Are ‘foreigners’ in the Premier League hurting the development of local talent?
With another string of international matches, everyone has exactly one week until anything interesting happens in the world of football. Steve McClaren is struggling to put together a terrible side due to injuries, which leaves the rest of us to discuss the state of our clubs. Sadly during this designated time of meditation another topic of discussion is being raised by Sir Bobby Charlton and company.
Sir Bobby seems to believe that England’s youth have been cast aside in favor of foreigners. As much as we’d all like to think this, it is a far too simplistic evaluation of the both the English youth and it’s training system. While the Premiership has experienced an influx of foreign players, they are hardly being brought in to replace the English youth in mass.
Since I am not aware of all the domestic talent in the Premiership I will use the youth talent at Liverpool as an example. Both Stephen Warnock and Neil Mellor came up out of the youth squad with a bit of buzz surrounding them. Neil Mellor managed to score a miraculous goal against Arsenal, and Stephen Warnock replaced Kewell for a spell. However, while they both had the fitness levels and strength to compete in the Premiership, they did not have that creative spark that separated themselves from the most average of players.
While the youth training in England is second to none, they can’t seem to magically manifest that spark that creates the future stars that we all so desperately want. Sadly, the very people that could pick-out and develop players with that extra bit wouldn’t be anywhere near the Premiership if Sir Bobby had his way. Would Arsene Wenger be at Arsenal if you told he could have only 3 of his foreign gems? It’s the same with Rafa’s Spaniards, and Jose’s galaticos.
The simple fact of the matter is that just like in economics, bringing in foreign players would breed competition and help lower the rising prices of domestic players. Despite all this negative spin on the foreign, positive ideas have been put forth. Rafa has suggested that, like in Spain, the youth and reserve teams play in the lower leagues allowing them to play more games at a higher levels, even Sir Alex has vocalized a dissatisfaction with the amount of restriction attached to the youth team.
Bottom line, the misplaced fears of agings stars will hopefully be drowned out by forward thinking managers, profit driven owners, and fans who are enjoying how this little league is looking.
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There would be no need for these foreign players if the youth setup wasn’t shit. While I don’t think its as bad as some people suggest, its definatley bad enough that foreign players have to be brought in to add depth, as is the case now. I think the main problem for England is that they arent producing enough quality players, severley reducing the depth of English squads. But on the opposite end, I think that Englands best players can certainly by ranked as some of the very bets in the world. And i say that withoug hesitation. Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, Owen, Terry, and Rio are all considered as some of the very best in the world at their positions. IMO, its more a case of quality over quantity(top class wise). Our best players are absolutley fantastic but its after that that we pale in comparison to say Brazil or Spain where the next Pele or next wonderkid is discovered seemingly every other day. But remember, not all thes ekids will pan out so its not all that bad. And for those who say that the English Youth academy is near collapse, Stewart Downing,Theo Walcott, Aaron Lennon, Micah Richards anyone? These kids will be world beaters and all were produce din England. And as for the rest, well its quite good imo. Carson and Foster look to become top class in the future. Shorey, Baines, Huddlestone, Milner, Johnsone(of Man City), Giles Barnes, Steven Taylor, Dean Ashton, jermaine Defoe and Darren Bent all have the ability to become very good indeed.(Taylor, Baines, can Huddlestone can become among the best in the world at their positions)……..so cheer up u crazy english bastards
Good article.
I’m tired of this xenophobic, “protecting the national team” crap. If you want to criticize Arsenal, criticize their lack of finishing ability, not that they don’t play enough Englishmen. Criticize Liverpool for not having good enough wing play, not for being “Spanish.” How is it that “Spanish Liverpool” sounds a curse in most people’s mouths? A team’s job is to win, not to help England win.
And anyway, can someone explain to me exactly where this shortage of good young English players is?
Richards, Ashley Young, Agbonlahor, Walcott, Rooney, Lennon, Bentley, Taylor, Baines, Milner, Noble, Derbyshire, Bent…and the list just goes on.
It seems like we see that the national team does poorly and we blame the big bad foreigners for it. Please. England’s problem isn’t lack of good players, it’s poor management. Considering that there are more foreigners in the league than ever before, and the 2010 national team looks as if it will be stronger than the 2006 team, what exactly is the problem?
Welcome to SL Sean.
I think the issue is with U-17 and below, because the kids we have in the U-21 are quite good.
there simply is no real local talent to be had
there was an article on england’s possible world cup team 2010…this article covers some of the same ground so I will say it here…england’s youth is garbage and so very fucking over rated either national team wise or in the precious english premier league…the country is just too small and not to sound overly racial but the country’s genetics are basically made of short squat white men for the last million years…and the few promising star players somehow happen to be black, richards and walcott, lennon to give example but they have yet to learn the game to it’s fullest and all the nuance’s here or there of how to really play the game, though they will and in the future they will be all that england has to cling to as the foreign investment goes searching for even more international talent…but the traditional english kid is dead in the water. I’d bet my wife that even the lowly americans overtake the english withen the next two world cups and that say’s alot about how poorly english players are developing in the new age of football. but there’s not much they can do about it…the nature of things, money time and simple athleticism will eventually completely take over…in the year 2050 their might not even be an englishmen in the english premier league…their might not even be an england anymore.
