Originally written on Sunday, June 27, 2010
It is not very often I write about football, with Rugby being my sport of choice, but, having sat through the abysmal last sixteen game between England and Germany and the utterly abject performance by England there are more than a few thoughts going through my sometimes limited mind. I also have a feeling this is going to end up going much further than simply talking about football.
Lets look at a few basics first.
On paper, England have a fantastic team. Gerrard and Lampard are, arguably, two of the finest midfielders in the country, if not europe. Rooney, when playing for his club, is an excellent striker, and, under normal circumstances, we have a very good back four.
On paper.
In South Africa, England have looked lethargic, lack lustre, devoid of ideas and with no oomph. After the first five minutes of the first game, when England were one up against America, we have looked lazy. Trotting around the pitch like a bunch of over paid prima donnas, looking as if they somehow deserve to win games, without actually putting in the effort.
The England footballers, mostly play for the clubs in the top four of five clubs, one or two from the rest of the league. And earn massive amounts of money. Truly enormous sums.
Now, as those of you who know me will testify, I have no problem at all to people receiving large amounts of money for doing what they do. The one caveat is that they have to earn the money they receive. And for their clubs, mostly it can be argued that they do. Otherwise they would not be receiving it. Quid pro quo.
And at club level, English clubs perform very well. English clubs have won the Champions League and have featured in the semi finals for the last few years. With very few English players. A quick look down the Chelsea squad list of 27 show that only six are English. Six. And only two of them actually play first team football.
Now, if you are a Chelsea fan you will argue that Chelsea can buy any player they want, and, with the huge amount of money they have at their disposal, they can buy pretty much any player. Which is why they only have six players in the squad and two regular first team players.
The Premier League model of ownership is very different to that elsewhere and especially when compared to europe. In England, the Premier League has allowed the take over of most of the ‘top’ clubs by individuals, either wealthy benefactors, family concerns, such the group that controls Manchester City, or investment groups. There is also no requirement to have an academy, although most do.
In Germany the situation is different. Of all the Bundesliga’s regulations, the German version of the Premier League, the recent history of English football suggests it might have benefited most from two of the most important differences.
Some time ago, the Bundesliga brought in what is knowns as the “50+1” rule. This states that members of a club must retain at least 51% ownership, so preventing any single entity taking control. Portsmouth are the most glaring example of how an outsider might potentially ruin a club – their administrator is currently searching for their fifth owner of this season. The Bundesliga recently reiterated the commitment to the rule following a challenge from Hannover 96.
The second most important difference is the academy. Ten years ago the Bundesliga and the German FA decided that to obtain a licence to play you must run an academy. The Bundesliga and second Bundesliga spend €75m a year on these camps. This is more than double the amount the Premier League spends on academy’s. Germany are European champions at under-17, under-19, and under-21 level.
The Bundesliga’s view is a pragmatic, long term view, growing German players for German teams, whilst the English view is to buy the best for the job now.
This is the Anglo Saxon model and, to be honest, has not been a bad model. The Anglo Saxon model permeates every facet of English life, from the economy, house buying, financial markets; the list goes on. The UK banking sector is the most important and valuable in europe. This is part of the reason for the French and German governments wanting to change the rules governing banks and banking and bring the English into line with the rest of Europe.
This is the Anglo Saxon model and, to be honest, has not been a bad model. Except that it does not always seem to work. Lets look at a non footballing parallel for a few minutes.
The Royal Mail and it’s subsidiary, the Post Office has been the political football for the last few years between the left and the right. Will it be sold, either partially or in full? Will the unions go on strike, again, will they actually make a profit or should they be considered a service ? These are things that have split the political village for some time. The Anglo Saxon model it seems may win out, at least in part, as the current Government will be looking to sell of at least some of it.
Who will buy ? The usual suspect are there sniffing around, including TNT of the The Netherlands and Deutsche Post / DHL. German.
In 1995 Deutsche Post, with the help of some German legislation, started on a course of development that allowed DP to grow from a loss-making, state-run government agency to a profitable global player and ultimately the world’s number one logistics company. The made massive investments in state-of-the-art logistics technology, laid off a signigficant numbers of staff, but this improved the service received. Germans were happy.
As a result, the Germans are now looking to buy what is arguably the most famous postal service in the world and add it to their portfolio. Royal Mail to be part of their portfolio? Astonishing.
This again, is the Anglo Saxon model. Jam today. Sell it tomorrow. The English Premier League is stuffing it’s ample and mostly non English face with jam. Very tasty jam. Organic Fair Trade jam that we all feel good about. England lost 4-1 to Germany today.
So, which view is the right one?
That is a rather tricky one to answer and all depends which you value most : club level success, primed at winning cups and trophy’s, or, a more holistic view primed towards England actually winning something and getting rid of the 1966 monkey.
Me? I was born in 1970. I did not see the Football World Cup win. Only the 2003 Rugby World Cup win in Australia. I wonder if I ever will.
I hope so.