How the 6+5 rule would affect Chelsea
It would be hard to find a Englishman who does not sing the praises of the significantly large contingent of foreign players that ply their trade on the world’s biggest stage, the Barclays Premier League.
Machester United’s Portugese winger Cristiano Ronaldo had a stunning 07/08 season. Liverpool’s Fernando Torres is the most successful debut foriegner in the Premier League’s history. Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas is the heartbeat of the Gunners. Chelsea’s Didier Drogba has roared the Blues into a great period of success. And all of these players have an impressive supporting cast made up of many cultures and countries.
So why does Sepp Blatter want to end it all?
The UEFA president is heavily pushing the bid for a 6+5 quota in domestic competitions, which would mean that six players on the side are eligible to play for the national team of the country of the club. So in England, twelve English players would have to grace the pitch for the game to start.
Sit back in your seat. And think of the complications, the revolution this would bring to domestic competitions around the world.
Chelsea would be in a position where their English players would be forced to play every single game – and Chelsea’s current first team has these English stocks: Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, John Terry, Michael Mancienne, Scott Sinclair, Jimmy Smith and Lee Sawyer.
Only four of those players play in the first team on a consistent basis. Michael Mancienne has only played in two games for the club. Scott Sinclair, Jimmy Smith and Lee Sawyer are all out on loan at the moment – and only Sinclair has played for Chelsea first team with five appearances.
The idea for 6+5 is that it would be gradually rolled out slowly, with 4+7 the starting point. In a hypothetical situation, if 4+7 was to be introduced for the last game of the current season, then A. Cole, Lampard, Terry and Mancienne would have to start – Joe Cole is out for the season, and the three other players, are, as mentioned before, on loan.
And so, with the introduction of Mancienne, in our hypothetical situation, would mean that Bosingwa or Ivanovic would have to be dropped so the Englishman can take the right back position. And doing this, would weaken the team. And that is just 4+7.
Now we enter the transfer window, and Chelsea must get ready for the 6+5 ruling. So we purchase, say Aston Villa’s Ashley Young, and sell the services of Kalou, seeing that we need Englishmen and not Ivory Coast men. But the wrecking ball of 6+5 doesn’t stop there. Aston Villa, now without the option of Ashley Young, must go and purchase another Englishman to make up their 6+5 quota.
You can see the where this is going to take us – eventually teams like West Bromwich Albion, with their English players poached by the lure of money from bigger clubs needing to fill in the gaps left by the English players that have moved from their club to an even bigger club – the Big 4.
And so lesser quality players would have to be purchased by West Brom and such, taken from the Championship and such. But if they were better than the foriegn players already at these clubs, they would be there. Put simply, they’re not. So that’s why the foriegn players are purchased, to improve the standard of players at these clubs.
I cannot fathom the possibility that Chelsea would be where they are now without Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho, John Obi Mikel, Nicolas Anelka, Michael Ballack and many more. Indeed, if it weren’t for Ballack’s goals last season, we would’ve been 13 , not 1 point behind United. Makes you think.
I can see the positives in Blatter’s proposal, and I do admit that England does have quite a few top players. Obviously, there is some sort of a problem when Liverpool have more Spanish players on the field than Spanish side Real Madrid. But if 6+5 were to come in, just take a look at Arsenal. They would have to forego a lot of their talented foriegn youngsters in favour of lesser talented Englishmen.
It is not the foriegners’ fault that England did not qualify for Euro 2008. It is not the Premier League’s fault that Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool have invested better in their squads and are more successful in the Champions League. A while back, Spain were kings of Europe. Now, it’s England. They will move on, to be replaced by another dominant nation for a period of time.
Losing the foriegners and introducing lesser players into the top flights around the world is not the answer.
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Topics: Chelsea, English Premier League, Help Football
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Sell petr cech and buy joe hart and ashley young or aaron lenon
April 20th, 2009 @ 10:43The positive that I see coming from a 6+5 is that all those great foreign players that are currently playing for the big 4 that will have to be let go will get dispersed to other clubs, many of them in the Premier league. I would guess that mid-table sides would probably sell their lesser foreign players to make room for better foreign players that wanted to stay in the Prem, which would increase the quality of their team and, in turn, increase the competition in the league in general.
I recognize that that won’t be the case for all of them, but a lot of those foreign players are going to want to keep playing in England so they’ll find a team to play for. You can’t tell me that the Premier league race doesn’t get boring after a couple of years, unless you’re a fan of one of the big 4.
