Top Premier League coaches make England raise game, says Steve Holland
Gareth Southgate and his staff are forced to think hard about how to keep players stimulated in training with so many used to working under leading managers, the England assistant manager, Steve Holland, has said.
Eleven of the 23-man squad preparing to face the Netherlands on Thursday in the Nations League finals are with Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham, and England’s coaches are conscious of the need to maintain interest levels in players used to being coached by Pep Guardiola, Jürgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino who, this season alone, have steered teams to the European Cup final and Premier League title.
It prompted the appointment of Allan Russell as a specialist forwards’ coach before last summer’s World Cup, and has led to more intensive drills played out on smaller pitches. That has sharpened ball skills and control in confined areas, techniques honed at their clubs, and preserved energy levels. There have also been tweaks and switches in formation over the past year aimed at maintaining progress.
Asked whether taking on players schooled by Klopp, Guardiola and Pochettino served to challenge the national coaches to improve and innovate their own work, Holland said: “Yes absolutely, 100%. You have to keep evolving all the time. The moment you sit there and think you’ve cracked it, there is someone waiting round the corner to give you a bloody nose.
“We were happy with the World Cup but it is not enough. Even if we had won the World Cup, it wouldn’t have been enough. We would have to have gone again because the rest are doing more to catch up. So we still have work to do. We made some adjustments immediately, switching tactically from a back three to a back four, but it is that neverending search for perfection, frankly.
“I had seven years at Chelsea working for seven different high-level coaches: four had managed Real Madrid or won the Champions League. That is the challenge. It is no good English coaches, myself or Gareth included, crying about the lack of this or the lack of that. It is the way it is and the challenge is to pick the best from the best and work as hard as possible to create our own opportunities.”
Holland, much admired by influential figures in the Chelsea hierarchy, has seen English coaches make breakthroughs into the top flight in recent times which, on the back of the national team’s success in Russia and en route to the Nations League finals, will
have encouraged compatriots seeking to make their mark in the elite. Chris Wilder, Dean Smith and Graham Potter will manage in the Premier League next term, with Scott Parker installed at relegated Fulham and Frank Lampard having gone close to promotion with Derby. Steven Gerrard is a year into his managerial career at Rangers.
“Somebody like Dean Smith worked many years in the lower leagues, behaving well and [developing] good teams who play good football,” said Holland in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live. “People like him are a really good advert and it is fantastic that he gets the opportunity not just to work at the highest level, but at a club in Aston Villa who will have a chance to do a bit more than just survive. It is good to see.
“When everyone has had enough of me and Gareth, the options for the next guy are, firstly, significant and, secondly, all English. For many years now our reputation abroad has not been great for whatever reason – whether as players or coaches – and, frankly, we are very passionate about changing that perception at the highest level. We have outstanding coaches in this country at youth and senior levels who deserve a little more respect.”