being given an opportunity to play in the Premier League, with Chelsea’s Fifa transfer ban encouraging them to play Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount – who is in Southgate’s senior squad.
“Mason Mount is a good example of someone who’s gone, ‘Look at me I can do it’,” Reed said. “Those kinds of things will change the mindset and it’s great that the Chelsea fans are really pleased with the fact those young Chelsea players have been given a chance. Hopefully it gets a bit of impetus and more and more will get that opportunity.”
At the same time, Reed praised the decision of 28-year-old Kieran Trippier to leave Tottenham Hotspur for Atletico Madrid, and said it showed that not just young players such as Jadon Sancho should go abroad. “The young ones have led the way in that, but someone like Kieran going just might get English players thinking,” Reed said. “For us it can only be good that they’re experiencing a different style, a different type of football, at top clubs in good leagues.”