'Foreign invasion' of the Prem

[G Richards]

I just wanted to say how sick I was to read about the 'foreign invasion' of the Prem over and over again in the build up to the new season. Whenever there is an England game coming it is also wheeled out by the likes of Trevor Brooking. I am delighted to see so many talented players from all over the world enjoying their football here in England.

Many people feel that the sheer volume of 'foreigners' will limit England's chances of ever winning a tournament again. They cite statistics such as Serie A v Prem, with the percentage of home grown players much higher in Italy, who obviously are the world champions.

So, do they have a case or not? Should the foreign influx be stemmed in order to help the English national team?

Absolutely not. It occurred to me the other day that in 1974 and 1978 there were very few 'foreigners' plying their trade in top flight English football. What a coup for the national team that must have been. Surely we challenged strongly for the World Cup then? mmm....

[Sutty13]

England's chances of winning a major tournament are seriously hampered by the sheer volume of fair-to-middling as opposed to great English players. In the England set-up there are only two players that could really be regarded as World-class - Gerrard and Rooney. The rest of the team are labouring under severe delusions of grandeur.

[Jonte]

The first thing they could do is to foreign invate the manager of England, as there are no English manager good enough to win something with England.

[real red]

Probably more useful to England would be if some of our better players actually got to go and play abroad. Everyone talks about how good the Premiership is, but how different it is to every other league.

Michael Owen - for all his faults - did OK in Spain when he got the chance, as did Beckham. Woodgate spent his whole overseas adventure injured.

You look at other countries and you see players who play in a mixture of leagues. England's only player now plying his trade outside England is Beckham, who's effectively playing at Scottish Division 2 standard.

Every other country seems to have representative from around Europe.

[Strontium Dog]

Originally Posted by Jonte The first thing they could do is to foreign invate the manager of England, as there are no English manager good enough to win something with England.

I disagree. I think the likes of Steve Coppell, Stuart Pearce and maybe even Sam Allardyce and Harry Redknapp would be capable of getting the best out of the players. Unfortunately the FA always picks the wrong man.

Originally Posted by real red England's only player now plying his trade outside England is Beckham, who's effectively playing at Scottish Division 2 standard.

I think that's increedibly harsh on the MLS. It's probably around Championship standard.

[Bourbon]

Originally Posted by real red Probably more useful to England would be if some of our better players actually got to go and play abroad. Everyone talks about how good the Premiership is, but how different it is to every other league. Michael Owen - for all his faults - did OK in Spain when he got the chance, as did Beckham. Woodgate spent his whole overseas adventure injured. You look at other countries and you see players who play in a mixture of leagues. England's only player now plying his trade outside England is Beckham, who's effectively playing at Scottish Division 2 standard. Every other country seems to have representative from around Europe.

YES.

Rather than ply the tired xenophobic pish, maybe more British players and Coaches should venture afield and exercise a little adventure and individuality.
If not, then at least be good enough to command a contract with the Club and level of club, of their choice.

[Dicko]

Originally Posted by real red Probably more useful to England would be if some of our better players actually got to go and play abroad. Everyone talks about how good the Premiership is, but how different it is to every other league. Michael Owen - for all his faults - did OK in Spain when he got the chance, as did Beckham. Woodgate spent his whole overseas adventure injured. You look at other countries and you see players who play in a mixture of leagues. England's only player now plying his trade outside England is Beckham, who's effectively playing at Scottish Division 2 standard. Every other country seems to have representative from around Europe.

Apart from Italy who won the world cup and had no-one from outside Serie A.

[real red]

Originally Posted by Dicko Apart from Italy who won the world cup and had no-one from outside Serie A.

Yes, but they had the brown envelopes.

[Jonte]

Originally Posted by Strontium Dog I disagree. I think the likes of Steve Coppell, Stuart Pearce and maybe even Sam Allardyce and Harry Redknapp would be capable of getting the best out of the players. Unfortunately the FA always picks the wrong man.

Well, who knows?

Sam Allardyce will have to proove himself this year with a team that isn't all about defending and fucking up the game to get a draw. The others haven't proved anything at higher levels either. Stuart Pearce didn't do a to good job at City. Redknapp haven't done that good either. Coppel have done allright in my opinion, but what with?

I think it would be harder do the job that is needed with the England national team, against the english press and all that shit.

[Dicko]

Coppell would never be England manager he cracked under the pressure of the Man City job after a month and before a ball had been kicked if I remember correctly.

[Fat-Pat]

I believe that if a young player is good enough then he should be able to break into the first team regardless of how many foreigners there is at the club.

[Jonte]

But, if you see it in another way..

How many players do England need for a team? 1 player of all the Premiership teams and they got 20players.

With the foreigners coming to the PL, they do make the league better. And when they make the league better, the English players holding a place in their team have to be good.

So why is it a problem then? It helps the English players get better.

[Cardie]

The majority of succesful national sides are those that take the youth football at international level seriously and have a clear line of progression from U21's to full International.

Can you see an Italian footballer rejecting the chance to play for the U21's because he's tired, you're more likely to see a full international drop down to the U21's to get a game (as you saw with Chiellini).

Players outside of the UK see U21's as an honour while some of our players see it as an inconvenience.

[Boyspen]

The problem is not so much with the Good Overseas players that have come over but the many 'ordinary players' who are plying their trade in not just the Premier League but also in the Championship and SPL .They are over here because of the ludicrous price tags put on English Players in particular. We cannot ignore the International Game because believe it or not, many of our players do aspire to play for their Country. Cardie makes an excellent point concerning the under 21 attitudes of some of our players.It could be argued that when we come across good young players, (Owen, Rooney) the clamour to have them in the Senior Side is so loud that you wonder whether the players themselves are ready for it and that perhaps another year or two in the U21 side would benefit not only themselves but the rest of the U21 side.

[G Richards]

What does anyone think of the fact that England never even made it to the finals of the World Cup in 1974 and 1978, and at the time the vast majority of the players playing in the English top flight were home grown?

Surely this damages the argument to limit the number of imports to protect the interests of the national side.

[Liquid football]

I think the argument doesnt hold up. I reckon weve got 3 definite world class players in Gerrard, Terry (he may not be popular but ive no arguments of him being in ahead of Carragher) and Rooney. How many world class players do the other top teams have? Somewhere between 2 and 4 i'm guessing.

Imo we were good enough to win the last world cup but you've got to get the right balance in the team and the right system. We clearly didn't have that. It could have easily panned out differently and there wouldn't even be this discussion in the first place.

[Rashid]

I am finding the foreign invasion being blamed on England being shite quite disturbing. The problem we have is hype... people keep going on about the current lot being the best ever but are they? You don't have to go back 50 years, just 10 years will suffice...

Is Robinson better than Seaman? Or Terry better than Adams? Ferdinand better than Pallister?

Or Cole better than Pearce? Owen better than Shearer? SWP better than Beckham or before than McManaman? Or is the Gasgoigne/Ince partnership that much worse than Gerrard/Lampard?

England think they are better than what they are, and until there is a realisation that you need to work as a team and give other teams respect then they will continue to lose. A case in point is when they went to Spain and all the team acted like Billy Big Bollocks with Rooney nearly being sent off... they were outclassed and will continue to be until they work harder.