This year's World Cup has been full of surprises. Former champions being shot out in the group stages, tournament minnows taking on the giants, and goals & penalties galore! However, I'd like to take time to focus on England: the team that made people roll their eyes when you told who you supported.
Time for the nutshell history on England. They won the cup back in 1966, last made a semi-finals in 1990, and have since done...well nothing. The most recent international tournament (Euros 2016) saw them vanquished by humble Iceland, and the previous World Cup (Brazil 2014) saw them eliminated after just 2 matches against teams that, on paper, should have been beaten. Now jump to today, England have made it to the semi-finals of the World Cup with the second-youngest team in the tournament, and have made England fans more unified than I've seen in my lifetime.
So now to the meat of the post: why long term plans matter, and why they can be difficult to stick with. From a business perspective, nothing is more open than a sports team. Every detail about players are exposed, and every decision is scrutinized by the public and the media. In 2013, Football Association (FA) chairman Greg Dyke set ambitious 10 year goals: reach the semis at Euro 2020, and win World Cup 2022.
Let's go back to the recent failures. You mean to tell me an England team is supposed to be semi-finalists in a competition where the team who beat us had a filmmaker as a goalie (Iceland), and supposed to win the World Cup just 2 years later in a competition where they couldn't even win twice?! Get outta here! On top of that, the replacement manager had to be removed due to other scandals, and England got abandoned with the youth team's manager. It would have been easy, understandable, and probably be viewed as a great readjustment if the FA decided to change course, set different goals, and focus on a different style. However that was not the case. The FA doubled down on their claims and told everyone to keep the faith. England fans....keep the faith. Excuse me FA, that's all we've had as a nation for 50 years!
Now let's come back to today. Only 4 of the players from that Iceland defeat were in the starting 11 this time around in defeat against Croatia. The prior squad was an aging group of players that were played on reputation instead of on form. This year, that backup manager has led an England squad that is full of youth and names that two years ago were barley a blip on the English radar. Not only did this England squad win a penalty shootout (never done by an English team before), but they played with a style and swagger that said we're here and in charge today. Being such a young team, it can only be assumed that they will play together for years to come and build a comradery within the team. Even after such devastating defeats in previous tournaments, England are now back on schedule for the goals set by the FA. Making it to the semis at this year's World Cup wasn't even listed as a priority. Honestly, after the last outing, making it out of the group stage probably would have been enough.
Time to look outside of the senior England squad. There is significant promise coming through the ranks at England. Both the under-17 and under-20 national teams won their respective World Cups. Arguably these players have the potential to be fighting for England spots at both Euro 2020 and World Cup 2022. Imagine this: England players with a World Cup winning mentality and a desire to keep doing so.
Looking at England is proof that long-term targets and goals are vital to success. More importantly, sticking to these goals in times of adversity is critical to this success. Along the road, it may seem at the time easier (and wiser) to change to something less of a stretch. This isn't saying not to have a contingency plan in place, but that, as a business, you cannot abandon stretch goals. Not only will significantly altering these goals lead to dramatic changes in current practice, but it could lead to loss of employee motivation and client expectation.
Overall, I believe that this year's England performance is commendable and should go down as a success in the grand scheme of England football. Likewise, I believe that by analyzing England as how to handle adversity throughout long-term plans, you will be able to understand that achieving high success in the end does not always equal large year-on-year successes throughout the project lifespan. In those years of adversity, you need to look back and think about why you set them as goals, and why they will be vital for future success.
So in conclusion, The Cup's going to come home soon! Come On England!!
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