I have been following England in Football as I see it as a reflection of society. Having lived in England for more than a couple decades, I see the same constant repetition of human behaviour before and after England’s World Cup experience. This is neatly summarised by Simon Kupar and Stefan Szymanski in their book “Why England Lose”. Iain Dale’s Diary
The performance in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa was so bad and it hardly resembled the pre-match publicity. The England Football Team did well in the qualifying rounds and it was assumed that, because of the talent they had, it would do well in the competition. They had beaten Germany in Berlin by 2-1 in a friendly in 2008.
However, developments occur when England was “sitting on their laurels”.
An article describes how the Germany team was transformed after a serious injury to a key player Michael Ballack at the FA Cup Final.
We are currently in an age of instant communication, as soon as you do something different at any major event, the information is available instantly on the internet throughout the world. Using the example of the World Cup, the performance of each team is instantly available to all to see.
The World Cup is a competition and the team with a competitive advantage will have a better chance of progressing up the competition. This is just like in the business world or in nature.
Having watched England play in the qualification matches and the World Cup, the overall pattern of play seemed similar to me. If you were a potential opponent, you would know how to counter this method of play.
The point I am making is in a competitive environment, we should change or adapt to the changing situation that is happening around us. This is the Darwinism – adapt or die. This is what the German Squad did, they adapted to the new situation. Their opponents (England) did not know how to handle the situation.
However, with regards to the FA choosing Fabio Capello, as I understand it, he has the distinction of winning the domestic league title of every club he has coached. His specialism is league football but is he good at knock-out tournaments? It is a different mindset where change or adaptation is required to have a competitive advantage for the moment.
The type of manager England should be looking for one who has an adaptable mindset. A person who is prepared to change with the situation. I do not know enough about football managers but perhaps one whose mindset adapts to the situation – a translator becoming a successful manager – Jose Mourinho or someone with an adaptable mindset.
The issue is with the FA board of directors, do they want to change? Or else, England will be just repeating the same old process as described in Iain Dale’s Diary
I had a look at the feng shui aspects of the FA head office in Wembley, I do not see anything about change, it is more about insecurity. With this insecurity, it goes back on relying on tradition; this is how we have did it before. There starts another cycle.
Dr Michael Oon
Hi Michael
Nice blog, if you have any influence, I would like to give the job a shot !
Write-on Dude
Mick