If you’re a football fan like me,
especially one who watches international tournaments, you may have noticed this
strange phenomenon: when the players are interviewed after an England game the
foreign players are usually far more articulate and in some cases speak better
English. It’s a touchy subject to write about for various reasons but there has
long been an unspoken recognition that many British footballers are, well, let’s
say unlikely to pick up a Nobel prize in a second career.
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Belgium's Vincent Kompany: incisive, smart, lucid |
Right now in England there is
considerable despondency and soul-searching over shexit as I call it: the
national side’s latest abject performance in a tournament (in this case being
knocked out of Euro 2016 by Iceland, the smallest country every to qualify for the
finals of a competition) and people are offering all sorts of explanations and
possible solutions. I have my own and it’s certainly different…
In the early part of Euro 2016 I
was listening to former Germany and Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann being
interviewed on BBC 5Live. He was talking about the Germans’ chances of success
in the tournament initially (high, as ever) and then was asked about England.
At this point I could feel that he was choosing his words very carefully – in excellent
English of course – while at the same time wanting to express what all the
other European football setups seem to understand but we can’t grasp. To paraphrase:
“I can’t see England being successful. It’s
about tactical intelligence – the players are good footballers but they never
do well in competitions because they don’t have the understanding to be able to
change a game or adapt to the opposition’s approach to each match.
“In Germany we have a totally
different system when it comes to education of young players. We think learning
is important and in our nation every young footballer must go to school and be
given a full education because we know the value of learning and how it can
help a player in many ways.
“In England the best young players are taken
out of the education system and given extra coaching with just a few hours
schooling. They are missing out on the important mental development which helps
them to think and develop tactical intelligence as players. In Germany young
footballers are expected to get a full set of qualifications and pass exams –
in the UK it is so different and I think this in many ways explains why you
never win anything.”
Boof. Straight-talking, insightful and
very interesting. And his theory is borne out by those interviews: the England
players muttering and stuttering in front of the cameras (despite their
expensive media training) and so often falling back on comically meaningless
phrases like ‘to be fair’.
The thing is we don’t seem to care
or mind in this country. We smile or giggle maybe and say, “Well, it’s about
pride or hunger or courage (sorry, ‘bottle’) – it doesn’t matter if they’re a
bit dim.” The few articulate, highly intelligent players that the country has
produced in recent decades have also at times found themselves mocked and
abused for example for reading The Guardian instead of The Sun, or for having a
more informed opinion about politics or gay sportsmen and women. Graeme Le Saux
springs to mind. And when we do come across a professional with a degree it’s often
commented on like some kind of weird aberration.
So, can this ever change? Should we
change the system and make young footballers stay on at school? I think the
problem is that most would hate and resent it even if it did happen and they
would probably learn next to nothing because of their attitude. They would see
famous professionals walking round with their headphones and driving their fast
cars and think, ‘I don’t need school’.
But wait, don’t despair, there is
an answer. Have you ever noticed that bright people tend to read a lot? Those
who are smart, those who do have qualifications are often to be found with a
book.
But do footballers read? Not really
– like many young people they tend to spend their time staring at screens:
phone, console, TV, tablet etc. (It’s amazing how many of them go onto write a
book ; ).
Young people who do read often
catch the bug early: they are encouraged at home or at school or are taken to
the library or given books as gifts or have stories read to them regularly. In
the case of boys who are very sporty it’s books about sport – usually non-fiction
– which have the greatest appeal. Soccer annuals, biogs of their favourite
player or profiles of the team they support can get them reading. Sometimes it’s
football fiction – the right author at the right time.
These kids can also be hooked by
other types of books: humour, joke books, funny facts, Guinness World Records,
miscellanies, ‘How to’ books, TV-tie ins. These are the types of books I write
so I know them well. Yet in schools boys are often pushed towards novels which
they find dull and unappealing. As an author who specialises in promoting
reading for pleasure (especially with reluctant boys) I visit over 50 schools a
year and meet thousands of kids who just don’t read but could become readers if
they were encouraged by being given the right types of books. As I tell kids I
meet: reading makes you clever. Those who get hooked on reading tend to do well
at school and go on to academic success.
So, there we are FA, England can
win the 2030 World Cup with a
group of players who possess tactical
intelligence – eleven men found reading on the team bus because someone
gave them a brilliant, fun and relevant book when they were a kid.