Can some Premiership Clubs still be called English Clubs?

Watched this news on Sky.

It was about the last premiership encounter between Arsenal FC and Portsmouth.

22 players on the pitch, not a single english man.

Sky interviewed The Blackburn Manager and I thinks Birmingham's Alex McLeish or some other club manager.

Surely with the increase in purely foreign ownership of english clubs, it was already hard enough; but to have two teams battle it out and not a single english player on the pitch, it looks as if some new regulations need to be put in place.

I do not agree with the notion that the quality is not there amongst english players, or that they are over-priced.

English Clubs are losing ownership and identity and now, also representation on the pitch.... Gradually

Is this gonna be a problem eventually, or them profit is too lovely to resist.

Will AC Milan ever be without an italian on the pitch for any one match? Yet Italy is part of the EU

Has the FA missed it somewhere?

Difference is Italy don't have a problem with producing players year after year, so it's not the clubs fault... The FA may have slipped up in terms of providing faciliities but maybe it's a matter of UK players just not being as good as the others in most cases.

Difference is Italy don't have a problem with producing players year after year, so it's not the clubs fault... The FA may have slipped up in terms of providing faciliities but maybe it's a matter of UK players just not being as good as the others in most cases.

AC Milan as an example is hypothetical. Galatassaray? Lyon? Atletico mardrid?

The problem lies within the valuation of the English player Man Utd sign Rooney for £27m.  we sign Torres for £20m, who would you rather see in your side ?

Another prime example is Arbeloa & Johnson both players have attributes that are pretty much contradictory to one an other, Johnson outstanding going forward, suspect at the back, Arbeloa outstanding defensively, suspect going forward, but looking at them as a whole what they excel at and what they are not so good at, it would be fair to say they are fairly equal abilities footballers, yet look at the gulf in the transfer fee's.

Edit: I'm half cut so if that makes no sense just ignore it

That might be the case for the EPL. But as you go farther down the tables League 1,2 Blue Square etc..you will see teams that are all English or majority English.  The main concern for the EPL and FA should be youth programs.  Its apparant that their is a failure in the "Youth System" and "Under" leagues.

I think that a good example is the US.  We had no good youth programs or sponsorships before the years leading up to the US World Cup.  15-20 years ago their were no Americans playing in the EPL or Serie A,La Liga etc. Then we increased the youth coaching and put money into these programs and a lot of those kids are making it in the top tier of world football.  Dont get me wrong, I'm not saying that the US program is better than the English, but just as an example, the more you put in the more you get out.

I remember that Four Four Two did an article a year back about the state of the UK coaching and Youth Programs and that they were far below that of all the other top European countries. It's inevitable that the EPL is going to be filled with other Nationals. Times change.  Most of the old teams were made up of all guys working in the same factory or who lived in the same neighborhood, but that doesn't happen anymore.

It shouldn't be viewed as a bad thing, Its the best League in the world because its played by the best players in the world. Imagine how I feel. I get to watch MLS which is full of foreign players who suck. Thats what I got.

The problem lies within the valuation of the English player Man Utd sign Rooney for £27m.  we sign Torres for £20m, who would you rather see in your side ?

I agree with the point but the example really isn't a good one for me the way I look at it, Rooney is a world class striker and the money Manure paid for him is worth it. I look more towards your lower end players, the workmen type of players who have limited talent yet are decent player for lower/mid table club or bench players for the top 6 clubs. There are a lot of very very average foreign players in the league who are of the same ability of English players in the league system, fact is they are cheaper on wages and to buy from other club, we see it at our club with players like Kyrgiakos who is average defender, there are English players of equal or better talent say for example Seven Taylor from Newcastle but truth be told he would cost extra 3m to buy. There are costless examples of this and for those mid to lower table clubs who are on limited budgets they look at this and simply go for the cheaper route.

