Yet, until recently, the football team had proved stubbornly unable to follow suit. 'Spying missions' which helped lay the foundationsThe foundations for this were arguably laid down in 1997, when former FA technical director Howard Wilkinson reshaped football's academy system. In essence, England players were experiencing an elite performance culture - mirroring what they had at their clubs. Firstly, that England players' technical development would largely rely on what happened in clubs. Included in those sides were current England players Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Source: BBC July 10, 2021 22:52 UTC