This time two years ago, Mesut Ozil was coming towards the end of a rather busy time in his life. The last few weeks of his first full season at Werder Bremen had seen the club win the German Cup final but lose the last-ever UEFA Cup final to Shakthar Donetsk. For a then- 20 year old who had been thrust into the void created by the departure of his club’s Brazilian playmaker, Diego, it was a sapping campaign which didn’t end until May 30th. By that point, most pundits in Germany had recognised the emergence of a major creative talent in Ozil.
When the German coach Horst Hrubesch subsequently called Ozil into his squad for the European Under-21 championships that summer, nobody batted an eyelid. Barely two weeks after the end of the domestic season, the player arrived in Sweden to become the creative fulcrum of his country’s attempts to win that trophy. No mention of fatigue. No mention of how playing too much might put him at the risk of injury. Like so many other footballers asked to do their bit for the country, he just got on with.
On June 29th, 2009, Ozil was voted man of the match in the 4-0 demolition of England in a final victory that announced to the rest of the continent the arrival of a stellar new German generation. Less than 12 months after that triumph, Ozil and other Under-21s wowed the rest of the world at the World Cup. What was most interesting about his rise to prominence of course was the apparent lack of whining in Germany about Hrubesch (as talismanic a former international there as Stuart Pearce is in England) picking the brilliant young star for the Under-21 tournament.
When the German coach Horst Hrubesch subsequently called Ozil into his squad for the European Under-21 championships that summer, nobody batted an eyelid. Barely two weeks after the end of the domestic season, the player arrived in Sweden to become the creative fulcrum of his country’s attempts to win that trophy. No mention of fatigue. No mention of how playing too much might put him at the risk of injury. Like so many other footballers asked to do their bit for the country, he just got on with.
On June 29th, 2009, Ozil was voted man of the match in the 4-0 demolition of England in a final victory that announced to the rest of the continent the arrival of a stellar new German generation. Less than 12 months after that triumph, Ozil and other Under-21s wowed the rest of the world at the World Cup. What was most interesting about his rise to prominence of course was the apparent lack of whining in Germany about Hrubesch (as talismanic a former international there as Stuart Pearce is in England) picking the brilliant young star for the Under-21 tournament.
This represents a stunning contrast then with the brouhaha which ensued in England about Jack Wilshere and Andy Carroll and Pearce’s doomed efforts to get them to tog out for his side in this summer’s competition. As their representatives departed the Under-21 tournament at the earliest opportunity last Sunday, without a win to their name, it’s amazing how English football is such a prisoner of the old cliché that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
For decades they have thumbed their noses at UEFA and FIFA’s under-age competitions like this. For a country of their size and resources, their record from U-16 to U-21 is absolutely abysmal yet not at all surprising. They do not take these formative tournaments seriously, especially when the events happen to take place during the English season or, in this case, too close to the end of it.
England last won the European Under-19 championships in 1993. Their triumph in last summer’s U-17 age group marked their first-ever win at that level. How can a nation claim to be one of the game’s superpowers with a record as paltry as that?
For decades they have thumbed their noses at UEFA and FIFA’s under-age competitions like this. For a country of their size and resources, their record from U-16 to U-21 is absolutely abysmal yet not at all surprising. They do not take these formative tournaments seriously, especially when the events happen to take place during the English season or, in this case, too close to the end of it.
England last won the European Under-19 championships in 1993. Their triumph in last summer’s U-17 age group marked their first-ever win at that level. How can a nation claim to be one of the game’s superpowers with a record as paltry as that?
Why are these statistics important? Well, Spain has won the U-19 title four times since 2002. The Spanish have two wins and three runners-up in the U-17 age group in the same time frame. Which country is doing better as a result of investing properly in these events? Which country is producing more footballers capable of playing on the highest stage? Yet, three years from now, when England make their almost traditional tragicomic exit from the World Cup at the quarter-final stage, nobody at the inquest will mention their historic failure to take under-age international football seriously.
There is no great secret to this. Countries which invest properly in nurturing footballers and which treat the international youth tournaments with the respect they deserve (as opposed to the deeply-ingrained English contempt) tend to do better in the long run. It’s not rocket science. By observing both those principles for over a decade, a gifted Spanish generation grew up honing its winning instincts in the most competitive under-age environment. Experience gained in how to win and how to play in tournament conditions may have had more to do with their recent senior triumphs than anything else.
There is no great secret to this. Countries which invest properly in nurturing footballers and which treat the international youth tournaments with the respect they deserve (as opposed to the deeply-ingrained English contempt) tend to do better in the long run. It’s not rocket science. By observing both those principles for over a decade, a gifted Spanish generation grew up honing its winning instincts in the most competitive under-age environment. Experience gained in how to win and how to play in tournament conditions may have had more to do with their recent senior triumphs than anything else.
It’s not just the Spanish either. Two years ago, Ghana won the World Under-20 competition and within 12 months of lifting that trophy, several of that squad lit up the senior tournament. England has never won the Under-20 title. Why is that important? Well, Argentina and Brazil figure in the shake-up for it almost every time it’s held. Who will do better at the 2014 World Cup? The South Americans or the country which religiously objects to sending first-team “stars” to under-age tournaments?
The amazing thing about the Wilshire debacle is so few recognize what a bad mistake this is. Tournament football is different from league football. Every other major footballing nation realizes this too. Except the English. They are prisoners of their own league’s hyperbole. What could Wilshere possibly learn about the game from playing in an international tournament where countries play different styles and employ different tactics? Maybe they should ask the Germans or Ozil whether they learned anything in Sweden two years ago.
This type of myopia is the one of the biggest failings in the English game. They send squads to the senior World Cup most of whom severely lack experience of playing against other national teams at youth level then wonder why they can’t transfer club form to the international stage. Wilshere getting the last few weeks off is regarded as a triumph of common sense and an investment in his long-term future. It’s the exact opposite of that and, hilariously, too few of those who run the game in England seem to realize this at all.
The amazing thing about the Wilshire debacle is so few recognize what a bad mistake this is. Tournament football is different from league football. Every other major footballing nation realizes this too. Except the English. They are prisoners of their own league’s hyperbole. What could Wilshere possibly learn about the game from playing in an international tournament where countries play different styles and employ different tactics? Maybe they should ask the Germans or Ozil whether they learned anything in Sweden two years ago.
This type of myopia is the one of the biggest failings in the English game. They send squads to the senior World Cup most of whom severely lack experience of playing against other national teams at youth level then wonder why they can’t transfer club form to the international stage. Wilshere getting the last few weeks off is regarded as a triumph of common sense and an investment in his long-term future. It’s the exact opposite of that and, hilariously, too few of those who run the game in England seem to realize this at all.
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