Quite simply the English youth system isn’t good enough. Wenger plays a highly technical style of football based on movement and posession of the ball, he cannot play this style with the English players available because there are just not enough of them that are technically skillful nor tactically aware enough and those that are are far too expensive for him. Why pay over the odds for talent like SWP, Young, Reo Coker when you can go and purchase little known players for less than half the price with equal or better skill from France of Spain where they produce them in drove.
There is no spark as you say, Mellor and Warnock were just OK as have been many of the Liverpool academy players who haven’t made it. They are players produced for an era that has passed, the big teams in the Premier League play a highly technical style of football and those players were produced for the football from 20 years ago. I have no doubt that Mellor would have been a superstar had he come through with Fowlers generation but it just doesnt cut it anymore.
Even Houllier said about Gerrard that he runs around and tries to do too much.
The simple fact is that other countries produce players whose average ability is enough to get them into most top leagues whereas the english system produces an average level of players that is only good enough for the Championship with the few exceptions that make it in the Premier League.
Good article sean. I was looking forward to posting on here but everyone seems to have said what I was going to, Mintox puts it especially well.
Mintox is spot on.
but I think the solution is simple
i mean its all been about reducing the nmber of foreign players in a squad all these years what about increasing the number of english players?
Now imagine every squad has thirty players and each team must have at least 5 english now it may not sound like much but it will go a long way in keeping the spark in english football and developing english boys?
I have to say like, i completely disagree aout people who think we should have less foreigners in the premiership just for England’s benefit. The fact is that having a league full of just players from your country wouldn’t solve any problems. France are very, very good but the french league is less than average. It’s really a decision between who’s more important, your contry or your club. And even so, if the argument is that the talent is being wasted away in the lower leagues, thenshould the roles not be reversed and some of the ‘English Talent’ go to other countries?…
And finally, if you look at it this way the argument about too many foreigners isn’t really true.Look at it this way:Foster,Rooney, Neville, Carrick, Hargreaves, Brown, Rio all play for Manchester United. That’s 7 english players.
Arsenal:Walcott.1.
Chelsea:Terry,Cole,Lampard,J.Cole,Wright-Phillips,Bridge.6.
Liverpool:Gerrard,Crouch,Pennant,Carson.4
Tottenham:Huddlestone,Robinson,King,Dawson,Lennon,Jenas,Defoe,Bent.8.
Total:26 English players in the top 5 teams.
AC Milan:Oddo,Bonera,Gattuso,Pirlo,Inzaghi and Gilardino. 6.
Inter:Matterazi.1.
Roma:Andreolli, Aquilani, De Rossi, Pannuci.4.
Juventus:Buffon, Chiellini, Criscito, Camoranesi, Iaquinta, Palladino.6.
Lazio:No-one in the current Italy team and none are likely to be in the Italy team any time soon.
Total:21 Italian players in the top 5 teams.
Real Madrid: Casillas,Miguel Torres, Sergio Ramos, Gutí. 4.
Barcelona:Iniesta,Puyol,Xavi,Valdes.4
Valencia:Silva,Marchena,Joaquín,Albelda,Albiol,Vicente, Villa.7
Sevilla:Navas.1
Atletico Madrid:Raul Garcia,Pernía,Luis Garcia, Reyes, Pablo.5.
Total:21 Spanish players in the top 5 teams.
So really its the smae in most big leagues, all top teams have foreigners in their teams. It’s just for some reason there seems to be no real talent coming out of England at the moment…
you forgot carragher
but i must admit you do have a very good come back right there
Mintox and Connor spot-on.
Liverpool_Fan-utter tosh, play 5 sub-standard English players to slowly revive English talent?? Soul of English football was long lost to the change in attitudes at family/society level.
Kids find it more attractive to be effin about getting drunk, getting their groove on and popping out babies or banged up- gambling and all, I’m soon to be 25 and I remember a time when all I’d see walking out of LAdbrokes would be old farts and minicab drivers, nowadays the profile is much younger, I’m seeing guys my age, even younger with betting slips and the like.
The point being that when football is making more money than it ever has it is also further from reality than ever before- that’s not just football’s fault, it’s celebrity, media, alcohol laws and government spending. Liverpool have Carslberg as their sponsors, Spurs have Mansion, Sunderland have BoyleSports, Blackburn have Bet24, Villa have 32Red- all alcohol or gambling sponsorship. Now I’m not pointing the finger of blame at these guys but it all adds up- kids being exposed at all angles to exactly that which stops them from being productive.
