Not Enough England Players...Or?

Last updated : 09 October 2017 By Three Lions

Although the lack of available players is often cited as a reason for England’s struggles at major tournaments, could it be that there are too many players to successfully form a 'club' atmosphere among the national team.

Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic have all punched above their weight in recent years by drawing on almost the same pool of players for every match, the occasional new face finding their way in.

Those players, with the exception of Gareth Bale, are not Champions League, or sometimes even Premier League, regulars but, put together, they equal more than the sum of their parts.

Gareth Southgate, speaking after the performance against Slovenia that did so much to dampen expectation despite sealing World Cup qualification, highlighted a lack of 'big players' who have won European trophies.

But a number of the current squad do play regularly in the Champions League and are also rivals with each other, week-in and week-out, in the Premier League.

A recent article on the BBC website showed how the building of St George’s Park has helped to foster more of a club-style atmosphere and the benefits have been shown with the success of the England age group teams in the past couple of years.

The senior side, however, still has the characteristics of a collection of individuals, the displays against Slovenia and Lithuania being disjointed and enlivened only by the occasional flash of individual flair or understanding between colleagues who play (or have played) together at club level.