The Problem With EPPP

The introduction of the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) by Ged Roddy’s Premier League had the intention of improving the state and standard of the current academy system.

By freeing up the movement of players and establishing a grading system in which academies are categorised, the cream should theoretically, rise to the top.

Aimed at increasing the number of players gaining professional contracts and creating more contact time for coaches and players, the initiative was accepted by all 20 Premier League sides and the 72 member clubs of the football league.

Eighteen months on from the birth of the EPPP, is there any indication that the scheme is having the desired effect? Maybe it’s still too early to tell but surely the work must be done before the starlets reach the academy system.

Grassroots is the heart and soul of the beautiful game and here is where the real EPPP resides – England’s Parents, Pitches and Players.

Parents

Dads, Mums, Uncles and Aunts listen very closely. No amount of shouting, screaming or swearing will turn your little bundle of joy into the super rich Ferrari owning “baller” you all so desperately demand.

Up and down the country, from Hackney to Hartlepool, the familiar Sunday morning scene plays out and the sideline frenzy ensues, “Skin him! Go through him! Dale you take it!”

Let them play

Let’s remember they are children who are here through the pure enjoyment and love of the game. Stop living out your footballing aspirations through your child.

So what if he’s scored 99 goals in 6 games, won player’s player, manager’s player, club player and has his 10-meter swimming badge. Just let him play.

And if a club decides after his six-week trail they want to sign him, remember, his development has only just begun. He’s not the next Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Romario or even the next Ravanelli for that matter. Just let him learn.

The coaches are there for a reason, put your faith in him. He’s there to improve his players to the best of his ability. Whether you agree with his methods, management or choice of Copa Mundials. Just let him Coach.

Parents underestimate the effect they have on our young players; they must realise they are role models, gate keepers and both confidence builders and destructors.

Pitches

For all the criticism aimed at the FA, the decision taken to introduce small-sided games into grassroots football is one that should be applauded.

As a player growing up in the 90’s, eleven-a-side games would see young players, touch the ball on average of 50 times per game. Compare this to the recommended 1000 touches per day and you see where the problem lies.

Council pitches.

I also can’t be the only one to have suffered the weeping, sapping, sticky sand-filled thigh graze. Remember those first generation astro-turf beaches we had to play on! Certainly did our parents no favours when washing out the hardened discharge on school trousers.

But neither does the boggy, waterlogged, mud patches that young players are exposed to week in week out. So what if it looks good when they come off the pitch caked in mud. What did they really learn? The art of possession? Playing through the thirds? No, none of the above.

They learn to miss out the midfield and bombard the oppositions box. “Right lads we’ve got to play down the wing, that’s where the best grass is”. Embarrassing.

The solution is to erect 3G pitches across the country. Local government or FA funded and free for all to use. Get our kids playing football on a surface fit for purpose. Spain, Holland and Germany have. Why shouldn’t we want the best for our youth development as well?

Players

Like an annoying wasp buzzing around your Rekorderlig strawberry and lime on a hot summers day, our player’s technical inadequacies just won’t go away.

Bayern Munich and Barcelona taught the best England has to offer a lesson on how possession can be used to control matches.

Andrea Pirlo played the same tormenting act against Rooney and Co. at Euro 2012. We lag behind other nations in this department, but why?

Do we produce athletes before ootballers? Is there a lack of high-level technical coaching? Or do we simply have a different mentality to our European counterparts?

Only a complete upheaval of the current English system will see us etch nearer to Europe’s elite. Of course we have the odd technically gifted player but does it come naturally to us as a nation? Is it sewn within the fabric of our youngsters? Is it a consistent characteristic amongst English players? I’m afraid, deep down, we all know the answer.

We must improve. And quickly. Our ball retention. Our manipulation in tight areas and our possession of the ball when being pressed against. There’s no magic solution to this other than hours and hours of repetition in order to get to the level we need to be if we are serious about making real change.

Let’s widen our talent pool. Let’s change out draconian approach to grassroots football and let’s banish the bloke on the sidelines.

Choosing to ignore our shortcomings will only serve to suffocate the potential held within so many of our brightest talents.

What we’re doing clearly isn’t working. Lets try something else. Today.

Dale Moon