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Sir Trevor Brooking’s commitment to developing the standard of coaching in England has been reflected in the continued strength of The FA Skills programme , the opening of St. George’s Park and the quality of the emerging talent within the national set up
During 11 years at the helm of The FA’s Football Development department Sir Trevor Brooking, who retires from the organisation at the end of August, remained true to one aim: improving English coaching to develop more technically gifted young footballers.
It has proved a hard-fought battle, but one in which great strides have been made. Reflecting on his tenure, the 65 year-old believes he departs with the Football Development department “as strong as it has ever been.”
The former West Ham and England midfielder, who won 47 caps for the Three Lions, pointed to the appointments of Dan Ashworth as Director of Elite Development and Gareth Southgate as Head of Development Teams as well as significant improvements on the field as signs of encouragement.
Brooking said: “The style of play we’ve seen recently in our development teams is hugely encouraging. People are coming up to me after games and complimenting us on what we’re doing. People believe we’re one to watch in Europe.
“I think in five years’ time whoever is in the senior England coaching position will have a better depth of choice particularly in creative attacking talent – something we’ve always been challenged on for not producing enough of.”
Success at the UEFA U17 Championships in May gave weight to the assessment with much hope that the likes of Fulham’s Patrick Roberts and Chelsea’s Dominic Solanke will emulate recent graduates from England’s development structure.
Brooking believes many of England’s promising starlets can make the transition into the Premier League.
“I do think some of the players we have in our younger age groups will be good enough to play Premier League football. If they go into the Premier League and play regularly like Daniel [Sturridge] and Jack [Wilshere] did at Bolton, then that’s great for everyone.
“With scholarships starting at 16, we have to ensure the quality of the player by that age is much, much higher. We’ve got to increase the depth and quality of players coming through before the age of 16. We’ve got some who had the quality at that age such as Luke Shaw, Raheem Sterling and Ross Barkley, for example, but we need to produce a lot more.”
Looking back on his role in the evolvement of the English player development structure, Brooking modestly described himself as “the face” of Football Development - “the negotiator, who carried the arguments” - before praising those who work tirelessly in the background.
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