da luck： How is it that English teams are doing all they can to buy players from Spain, Italy, Germany, France and beyond, but none of our players appear wanted by other leagues?
da betway： Are the English players so poor in comparison? Are they too expensive against their rivals? Is the fact that my grandmother could get a place in the current England team (unless she plays for West Ham) a sad indictment of the standard of English talent?
Well, the talent appears to be there, so what’s wrong? Is it the structure of the game or the coaching or all of it? Or something else?
It’s weird that England seems to be the only country, within the top leagues, that does not easily export footballers. English players of any quality or substance seem to be missing in the European leagues and have done for a while. Granted, as in the 1980s when Serie A’s mystical enticement took big names, Ashley Cole and Micah Richards have moved there for short spells, but on the whole, no one wants to buy our players.
In the past a host of top names joined Serie A clubs, Brady, Souness, Rush, Wilkins, Francis, Ince to name but a few, Ligue 1 took Waddle and Hoddle, the Bundesliga lured Woodcock, Hughes and Keegan over, while La Liga took Lineker, Archibald and in recent times, Beckham, McManaman and Owen. All had varying degrees of success and failure. We won’t mention the Major League Soccer retirement home at this juncture.
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Waddle, was in France with Marseille between 1989 and 1992 and believes the experience of challenging yourself as a person and a footballer in a foreign league can be vital. He says young players at Premier League clubs who are regularly sent out on loan should spend some time in Holland, Germany, France or wherever, discovering a new type of football and, quite possibly, learning a bit about themselves, too.
There is an argument that if English players went abroad their football growth would improve the national team. Past winners of the World Cup, Brazil and France, both had a squad mixed with domestic and European league players.
On the flip side, teams like Italy, Spain and Germany have won World Cups with the vast majority, if not all, of their playing staff only taken from their own domestic leagues and in most cases, the players only came from two or three teams.
Only once has an England World Cup squad contained more than two foreign-based players – in 1990.
So maybe, it’s not a bad thing for our players to stay in the Premier League. Or could it be that players that are really only average at best can command £100k a week in wages here, but not abroad? In which case, why leave these shores?
Englishmen playing abroad remains a path rarely trodden, and one that is frequently followed home again with bemused failure. However, I realise that Gareth Bale is enjoying some success at Real, but he is Welsh. I also realise Ravel Morrison is at Lazio, but even there, the midfielder is doing his best to ruin another opportunity.
Premier League clubs are accused of stockpiling the best of English talent and then holding the players back or allowing them to disappear on loan or just fade away. It’s easier and quicker to buy a quality and experience for tens of £millions that can go straight into the team, so why blood young home gown players?
So, in summary, the demise of the Englishman abroad could be put down to poor coaching standards and therefore our players just aren’t good enough. It could be that they are average and lazy and get well paid here for those two enthralling characteristics rather than abroad, or it could be that English players have never really done very well abroad and it’s put European teams off considering a tattooed, ear ring-wearing, monosyllabic, Ferrari driving sloth of average ability, who considers two 90 minute games a week a bit much.
Take your pick.
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