Celebrating my Independence!

So after a day off to enjoy July 4th yesterday, a thought came to mind that perhaps it's time for me to declare my independence from the England football team. 

I'm not the most fanatical of supporters by any means; I don't spend thousands travelling the world to watch these bums 'play'; I don't invest in tickets to watch them; in fact my biggest expense this World Cup was buying a few new England t-shirts to wear. So what have I lost? Nothing really, other than losing a few brain cells and minutes off my life from 'stress'!  But perhaps it's time to step aside for a while. 

England is in disarray - ageing 'stars' and little coming through the ranks of the country's best teams, thanks to the money available in the Premier League and the consequent lack of opportunity for England's young players to play.  10 years ago Germany was in a similar situation. They rearranged the  governance of the game in their contry, restructured the youth set-up and look how they've turned their fortunes around, with a young team that has made it (again) to the latter stages of a tournament and could go on to win it. The Bundesliga (the German league) is a good example of how a national team can benefit when young players get the chance to play and develop at home. 

The problem is that the Premier League is now too successful and there is too much money to be made. It is a juggernaut out of control, and unable to stop. But until the powers that be find a way to get some control back from the money men, the England team's fortunes won't change.

Italy is in a similar position. Inter Milan won the treble this year (Italian League, Cup and Champions League) without regularly fielding an Italian? They won the Champions League final without an Italian on the pitch.  And how did their team of ageing stars do?  Not much worse than England! 

Admittedly Italy were World Champions 4 years ago, but look how finances in football have changed in those 4 years. The most expensive transfer in history 4 years ago remained the 2001 move of Zidane from Juventus to Real Madrid for about £43 million; since then we've had  Kaka move to Madrid for £57m; Ibrahimovic to Barcelona for £61m and of course Ronaldo from Manchester United to Madrid for £80 million.  The fact that Spain have bucked this trend and done well at a national level despite an overpriced league is down to their core crop of excellent players - their golden generation that, unlike England's, has performed.  Also the money in Spain is limited to just a few teams - the Premier League remains the wealthiest across the board.

So, until the English FA sort their s&%t out, this is my declaration of independence because I too have certain unalienable rights, among which are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness - and the latter does not include watching England play football!   

So until that time when I can again have pride in my national team, I lower the flag and pledge my allegiance to baseball, basketball and all sports American! 

Well at least until the next qualifying campaign starts... ;)