Patrick Vieira – Three Lions don't have enough pride
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UPDATED:
23:31 GMT, 2 June 2012
In eight days' time in Donetsk, the
industrial city founded by a Welshman in the heart of Ukraine, the
latest edition of the cross-Channel rivalry will get under way as
England and France open their Euro 2012 campaigns against each other.
Eight years have passed since the
two nations last crossed swords in a competitive match, though France
have twice since beaten England.
At Euro 2004, hopes for England's
golden generation were at their peak. With a midfield of Paul Scholes,
Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, and David Beckham, and with Michael
Owen up front alongside the teenage Wayne Rooney, it seemed England
might finally deliver on the world stage.
Golden boys: France's Samir Nasri (left) and Jeremy Menez
But England lost 2-1 that day and, while they have declined in strength and standing ever since, France have undoubtedly grown in stature as a national team.
Now, as Roy Hodgson inherits a bedraggled, injury-ravaged team with prospects as low as they have ever been in 30 years, Patrick Vieira, the giant at the heart of the greatest France team ever, says his country have huge hopes for their own golden generation.
Vieira, a World Cup-winner in 1998 and now enjoying success of a different kind while working with boss Roberto Mancini as football development executive at title-winning Manchester City, has laid bare one of the most beguiling puzzles of world football: England's persistent failure to turn the talent pool of the Premier League into a national team capable of competing with the best.
Vieira's view, as befits a man who brought both elegance and menace as the Arsenal invincibles remained undefeated in capturing the title in 2004, is many-faceted.
The problem, he says, starts with a baffling disregard for the importance of developing national sides from a tender age. And it continues through to England's failure, as he sees it, to appoint the kind of manager capable of persuading players of the calibre the country undoubtedly possesses to play to their full potential when wearing the national colours.
Head boy: Frank Lampard scores for England against France at Euro 2004
'When you look at the kind of midfield that England have had, with Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes, these players are as good as anyone else around the world,' said Vieira.
'But I don't think England have found the person who can really make a difference with these kind of players; someone who can make them realise how good they are and how important they are.'
Vieira, who will work as a pundit for ITV during Euro 2012, believes England's failings go deeper than merely finding the right manager.
During an illustrious career in the Premier League, he says he was always struck by the contrast between the deep pride and joy he and his compatriots felt in playing for their country and the reluctance and inhibition he observed in those playing for England – not only at senior level but in the age group England teams as well. it is in the youth tournaments, says Vieira, that the relationships are formed which allow a team to come together – and succeed – at senior level.
'When you look at Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Sylvain Wiltord, we all played together in the French youth team,' he said. 'But in England I'm amazed the Under-17, 18, 19, 21 teams are not as important as the first team.
'I'm surprised how many times the players pull out of the national team. They don't want to go to the big tournaments.
'in France, every player will fight because they want to play for the national team, whether it's Under- 16, Under-18 or whatever. And it's these kind of players that you find afterwards in the senior team.
Main man: Karim Benzema
'You build team spirit, of course. it starts there. Even the Zinedine Zidane generation had six or seven players who had played together in the European Championships at Under-21 and Under-18 level. That's how you create the kind of relationships you need.
'In England, I'm surprised when i see so many players pull out because of injuries. I don't understand that. even when i was at Arsenal and I was injured I still wanted to go to the national team, because it makes you so proud.'
Vieira cannot comprehend why the likes of Paul Robinson, Ben Foster, Wayne Bridge, Luke Young and Michael Carrick should choose to retire from the national side. But it is the absence of Paul Scholes that he cites as England's greatest loss of the past eight years.
'he is the best player of his generation. he is a big miss,' said Vieira. 'And when you have one of the best players in the world in that position and he retires so early, it's so sad for the national team.
'Sir Alex Ferguson managed to get him back playing at Manchester United but England cannot have the person who can make him understand how important he is for English football and, because of who he is, the responsibility he has, too.'
Vieira draws a parallel between England's predicament and the state French football was in before their 1998 World Cup triumph. Before then, the rivalry between the major clubs, Marseille and Paris Stgermain, dominated the national side, depriving it of team spirit and cohesion. Gary Neville, now an England coach, has admitted that in his day the England squad fractured at meal-times into a Liverpool table, a Manchester United table and an Arsenal table.
End of an era: England went out on penalties to Portugal at Euro 2004
'That rivalry among the clubs doesn't help the national team,' said Vieira. 'With us, the managers (Aime Jacquet, Roger Lemerre and Jacques Santini) created the right spirit and we realised if we wanted to win, we had to stick together.
'I was at Arsenal and we had players at United and we were always taking the p*** out of each other. But when we came together for France we forgot all of that.'
Of course, France's recent football history has not been one of untroubled waters. The team self-destructed at the 2010 World Cup finals, when a players' revolt over the treatment of Nicolas Anelka led to a nadir in the perception of Les Bleus in their homeland.
But a new generation is emerging in France. This is the first French squad not to have included any of the 1998 World Cup-winning side. Younger players such as Karim Benzema, Yohan Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa, Yann M'Vila, Jeremy Menez, Samir Nasri and Franck Ribery now have their chance to forge their own identity after the debacle of two years ago.
'This is the next generation,' said Vieira. 'Ben Arfa, Nasri, Benzema and Menez won the European Under-17 Championship together. They have been playing together for a long time now.
'We used to call them the golden generation because they were a really, really talented generation but the European Championship is at a different level and they will need more than talent to win.
'I'm really looking forward to see Benzema, because he's been fantastic with Real Madrid. He's the main man and I want to see how he will take this kind of responsibility. It's a big challenge, especially with not having Thierry Henry any more. M'Vila in the midfield has been one of the best talents, too, so I can't wait to see them play.
'We are a little bit concerned about the way we will defend because Philippe Mexes has come back from injury and has not played a lot.
'We have lost Bacary Sagna (to injury) and Eric Abidal (to illness). Going forward, I don't think we have problems because Menez has been playing really well at Paris St-Germain, as have Benzema, Nasri and Ribery, so there is a choice for the manager. Individually they are really good players. The dilemma for the manager up front is in having to choose two or three to play from Nasri, Ribery, Benzema, Menez and Ben Arfa.'
Roy Hodgson might wish for such problems. Englishmen of his generation grew up assuming footballing superiority over their crossChannel rivals.
But it is 15 years now since England last beat France. A week tomorrow, we will discover if a new generation of French players can maintain that dominance.