I know there is a lot of talk about the home grown player rule coming to the league and that it will help solve this issue, I really do see being implemented within the next 5 years but the real issue is the development of young English players, the system simply isn't producing players to play at the level of the Premiership right now, maybe 10 years ago when the standard was not as high there was less of a issue but with the improved quality in the league many thought with kids playing in such a competitive stage it would help the growth of youth talent (I don't know why because you look at nation like Brazil who's domestic league in the last 20 years has fallen yet they are producing players all the time) but it has backfired as now young kids are not getting played at all because of the money that is at stake and the fact they simply are developing to meet with the standards of the new Premiership.

Like Yank_LFC_FAN said it is all about youth development and what kids learn when they are from 12 years old on.

GOOD

GOOD

Eh?

 I mentioned in a thread a while back about how the Scottish talent has dried,all the top clubs had Scottish players in their teams at one time ourselves included.Sadly this is no longer the case and the supply of talent from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England has dried up.The problem as I see it is the clubs are breaking their necks to bring in overseas players to the detriment of local players,now I refuse to believe that local talent is not available.I believe it is time for F.I.F.A to ban all agents as surely they must shoulder the responsibility for the influx of second and third rate players from overseas into the English league.Now I know under the Common Market regulations you cannot stop players from abroad playing for English clubs but surely these players should have the necessary skills before they are allowed to displace local talent.Not only are some of these players not good enough for the English clubs but they are ripping off the ordinary working man with the exorbitant wages they are being paid.There must be some good kids in Liverpool who would die for the chance to be signed  by L.F.C.Now where are they,fame and fortune awaits them.

I mentioned in a thread a while back about how the Scottish talent has dried,all the top clubs had Scottish players in their teams at one time ourselves included.Sadly this is no longer the case and the supply of talent from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England has dried up.The problem as I see it is the clubs are breaking their necks to bring in overseas players to the detriment of local players,now I refuse to believe that local talent is not available.I believe it is time for F.I.F.A to ban all agents as surely they must shoulder the responsibility for the influx of second and third rate players from overseas into the English league.Now I know under the Common Market regulations you cannot stop players from abroad playing for English clubs but surely these players should have the necessary skills before they are allowed to displace local talent.Not only are some of these players not good enough for the English clubs but they are ripping off the ordinary working man with the exorbitant wages they are being paid.There must be some good kids in Liverpool who would die for the chance to be signed  by L.F.C.Now where are they,fame and fortune awaits them.

Agree partially.

I agree with your position on the availability of the local talents.

I will not say the foreign players are second rate  compared with their english counterpart.

The Championship is filled with english players that, with appropriate exposure and training, they will play comfortably well in the premiership. There was a time the Premiership had more english players than any other national.

Maybe the fact that they're grossly overpriced is a reason? For example, Aquilani at £20 million, what english player could have been bought with the Alonso skill forthat price?

Maybe the fact that they're grossly overpriced is a reason? For example, Aquilani at £20 million, what english player could have been bought with the Alonso skill forthat price?

Steven Gerrard's right foot

I dont think English Players are paid anymore than anyother great player.  The top 20 contracts in the world have Ronaldo,Kaka, Messi, Henry, Tatti etc.. The overpaid guys are not JUST English.

It seems like the League spending the most money right now is La Liga. Spanish players are making the bucks right now.

Agree partially.

I agree with your position on the availability of the local talents.

I will not say the foreign players are second rate  compared with their english counterpart.

The Championship is filled with english players that, with appropriate exposure and training, they will play comfortably well in the premiership. There was a time the Premiership had more english players than any other national.

Maybe the fact that they're grossly overpriced is a reason? For example, Aquilani at £20 million, what english player could have been bought with the Alonso skill forthat price?

I did not mean to infer that all overseas players are second rate,what I meant is a lot of them are and I believe over the last 10 years we have had our share of them at Anfield.Just look at some of the players we have been glad to see the back of.To set the record straight we have had/got some excellent overseas players at Anfield.Is the problem today it is to easy to sign a player from overseas who is supposed to be experienced rather than give a young home grown lad his chance.

