Asian soccer star, London - England's much-hyped encounter with the Germans at world cup 2010 fell flat right from kick-off ending with an embarrassing 4-1 victory for the German national team.
England were poor throughout the match apart from a 20-minute glimpse of creativity, passion and desire to chase the ball down. But it didn't last very long.
I don't need to give a running commentary of the match as the whole nation was watching, but may be if the second goal had been given things might have turned out differently.
What I found really frustrating was the set-up and movement of the players, there was none.
There was no fluidity of movement or awareness, which are fundamental even at the most basic levels of football. England's performance was akin to a Sunday league match and a massive disappointment to fans all over the world.
But what is it about the English game that lets them down time after time when they come across a decent footballing side?
It's not as if they were pitted against the best in the group stages and yet they struggled. Even the game against Latvia was a struggle and considering they were playing the smallest nation in world cup 2010, England should have walked through with an emphatic victory.
Here's my take on it, and future Asian soccer star's should take note.
I think football at a grass roots level is fundamentally the problem. Kids are taught FA drills that do little to actually develop a holistic player and focus too much on winning rather than technical development.
Take the South Americans and even the Germans, Dutch and Spanish, they all spend a huge amount of time on individual technical development before moving onto tactical game play.
I feel any one looking to reach their goal of playing professional football and becoming an Asian soccer star needs to spend time on their own developing their technical ability.
With the right mental toughness and technical ability anything is possible in the game of football.
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