What Appears To Be Drastically Wrong With The England Football Team?

The minute England left these shores for South Africa a few short weeks ago, there was much expectation that at long last, they might possibly bring the trophy home. Even so, that dream was destroyed in no uncertain terms by the old enemy Germany in Bloemfontein as England crashed out of the finals losing 4-1. How may perhaps such an experienced team who qualified so effortlessly fail to perform? Not surprisingly, the English media has put together no dearth of scape goats and factors for what was England's worst defeat at a World Cup. There has been enough talk about the Italian manager, formations and more but the problems are a good deal deeper.
Since its formation in 1992, the EPL has achieved superb success as a global brand. The cost of this success has been felt by English football. Higher TV income has pushed wages to rise. In turn this has meant there has been an evergrowing split among club and country. Teams pay their footballers an awful lot of money and are increasingly hesitant to let their players play for their countries.
Consequently, footballers get greatly rewarded by Premiership clubs to the extent that success is deemed by obtaining money-spinning contracts instead of anything they do on the pitch. Typical players who rarely turn out for their clubs are still millionaires and after these players put money ahead of playing games at club level, there is actually little doubt they don't have the mental strength or hunger to play international football.
Traditionally, there was always a regional reserve league which meant young footballers from smaller teams might possibly be guaranteed to play against decent reserve teams from bigger clubs like Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspurs and Man Utd. Yet, in recent years, the Premier League has changed so they will only play versus other EPL reserve teams. This means that Championship reserve teams no longer get to play versus Premiership sides. For teams like Ipswich Town, it means their reserve team now plays against Stevenage rather than Tottenham Hotspurs and this drop in standard in opposition without a doubt has a negative effect on the learning curve of young footballers.
With a great deal of wealth at stake, everything is geared to Premiership survival. Clubs spend fortunes bringing in theoretically superior foreign managers and footballers in a bid to hold on to their EPL status. The ambition of promoted teams to the EPL extends no further than finished 4th bottom. The Premiership cash bonanza means that Premier League clubs can offer £1-2m for young players at lower league sides. The footballers are inclined to move and secure their financial futures but it could very well also signal the stop of their careers. The young Crystal Palace star joined Tottenham but seldom played and was last heard of on loan at Brentford, a league lower than when he was at Crystal Palace. From a football point of view, Bostock would have been best served staying at Palace and learning the game. How many more young players careers are curtailed like this seeking the money as an alternative to playing the game?  Its difficult to blame the young footballers for taking the money.
There is also the usual accusation that clubs play too many games in England and increasingly more managers want a winter break. Even so, players don't appear to be tired as asked to fly off to the United States or Far East on pre-season excursions. Or how about England's friendly game next June away in Thailand?
There are far too many ready made excuses for failure that footballers are ready to accept. They live a life well away from real life with their mansions, expensive cars and trophy wives. To put it simply, there is not enough hunger or desire.
The fixture in Thailand also highlights another hassle. In addition to the EPL being an international brand name, so are the England team. People want to watch the big Premiership stars play for England and in friendlies like this, those stars will be expected, if not contracted, to turn out.  Even so, it is not the case that the finest 11 players make the finest team. Too a good number of players are in the team based on standing rather than performances. Young players should be promoted into the senior squad sooner.
For the impending Euro 2012 campaign, England should do away with the services of all players aged 30 or over. None of them have played well in South Africa hence why should England persist with them. It would be more effective to promote younger players who may still be hungry for success. Bear in mind, while the worshiping of the Premier League remains, things are probably not going to improve anytime swiftly.