I have been watching a few games of the English Premier Football League and one conclusion came to my mind: the British style of football is outdated.

 I know a lot of my fellow English friends are gonna be very upset with me but this is my very honest opinion and I’ll explain how I got to this sad conclusion.

When you analyze the dynamics of modern football you will end up talking about teams like Chelsea, Real Madrid, Milan, Barcelona, Boca Juniors, São Paulo just to name a few. These teams represent a huge evolution in strategies, efficiency, and ability. An almost perfect balance of defense and offense without taking away the finesse that the sport requires. But when it comes to National Teams we don’t see that same balance.

Some National Teams were able to evolve and some others just got stuck in their own tradition. That’s the case of England.

I don’t like to analyze football using numbers but they will play an important role in this case so let’s check them out:

Even though being the inventors of football, England only started playing in the World Cup in 1950. Since then the event happened 15 times and England qualified for 12 of them. (England did not qualify for the 1974, 1978 and 1994 WCs)

In those 12 participations England only won 1, in 1966 when they were the hosts. The next best result was a 4^th place in 1990.

England never won the European Championship. The best results were a 3^rd place in 1968 and they also got to the semi-finals in 1996. That’s it.

I know that England gave the world of football some amazing players: Gordon Banks, Bobby Charlton, Alan Shearer, Gary Lineker,  David Beckham, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney… but the question is: how many of them could actually lead the English team to a title? Well, Gordon Banks and Bobby Charlton did in 1966…

I’m not a fan of the British style of football. I grew up admiring Gary Lineker but I haven’t seen any transformation in the English team since then. I saw “the promise” Michael Owen become not more than a promise, I saw David Beckham rise in the eyes of the media but didn’t see him being really effective for the country, and I’m still waiting to see something amazing from Wayne Rooney.

England is out of the Euro 2008 so we will have to wait for the 2010 World Cup to see some changes. Well, that’s if they qualify (?)

What do you think should change in the English team to make them a winner team?

Is the massive presence of foreigner player in the Premier League a problem?

Is the fact that all players in the National Team only play in England a problem?

Do you think if England “exported” its players to countries like Spain, Portugal, Russia, Italy… the game style would be improved?

Let us know what you think…

 Hoping for some future Glory...

Hey friends,

I'm here in Belo Horizonte, Brazil for a ACL surgery (the price of an eternal soccer addiction) and also to have the chance to re-energize myself with the mystery of the great players of the world.

The Brazilian National Championship is almost decided with São Paulo with more than 95% of chances to take the tittle for the second year in a row.

Sometimes it's hard to understand how a country with a horrible difference between rich and poor, a very unfair economy can still create the best players in the world.

The structure of Brazilian Football is bad. A lot of corruption and personal interest leads teams like Flamengo, Corinthians, Atletico-MG, etc... to bankrupcy and abscure deals. But in the end the talent prevails.

And it seems that in 2014 the most sucessful country who ever played this game will have once again the chance to host a World Cup. If I dream of going to South Africa in 2010 I can't even consider missing a WC in Brazil. I can already imagine games at Maracanã, at Mineirão, at Morumbi...

This country breaths football, this country has 200 million coaches and a handful of Ronaldinhos and Robinhos are born EVERYDAY.

But the question is: Should a country with so many problems of violence, economy, politics, education, public health... spend so much money to host a World Cup? What are the pros and the cons if Brazil is really picked to host the 2014 World Cup?