England's problems are in the mind ahead of World Cup Government needs shaming into confronting childhood obesity and doing even more to ameliorate footballing facilities and coaching at schools. Work-permit regulations should be recalibrated to weed out the mediocre mercenary from abroad - also in academies - while a January break needs inserting between the third and fourth round of the FA Cup to give players some respite from the unremitting club storm. The FA has to be bold and sacrifice replays to free up space. In denial too long, England must also finally face up to the fear of the penalty-kick, turning them into nervous wrecks and accounting for exits from three of their last four tournaments, and six of their last 10. This is partly why FA sports psychologists are talking to younger age-groups. Taking penalties needs to become part of any England contender's training life, a daily routine not a biennial nightmare. Before addressing a stationary ball from 12 yards, England need counselling. They resisted the chance to stage a practice shoot-out at the end of the Chile game. Roy Hodgson contends that it is impossible to replicate the tension of a real tournament knock-out drama such as in Turin (1990), Wembley (1996), St-Etienne (1998), Lisbon (2004), Gelsenkirchen (2006) or Kiev (2012). The counter-argument that golfers hone putts on the calm of the practice green, a world far removed from the intense final-day gallery, is lost on the footballing fraternity. England are paranoid about penalties, and the mere thought of having shoot-out dress-rehearsals, doubles the dread. The lions have become lemmings. Psychological help could be at hand. From January, England will be joined by Dave Reddin, the FA's new head of performance who will be based at St George's Park. He arrives with a formidable CV, including England's 2003 Rugby World Cup triumph, glowing testimonials from Sir Clive Woodward, Martin Johnson and Jonny Wilkinson as well as the gratitude of the BOA for his influence behind Team GB's mighty London Olympics. Reddin's role at the FA is far-reaching, also involving sports science, and the FA is keen to point out that he is not there solely as a Penalties Tsar. Yet England need a sports psychologist, somebody to train the mind as well as the body. If the Under-10s are benefiting, so should the seniors. Hodgson has not yet finalised his staffing for Brazil but there is an understanding that if Reddin feels it would be beneficial to travel, he will go to Rio. It would be absurd if he was denied a ring-side view of the knock-outs England tend to suffer. Following his contribution to events in Sydney, Reddin should one of the first on the plane. Hodgson is "interested" to listen to Reddin on the art of toughening players mentally. "I can't say that the mental side of things played no part in our defeat on penalties in Euro 2012,"" Hodgson said. It plays a major part in football full stop. Football is a thinking game. It's decisions, decisions, decisions. Midfielders and strikers might only get 50 or 20 touches a game, so there's an awful lot of thinking and concentration that goes on. As Professor Dr Hans-Dieter Hermann, the sports psychologist to the German team who visit Wembley on Tuesday, says: "Success begins in the head." Reddin agrees, and explains on his website that his philosophy demands an "obsessive attention to basics"" by players. "Winning is about tiny margins and elite performance often comes back to the ability to consistently perform the basics perfectly."" The right mentality, the winning mentality, is seen in and shaped by constant practice. In conversation with Vern Gambetta, a conditioning coach who has advised MLS clubs and the US men's team, Reddin addressed what he called the biggest issue with developing sportsmen as "young athletes who get too much done for them too early and who fail to appreciate the need for pure hard work."" Such sentiments will strike a chord with those who worry that the elite Academy system can soften players, and that generous early contracts can temper hunger. If football listens to Reddin, it will benefit hugely. The fear is that Reddin could become frustrated by club-versus-country politics and time-limitations imposed on access to national team players. During his successful period as the RFU's head of fitness, Reddin warned about the increasing physical and mental strains felt by elite rugby players. "What I'd hate to see is rugby end up in a football-type situation where the coach gets the players two days before an international with levels of expectation still sky-high,"" Reddin said. I don't see how that can possibly work for anybody. How do you make players stronger mentally and physically in "two days," let alone prepare them tactically? To bear fruit, Reddin's "no excuses" mission statement notes the importance of "gaining a full understanding of the individual, their motivations, their idiosyncracies and their specific needs." Reddin will have two days with the players at St George's Park before the Denmark friendly on March 5, a couple of days before the May 28 friendly at Wembley and then time in the US at England's training base. But as he showed in 2003, Reddin's full impact is seen when given time long in advance. Reddin needs to work with all England age-groups. Strengthening the mind-set of the current senior generation may be done only through little tweaks such is the shortage of time. Over in the German camp, Hermann believes that fans" access to Germany's stars via social media, notably Twitter, has made the players more psychologically vulnerable because of abuse following performances deemed inadequate. Spain's players were banned from Twitter during their triumphant Euro 2012 campaign. All issues will be examined before Brazil but - as with those Under-10s - Reddin's influence is really for the future.