I dont think English Players are paid anymore than anyother great player.  The top 20 contracts in the world have Ronaldo,Kaka, Messi, Henry, Tatti etc.. The overpaid guys are not JUST English.

It seems like the League spending the most money right now is La Liga. Spanish players are making the bucks right now.

It's not that they are paid a lot, it's their transfer fees. There aren't as many top class English players as there are top class Spanish players, Brazilian players, Argentine etc. This leads to English players with an ounce of class to cost megabucks.

I think its a combination of the world being smaller and the sports business being so competitive. The EPL changed once SKY and Setanta and broadcasting rights, advertising revenues and endorsement deals etc... I dont necessarily think their are any less talented English players, its just they are playing all over the world now, I'm sure that statistically speaking English players are just as good and competitive as they were 30 years ago. Its just that the sport has changed.

As usual you can blame OWNERS.  Owners have ruined just about every sport in the world. Majority of owners dont care about you,me,fans,history of the club, records, stats. They only care about money. Thats it.

For all you English dudes who care about your sport, please take warning from an American who has had all of his Pro Sports destroyed by "Business". Dont let the owners take the game from you. Invest in your youth programs, get kids playing early, teach them the history of the game and their team. Make them WANT to play in England. For every 100 English players you have 1 Gerrard. One guy who grew up a fan, wanted to play for his team and actually plays for that team.

I dont think English Players are paid anymore than anyother great player.  The top 20 contracts in the world have Ronaldo,Kaka, Messi, Henry, Tatti etc.. The overpaid guys are not JUST English.

It isn't about the top earners, it is about your average EPL player who plays for Bolton or Fulham. You compare those English players on those clubs I bet they make more than their Spanish or Italian counterparts.

In English fotball is nothing English. The clubs' owners aren't English, some team managers aren't English, and now the players aren't English. And why? Because the clubs' owners want to have success with their English franchise* and they buy players from all over the world. They waste their and the clubs' money to get average footballers, and what's the result? The club is in the relegation zone and has £200m debts. And if they relegate, they go bankruptcy.

And why do foreigners buy English football clubs? Because in the English Premiership is the most money. There are the richest clubs and some millionaires want to make more money through that clubs. And why is in the Premiership the most money? Because the TV broadcaster pay billions to buy the rights. And so further!

* Yes, today English football clubs are franchises like in American sports. They aren't football clubs, they are companies and you're the customers. They buy and sell clubs like they change their underpants, e.g. West Ham or Manchester City.

To be honest, I'm a German and I live Germany. The DFB (German football association) has a rule called "50+1". That means that a football club must own 51% of itself. Unfortunately, Hanover's president wants to remove that rule just because he wants to have more success for his club.

Rest in peace, the good old-fashioned football!

Against modern football!

As mentioned it's the kids coming through the systems but mainly the price of English players, as they are much more expensive than a foreign player who has similar attributes, the attitude over the years has been why pay more so the English lads who aren't stand out are at lower league teams.
I agree that the FA must do something to sort it out otherwise there will be many more games like the Arsenal vs Portsmouth match.

Who gives a f**k if players in england are english or not? we're here to watch football, support our teams and win trophies and i don't care whether thats with foreigners or domestic players.

Who gives a f**k if players in england are english or not? we're here to watch football, support our teams and win trophies and I don't care whether thats with foreigners or domestic players.

It would be nice to have some local talent in the first team at Anfield,what would you give for a Chris Lawler,Tommy Smith,PhilThompson,Roger Hunt,Gerry Byrne,Jimmy Case,Steve Heighway,Ian Callaghan Sammy Lee,Ronnie Moran and if we throw in Tommy Lawrence we would just about have a team of local talentI could of included the likes of Billy Liddell,Alan Acourt,Ian Rush and many others as well but I remember how all the above players served this club with distinction.

If Liverpool took to the field with 11 foreign players it wouldnt make a difference because the heart of the club is its fans.