Can DNA Dan and his plan lift England?
THree grey men in grey T-shirts delivered a grey document yesterday aimed at redefining the england team as something a little less bulldog and a little more greyhound.
Billed as ‘ england DNa: evolving. Developing. Winning’, it is the product of 12 months of hiring and firing and restructuring by Dan ashworth, the Fa’s director of elite development.
ashworth has kept a low profile since replacing Sir Trevor Brooking in this role and this was his coming-out party.
He presented the document with Under 21 manager gareth Southgate and head of player and coach development Matt Crocker, recruited from Southampton, where the academy is under the authority of Les reed, former technical director of the Fa, who once worked with Howard Wilkinson to produce a document very like this one.
The irony must have been lost somewhere between Wembley and St george’s Park, where ashworth will extend his DNa vision to 1500 coaches from the Fa’s Licensed Coaches’ Club over the weekend.
It is simply a collection of commonsense ideas committed to print after thorough research, including studies into how other nations do things — six in europe and three in South america.
It may help coaches to have a point of reference about what the international teams are striving for, and it may help players to have a memory stick which reminds them of what playing for england is about, should they choose to plug it into a laptop. But this is another underwhelming document trying to be all things to as many people as possible, without causing offence.
ashworth’s team want england to break from the traditional blood and sweat, but not forget about it. They want to work with the clubs, but want more players to be released to boost experience on an international stage.
To increase the times a player samples international football, ashworth has introduced U15, U18 and U20 age groups. The U20s have a full programme of fixtures, but will not play competitively until 2017 at the earliest, since they have not qualified for next year’s World Cup in New Zealand.
The Fa want players to be comfortable with the ball — and without it. They want them to be tactically aware and flexible and technically adept. They want them to ‘intelligently dominate possession’. They want pride and passion and they want high standards of behaviour. Who doesn’t?
Most of it has been heard before in different guises. england boasted they were the best prepared team at the World Cup in Brazil. They were also among the first to leave for home.
Clouding the issue is the commission launched by Fa chairman greg Dyke with a view to creating an england team capable of winning the World Cup in 2022. and a Code of Conduct, introduced by Dyke’s predecessor David Bernstein, to improve behaviour.
We have plenty of blueprints. and now we have another. or is it grey?