Home nations in a mess

As I write this article only two of the home nations out five have a chance of appearing at next summers World Cup. England have already qualified as most of you know and the Republic of Ireland will face a difficult game against a seeded nation in the play-offs.

However the countries I want to focus on are Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. All three have struggled miserably to qualify to major tournament in recent years and its a similar story this time around.

Lack of players available

There is an argument that those sides have less players to choose from than England. Wales has a population of just three million people according to the latest estimate. Scotland has a population of just over five million and Northern Ireland just over a million and a half. Now that shows you the task that the respective managers have on their hands.

Previously produced World Class talent

Despite the fact that those nations have small populations and a small pool of players to choose from they have produced world-class players in the past. You only have to look at Wales during the eighties and you see that it possible for small nations to produce class players.

The eighties saw a Merseyside dominance of English football and at the hub of the Liverpool and Everton teams were players from Wales. Liverpool striker Ian Rush is simply a legend at Anfield for his incredible scoring record. Everton had one of the best goalkeepers in the world in Neville Southall.

Big Nev is the last goalkeeper to win English footballer of the year and was at Everton for 18 years. Our youngest ever captain Kevin Ratcliffe was also an nearly ever present at the centre of that Welsh defence. Despite having these three world-class talents the Welsh side still managed to fail to qualify for a major tournament. Their last appearance at a major tournament was at the 1958 World Cup where they were inspired by gentle giant John Charles, who was at Juventus at the time.

Best and Giggs never made a World Cup

At Manchester United striker George Best was one of the top players in the world. Even though he was distracted by outside influences he was fantastic when he went on the football pitch. Even the great Best couldn’t help Northern Ireland to qualify for a major tournament. Its a shame that a player as good as Best never appeared at a World Cup.

Its a similar story for the Welsh wing wizard at Manchester United Ryan Giggs. He was born in the Welsh capital Cardiff but grew up in Manchester, where he caught the eye of United. He even captained England at school boy level but wasn’t eligible to represent England. Sadly for the current PFA Player of the Year he never appeared at a major tournament for his home country and retired from international football in 2007.

Scotland the not so great

Scotland have qualified for more competitions than the home nations but the strength of their current squad is awful. They are currently in a transitional stage of bringing more young players into the squad with the likes of Lee Wallace and Daniel Fox both making their international debuts in recent months.

Its hard for their current regime as they don’t have the quality of player they used to have. The days of Graeme Souness, Kenny Dalglish and Denis Law are long gone. They have to depend on good team spirit and hard work and unfortunately at international level its not currently enough.

Northern Ireland improving

However like the Scottish team the Northern Irish don’t have big stars to call on but their team effort and evolution of their team in recent years has been positive. The work the likes of Lawrie Sanchez and Nigel Worthington has to be applauded. They are no longer regarded as whipping boys they used to be. However like Scotland sometimes you need a little bit more than hard work.

Foundations needed

All the home nations now have to look at what is going wrong and why and start identifying were they can improve. Foundations for a recovery need to be laid or their futures in international football could be very bleak indeed. The influx of foreign players in the last twenty years hasn’t helped their causes as their players are suddenly playing in the lower levels of football.

Playing at a poor standard of football is not going to benefit their national side. When your playing against players from the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A you don’t want your players coming from Accington Stanley and Burton Albion. I would really love to see Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic at a major tournament in the near future but I honestly can’t see that ever happening.