I have always said the Premier League is not the best league in the world, has hardly ever been the best league in the world since it was formed. It is without doubt the most exciting because the ball is moved from back to front quicker with less emphasis given on possession by the majority of the teams and turnover of possession high in a lot of the matches. 

The teams that compete in the Europa League are the ones who are generally the median of their respective Leagues. Usually in all the Leagues you can predict who will be challenging for the title and those who will be fighting for survival. The rest have a chance of getting into the Europa League. 

The past few seasons have shown that English teams are not as good as we in this country think they are. 

Teams abroad are more technical, individually they are better technically too but we just dismiss them because of our ignorance. 

Look how many people dismissed Monaco for example against Arsenal, I know it is not the Europa League but I am just highlighting the fact of how quickly everyone saw all the other teams in the Champions League and automatically assumed Arsenal had an easy draw. 

Hardly anyone could have named more than a couple of players in the Monaco side, hardly seen them play this season but just because we have more knowledge on Arsenal does not mean Monaco are weak. 

I watch Italian football and I even admit I do find it hard to watch sometimes because it can be ponderous on occasions but if you analyse it, the ball retention is high. 

Look how many Italian teams through to the next round of the Europa Cup!

I’ve been coaching for over sixteen years and during the early years, I used to always say that more parents should come and watch their children as there used to be a handful from each side. 

Now it’s the complete opposite where there are parents and family members attending matches. 

The majority are fantastic supporting and encouraging their team and child but you do get others who are obsessed with winning no matter what. 

I’ve heard parents shout ‘kick it out’, ‘get rid of it’ just because their team is leading, they are more concerned about the match being won. 

This is to the detriment of the child’s development because if he/she was left alone during those times, they would probably have executed or tried a skill. 

So what if they lost it and the opposition scored? That would then be up to the coach to explain afterwards about what they could have done better in terms of decision making or what skill they could have used. 

Recently I went to watch a trials session held by Coventry City and some of the things I heard from parents was madness. 

“Don’t go in goal, what you going in goal for?” “I don’t know why I bothered bringing you” 

Those parents will find their child will stop playing football because of them in the future. 

Let children enjoy themselves, let them learn from their mistakes because without mistakes you cannot develop. 

I have said this for a long time until English players are taught at a young age to play and work in tight areas to be able to control and manoeuvre the ball, they will always play second fiddle to their European and South American counterparts. 

This can only be done through good coaching and also some input from the F.A at grassroots football. The F.A have taken positive steps in as far as banning the publishing of results up to the age of 11 for next season so more emphasis is put on development rather than who is top of the league. I have had parents say well that loses the competitive edge. Try telling that to young children when they are playing matches and are in the moment of the game. When players are on the pitch, they are competitive and are focused on the game. 

However the F.A can take even greater steps by keeping matches to 7-a-side  until the age of fourteen.  

Children aged 6-9 should play 5-a-side only with coaches from both sides being able to agree to even making the game 3-a-side. 

Pitches should be made smaller so emphasis on first touch.  

At the moment children move to 9-a-side at Under 11’s with the offside rule introduced and of course a bigger pitch and bigger goals. 

TOTAL MADNESS! 

Children in Holland would probably be having four separate games on a pitch that size with every one of those players getting far more touches of a football than the 18 combined. 

Four separate games of 5-a-side equates to 40 players being coached, playing matches and touching the football more often. 

40 players having to make quicker decisions, react quicker, facing more 1v1 challenges, having to pass to players who were under pressure because they have no other choice, those players having to receive the ball under pressure because the size of the pitch dictates that, having to learn new tricks and ways of beating a player and then we in England......... 

SCRATCH OUR HEADS AND WONDER WHY WE ARE BEHIND AS WE POLISH THE TROPHY OUR SON/DAUGHTER HAS JUST WON!!