English Schools' Football Association

How will England fare at Euro 2012?

On the eve of Poland & Ukraine 2012, esfa.co.uk caught up with the previous incumbent of the England Under 18 Schools’ International Team Manager post, Andy Williams, to gain his insight into the mindset of the managers and coaching staff as they prepare their teams in seeking to become European Champions. Their thinking will not differ too muchto this 5 step plan.

UNITY
All managers consider good team spirit worth a goal before the start - look at Greece 2004,France 1998, and Italy 1982. Everybody has to be pulling in the same direction and appreciate that noone is more important than anyone else. There is no room for egos, petty jealousies, or shirkers; teamwork is built upon mutual trust and this includes the coaching staff. When you have a team of top players, all of whom can do a good job, there will be some disappointed faces at not starting or even playing much at all. Divisiveness is unwelcome and is your guaranteed early ticket home - see France 2010 and Holland 1996. The management will be working hard to ensure cohesion.

PREPARATION
You have worked hard for this moment in the spotlight so take nothing for granted, there will be no easy games from this point on.Don't change who you are, you haven't got that amount oftime available. Work hard at making sure the fundamentals are well understood taking care not to overload your players with too much newinformation, it is often a case of reminding them of the key principles; account for all aspects of the Fours Corners Model (technical, tactical, physical, and social). Hence, when the players enter the arena for the first game you want them to be relaxed and stress free, they know what it is expected and they know it can't be any harder than what they are used to. At this level all teams are very close, they are littered with talent, and everyone knows everything about each other. It is the fine detail that will count so work on moments in games, especially your set pieces and penalties!

GAME PLAN
Do you play offensive football (Spain) or defensive football (Italy), or do you prefer to lie in wait and counter attack (Germany); whatever the strategy cut your cloth accordingly ensuring your players fit the system you prefer and have a deep understanding of what they are doing. A team with a clear game planshows the 4 C's - Calm, Composed, and Confident - they play with an i-Can attitude. It is about every player doing their job normal well - see South Korea 2002.

ADAPTABILITY
To winrequiresbravery, that means a teamreacting to situations quickly. It is unlikely every game will go toscript (Plan A)so you will need to change (to Plan B) at some point. Have an idea of your substitution strategy beforehand, don't dally here; consider a change of formation if you need to lock a game down, close a game out, or push for a late winner / equaliser, work on different formations for different scenarios, understand momentum in the game and change tactics at different momentsdependent onthe status of the game - France 2000, Germany 1996.

FOCUS
All teams will want to get off to a good start, but don't get derailed when it doesn't go to plan. Expect the unexpected because it will happen; a poor decision, a suspension, or an untimely injury. Don't get ahead of yourself and don't over-react; your WIN strategy is key- What's Important Now; stay focused on the job in hand taking it one step at a time, one game at a time. As favourites, Spain lost their first game in South Africa 2010, against Switzerland 1-0, then went on to win six games in a row to become World Champions for the first time.

Going into this weekend'sEuro 2012 Championships the four big in-form nations are Spain, France, Germany and Holland so it won’t be a surprise to see them go a long way, watch out also for Croatia.