Football Architects: The England DNA behind the pursuit of tournament-winning teams

“The rationale is simple, John McDermott says: ‘Under pressure, players often revert to type.’ He is explaining why, in December 2014, just six months after England had finished bottom of their World Cup group, Dan Ashworth and Gareth Southgate announced the ‘England DNA’ at St George’s Park. Ashworth was the director of elite development at The FA and Southgate had just completed his first year as England Under-21s men’s head coach. The DNA was an overarching term for their ‘approach to elite player development’ that applied to England age-group teams from under-15s through to the men’s under-21s and women’s under-23s. It laid out the vision for future internationals to be exceptional across four ‘corners’ — technical/tactical, physical, psychological, social — and contained five core elements. Best practice for coaches was outlined, expectations for the ‘future England player’ were listed and the FA said holistic support would be provided. …”
NY Times/The Athletic