andy Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 It is been discussed so many times I am sure on this forum but it arises again... regarding Trevor Brookings comments and pretty graphs blaming England?s performances on the influx of Foreign players. The bloke is so wide of the mark it is unbelievable and this is exactly why the FA is a shambles the people running football seem clueless. Foreign players have improved the standard. In the 70?s England were at their worst and the was hardly any foreign players in the league compared with now. In all honesty McClaren is not the greatest manager but he is alright. He has managed in the top flight, and he has Venables as his number two who is arguable one of the better England managers we have had. But really he (McClaren) will be the scapegoat if England don?t qualify for the Euro?s To me the appointment of Barwick was the biggest mistake. We really need someone to shake it up a bit. To my mind there are 3 issues with the England Squad 1. Far too much football played. Drop the Carling cup, reduce the Premier League by a couple of teams say, and give the players a Xmas break like the rest of Europe 2. FA to readdress the balance of power. The power is with the clubs and the money. How they do that I don?t know, but they should be ?in charge? ? All clubs and England players (including us) duck out of internationals and then play for the club, surely the priority needs to be redressed. As a Chelsea fan I would side on Chelsea players being fit for Chelsea games to be honest but it is not right. But ask the players, surely they want to play for the country first ? it must be the greatest honour ? Clearly not these days their loyalty is where they pay-check comes from.. all wrong ! 3. Players more time with the England squad. Almost need to build a siege mentality like Greece and Italy have done in the last two competitions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonetti Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 I would rather watch Chels in the Carling Cup than an England International any day of the week The whole England thing is a sham - let it die Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 I saw an interview with Brooking this week and it relates quite well to the points made here. The FA has no power at all over the clubs - they can bring into their academy whoever they want from wherever they want. The old 150 mile rule or whatever it was doesn't apply when the clubs are rich enough to buy the prospective player and his family a house locally. So The Arse scour the world looking for young talent, bring them over here, put them through their academy and then use them in their CL squads as 'home-grown' talent. Example - Fabregas was snaffled from Barcelona when he was 16, and he now qualifies as a home-grown player, having spent 3 years at the club prior to his 21st birthday. The FA has no power to stop this so clubs continue to rake in talent from abraod. Why? Because the grassroots in countries like France and Holland produce skilfull, technically aware kids from the ages of 8 and 9. What happens here? They chase a ball around a full-sized pitch on a damp Sunday morning, with hangover-assisted Mums and Dads scream at them. I watched a lot of kids football when my sons were growing up and took them away from it because it was run mainly for the egos of the parents and the idiots that exercised their 'authority' over the whole thing - coaches and managers who thought they were something special. Football at its roots in this country is a joke. The odd ones come through, the ones who have natural talent like your Rooneys and Walcotts, but in the main they are left to run around like idiots until they get f**ked off with it and pack it in. We may have the players in this country right now, but the signs that fewer and fewer are coming through are there for all to see. Final point - Joey Cole will be one of the first names on the England team sheet come Saturday. he's played about 30 minutes for us this season in 5 games. That says it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barak81 Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 Andy i have to say i agree with brooking, i understand why you say that the forighn players have improoved things but thats only at the highest level. IMO there are to many average forign players in the league becaues english players are so expensive that managers preffer to buy a cheap player from abroad to do a job that they could trust an avergae englishmen to do if they didnt cost 3 million more. The thing is there is a clear knock on effect. Look at are keeper situation. We have never had a problem producing decent keepers but look at how many english keepers there are in the leauge. Robinson James Kirckland Green Carson Bywater - does he even count. Thats 6 started out of 20 and one of them came up last season!! one has only just started getting regular football and the other has soft bones. Most prem teams have keepers from all over the gloab and this results in england having to make do with robinson or james. Same could be said with strikers. Lets look back at the options england has had in the past Liniker Beardsly Ian Wright Shearer Sheringham Feirdinand Fowler Andy cole, if you scraping the barrel Look at in now, take owen and roony out of the mix and what have we got Defoe Bent Crouch Hesky Ashton Smith I think if you compare the two lists i would take cole who i consider to be the worst on the first list ahead of any of the options on the second list. When only 70 odd players that start every week in the prem are english out of 220 it is going to effect the national team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g3.7 Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 it's cyclical. we've got a good amount of midfielders and defenders... there is a lack of top strikers across all of europe in comparison with 15 years ago for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barak81 Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 it's cyclical.we've got a good amount of midfielders and defenders... there is a lack of top strikers across all of europe in comparison with 15 years ago for example. Really do you think?? I think the only reason you havent seen the effect with defenders and midfielders yet is because predomantly you get 4 of each at least starting in every team. It stands to reason that the first place you would see this effect would be keepers as only one starts and strikers where its normaly one or two. I think we will see it spread to the other postitions in the next 5 years or so if the systme doesnt change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g3.7 Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 well- we have a lot of center backs then- moreso than strikers. the pool of players for the national side isn't worse than it used to be. people seem to have forgotten euro 88, the failure to qualify in 94- they just remember italia 90, and that we got to the semi final (having been poor in the group stages, right?). obviously the youth systems and coaching needs to be improved at grassroots- the FA paid a lot of money for a center of excellence a la clairfontaine, but it's not even being used. the amount of foreign players is okay. but that is to improve the pool of players- ideally we should be trying to get closer to argentina, spain, italy and france (and holland even)- but I don't fear it getting worse. england have made the last 3 quarter finals of major championships- that's better than we've done in your (and my) lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimboola69 Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 I think that Brooking increasingly speaks great sense. I would love a Chelsea team with 11 Englishmen in it. And frankly anyone that does not support their own country is a sad little fecker. Just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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