European footballers (like European workers) can work in most of Europe depending on two things only: quality and a passport. Even If England is not exactly Europe, teams get the players they want almost all the time and players are happy to go to the best league in the world.
Now the 64.000$ question: how can it be that the country with the best league in the world does not have a competitive national side?
Back in 1994 England did not make the world cup finals in the U.S.; in Euro92 and in Euro 88 the team finished bottom of their group (although in Italia 90 they reached the semi-finals). One could argue that the ban on English clubs from the mid 80s to the early 90s had taken the toll on the England squad but if that is the case, what´s wrong now? Apart from the 1966 feat, England has had a few good tournaments but has never lived up to the reputation of a traditional powerhouse — Too little for the “inventors” of the game.
Gary Neville, the former right-back at Manchester United, wrote an article for the daily mail explaining his view on his England career. Club vs. Country was an issue back then too but Neville clearly stated that his club had absolute priority for him. Playing for the national team was a bonus: Problem one — I have to say that I believe that the majority of the England capped players feel this way, so if players do not feel the same commitment in both situations, little can be done even if they give their all.
Neville also said that English players live in terror and fear of failure when playing for the national team, but this does not make sense to me at all. Playing for Manchester United, Liverpool or Chelsea should prepare you for this fear and terror, does it not? You play for the most demanding clubs and fans week after week and then England scares you? You can´t say that the England shirt weighs more than the Liverpool or the United shirt, they´re just different, so why the fear? My view is that, as Neville almost says, English players are nothing without their foreign colleagues. That´s what makes the difference between the English premier league and the English national team and the national team is the living proof of that sentence.
But Neville went even further: he believed that English football was headed in the right direction. Behold problem two: Players are not alone in this, it´s the system as well. You cannot deny the talent and potential of Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Tom Cleverley, Danny Welbeck, Andy Carroll or Daniel Sturridge. Players are still emerging but England played in the under-20 world cup in Colombia this year and they made the round of 16 without scoring a single goal. Before the tournament they were highly criticized for not taking a full strength team there. The reason? More than 30 players were considered for the squad but clubs were reluctant to release them so England settled with an average team. This does not happen anywhere else in the world.
Sometimes I think it would be better for any sport to be amateur if we really want to enjoy it. How can you miss a world cup because your club simply wants to save money if you get injured? How can a player miss such an experience? Why Clubs do this to them? Destiny could end it all and footballers work very few years — Do you think Pique and Pujol would miss an opportunity to win a world cup? They did not and they´re Catalans playing for Spain !
I don´t believe England is headed in the right direction. What they need is a profound revolution, one that changes the mental approach of players, clubs and institutions to football. They had it but lost it somehow –
Data: www.uefa.com, www.fifa.com