April 20th, 2009 @ 12:41i think the idea behind this rule does not hold water you cannot force people to play football. what if you have a limited number of english players in England who are willing to play? will they revert the rule?
April 20th, 2009 @ 17:58i think UEFA should give it a second thought before embarking of such a journey
This idea will weaken English football which has attracted many soccer fans.
April 20th, 2009 @ 20:07Kenneth, I think you are on to something. In a nutshell, I don’t think the EC or UEFA may be able to regulate free-market capitalism and the commercial success of the Premier League.
Who is more powerful? I think the 6+5 rule is a pipe dream.
Also, who is FIFA to tell people how the game is to be played in basically, the home of the game itself?? I see lots of Brits playing in the Premier League, with the big 4, to an extent, they are trying to build the best teams in the world and the Champions League successes are proving this, therefore, they do have a good share of foreigners, however as a whole and looking at other squads, I don’t see the same ratios.
Where was FIFA when Real Madrid has had Puskas, Di Stefano, Zidane or AC Milan has had Weah, Marco Van Basten or Kaka. These names are game changers, these teams won with players who were at times, the single best player in the world. Is this with the EPL so different?
Is the FIFA game the standard of Football? The ideal? Is the World Cup ideal known for it’s feigning of injuries, diving, taunts, nationalism, hand-balls and many scandals through out it’s history? And a tournament that is only played every four years and for a large part of it’s history, did not even have countries from Africa and Asia playing? Are these scenes such as diving or feigning injury really seen in the EPL? Largely No.
It’s a pipe dream I’d think. It could easily be an action that would face court challenges and could go in all kinds of directions including the Court of Arbitration of Sport and even the PL refusing to abide.
Interestingly, a last side note, I was reading a biography on Maradona and it seemed when he first signed for Barcelona cerca 1983, they had some sort of rule of only allowing 2 foreigners on the pitch for each team.
Looking at Chelsea, what is the effect? Disallowing a handful of Africans to play? As far as that goes, that would not be popular either.
April 21st, 2009 @ 03:02Kenneth: Yes, you are correct, it would weaken the product like watering down coca cola. Would this be accepted on a world-wide basis? Or is it FIFA’s/UEFA’s attempt to bring the PL down to a level more with the other leagues?
When I see players like Tim Howard, Tim Cahill, Dirk Kuyt, Michael Ballack, Owen Heargreaves playing, in today’s world, they aren’t exactly citizens of the UK but it does seem like they are from the same neighbourhood.
This rule is brought up but I can’t see it working.
April 21st, 2009 @ 03:14Yes, that is the point. FIFA turned a blind eye when Italy and Spain ruled the world with foriegners. I think there is a bit of England hating with FIFA, particulary with Blatter, and definitely with Platini. He’s always whingeing about how terrible England is. In fact, get rid of the man. Or he needs to get with the times and stop dogging down England.
April 21st, 2009 @ 03:54Chelsea have Jack Cork at loan
and ryan Bartyard too
there are players who play in championship week in week out.
April 21st, 2009 @ 07:12This is just a cynnical attempt by the whingers like Hoeness and Rummenigge at Bayern and the other old guard Euro giants to bring British clubs down to their level rather than strive to compete with them.Did’nt hear too much whinging from them 10 years ago when they were on top. It’s history repeating itself, in the 80′s they used Heysel to stop English teams winning the European Cup every year, now they are using this crap.I believe Mr Platini played for Juventus.
April 21st, 2009 @ 07:28You guys only see it from the Englisch perspective. For example. I’m from Rotterdam. Our club Feyenoord has the best Youth Football Academy of Holland these days. But just when our players are ready to make the jump to the first squad, Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool drops by, and buy the talent. All clubs who are not able to create great talents of their own. It’s a damn shame and they destroy competitions like our own, or the ones of France & Portugal.
Besides, in a few years there will be nothing left of the English national team. Who’s gonna play for England, when all English players are banned from de EPL by Dutch, African, France, Portugees players? The EPL is ruled by foreigners, so why call it ENGLISH PL anymore?
August 24th, 2009 @ 12:40Dutch man you said it dude. I’ve been telling people I have no EMPATHY for all 11 foreign players club. Where’s national identity??? Wake up!! For me ENGLAND COMES FIRST!!
September 1st, 2009 @ 13:34