Furthermore- the attraction to football no longer lies in the enjoyment of the game but the trappings of a Premiership salary and lifestyle. When the FA get off their backsides and blitz the primary schools with after-school clubs, FA sponsored Drugs Awareness sessions and Citizenship classes then that will be trying to be productive about the situation. It’s ultra-moronic of folks to bang on about foreigners in the game when without the likes of Schmeichel, Dennise Bergkamp, King Eric, Zola, Solskjaer, Henry-could go on and on you lot, remember Asprilla? or Wanchope??-English football would not be as attractive as it is. Exciting English players have plied their trade in the shadow of foreign talent; Joe Cole under the eyes of Paolo Di Canio & Bentley under the French Legion at Arsenal, 2 smashing footballers who play a beautiful game, 2 players to have definitey benefitted from the foreign invasion.
i think the English system for player development is long overdue for a reconstruct…Fergie has been saying that the English academy system isn’t working for along time and most recently sir bobby said the same thing…and the influx of foreigner are one of the reasons why we know the poor standard of the English player..if anything this increased competition should massively improve standards albeit at a much slower rate.
Oooooo no i didn’t:) Sure he’s retired these days…Englands loss eh?:)
Well considering im 15 i think i would know a bit more than you i personally am souly about football and so are many people aroung here sports is the for the lads but drinking, drugs and smoking is for outcasts (of couse its not that bad f youre the right age)
and how does playing 5 english players make them slowly develop we have five english players and are they slowly developed ???
Yep im 16 and I think you’re over exaggerating it a bit King Of Zamunda, anybody with real footballing talent know themselves that drinking and taking drugs could ruin ther possible footballing careers. Now about the rest of us…yeah mostly everybody else are alcoholics….;):D
Foreign talents can bring an extra edge to a team if they assimilate well. It can benefit a young player immensely by training alongside, say Thierry Henry.
Nevertheless, from the point of view of England, it is better to have a core group of outstanding local players, something which will be difficult to cultivate when the important positions go to the foreign players.
Their are good players in the youth setups it’s just teams nowadays buy YOUNG talent. The days of buying 28 and 29 year olds are mostly over barring the buying of world superstars. Teams now buy players when they are 18-24 so they get more value for money. This affects the young players because if someone is coming through in that position i.e. Chris Eagles at Man U then that position is taken up long term by Ronaldo so then the young English/Irish/Scottish player is turned into a utility man like Fletcher and O’Shea. The players are there but they are not able to make the step up over the Ronaldos, Babels and Nanis in the premiership.
Liverpool_Fan- I was 15 and remember when the Premiership wasn’t ‘over-run’ with the foreign legion(I make the point again, the Premiership is so much better off for it, ass is English Football), I compare being 15 myself and the 15 year olds I come into contact with, the differrence between then and now- football, just like everything else has changed a lot, not enough of your age are solely about football, and not for the right reasons to boot either.
Conor- you make point about drunks all over the yard; boozing it up is a nationl trait now. To be English is to love ‘Curry, Fish & Chips, Booze, getting high and getting your end off where possible’and that’s not me being cynical, you just need to consider England as having the highest number of teenage pregnancies being the tip of the iceberg..
The point being made was about football in general, the attitude towards it and how society is letting grassroots football down- I have a 15 year old brother who is of potential semi-pro quality, as are a few others in his social circle, that still does not change the breakdown in standards and all the ‘other things’ that young folk are enjoying, i.e. booze and gambling and getting knocked up. Conor and Liverpool_Fan you’re fine where you are and long may it continue, but the attraction of ‘boozey long weekends,(heck weekdays even)’ comes with peer pressure, although from the way you boys are writing and talking I hardly think,certainly I hope,it will (n)ever affect you, and the availablity of alcohol and lack of open spaces over football, books and clean living can’t be argued; we’re living in a time and age where young folk are more familiar with taboo pastimes and less enamoured with more traditional social activities that fermented footballing talent, the lack of which we’re ranting on about here and blaming on the foreign legion. Full circle, the point being made was that the foreign legion aren’t to blame for the lack of young English Talent, but standards of living and the ‘disaffected youth syndrome’, irresponsible government and public spending. Footballing personalities and all else can bleat on about ‘our youngsters’ not getting a chance, the fact of the matter is they’re not of a good enough standard- you can introduce a 5 English players per club quota but that’s assuming every club has at least that many of the minimum premiership standard. If you enforce it across the leagues then the standard of football being played further drops.
Yes but all the teams will probably just pick up 5 local boys and only play them when they are desperatley needed and that will more boys a chance because their are a lot of youth centers here but i am being over shadowed by flicks and tricks i just want a chance.
I come from a city that loves its activities Boxing, Football, Singing but i do know that there are a lot of young people out there getting drunk and stoned and what no
but trust me if i continue to develop but i am not good enough to be a pro i will play sunday league big deal i will not start drinking!!