England finally reap benefits of Premier League excellence
England may not win the World Cup, but English football is already winning in Russia. Of the four semi-final squads, 41 players belong to Premier League clubs. This is testimony to the strength of our league. At last, our national team are benefiting as much as other nations from the power and wealth of our top division.
The debate can continue as to whether we have the greatest players in the world in England, or the best teams at the top of our game. The top Spanish teams continue to dominate Uefa competition. But there can be no argument about the depth of quality here and the Premier League is blessed with the world’s best coaches.
The further England progress, the more Gareth Southgate will be grateful to them. Southgate is the first to acknowledge the influence of Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Mauricio Pochettino on the design of his side. England’s players are confident in Southgate’s change of system because it is not alien to them. What was once radical restructuring of the team to 3-5-2 now looks natural. The clubs must be credited for preparing players to play a more tactically fluid and technical game. They are comfortable in possession, schooled in knowing how and when to press opponents because of their work at Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, in particular.
The Premier League gets a hard time whenever England fail at major tournaments. Concerns linger as to how few English players are playing in our top division and in the Champions League, and whether enough managers are prepared to give the academy graduates a chance rather than spend big on overseas stars. There is no room for complacency on that issue. But the greatest managers of their generation ensure those English players good enough to play for our Champions League clubs receive an education the envy of the rest of the world.
John Stones and Kyle Walker fit seamlessly into a three-man defence because of their work with Guardiola. Questions were asked when Walker was given a new role by Southgate, but at Manchester City the full-backs do not play as traditional full-backs. They push up so much, and have so much freedom to move inside, they are like midfielders. Walker was always going to be ideal as a defender who is good on the ball, and has the pace to get his side out of trouble when counter-attacked. It is perfect for those games when the opposition sits deep. Naturally, he will have more defending to do against Croatia, and certainly in the final should England get that far.
No one thought of Jordan Henderson as a holding midfielder until Klopp revised his role at Liverpool just under two years ago. Until then, it was difficult to define Henderson’s game. People were looking for him to score and create more as an attacking midfielder. Instead,
Klopp identified his greatest strength is covering the yards in front of his defence, breaking up attacks and retaining possession with simple passing to more creative midfielders. Southgate has used Liverpool’s midfield as a prototype, so much so that if not for the injuries to Alex Oxladechamberlain and Adam Lallana, it is my gut feeling they would be alongside their club captain. Harry Kane and Dele Alli thrived as a partnership under Pochettino, the duo instructed to replicate their club relationship in the international team. Kieran Trippier’s advancement at Spurs has taken him to another level.
Mourinho’s style of football obviously differs from that at City, Spurs and Liverpool, but he can be credited for developing players such as Jesse Lingard to international standard. It is Mourinho who revived Ashley Young as a full-back so that he not only earned a call-up to the squad, but is a starter again.
Since taking the job Southgate has sought to build a good relationship with those coaches for mutual benefit. It was frustrating that for so long our league was strong but it was not reflected in international performance.
Now England are not the only nation to benefit. Belgium’s Roberto Martinez will be equally grateful to Guardiola, Mourinho and Conte, given the strong Premier League presence in his squad. We know Martinez is a student of Guardiola. No manager left in the competition is so influenced by him. Four of the past five major international tournaments pursued by European clubs have been won by nations in which Guardiola was coaching.
His influence on Spain’s success between 2008-2012 is obvious, but there were six of Guardiola’s Bayern Munich players in for Germany’s starting line-up for the 2014 World Cup final. Mario Gotze came off the bench score the winner. Where Guardiola goes, the World Cup follows. This bodes well for England going into their semifinal. Rather than clashes between club and country, English domestic excellence is finally feeding international success.