English national team woes linked with foreign Premier League arrivals says Scholes

Wayne Rooney, England’s last superstar, arrived on the world stage in 2004. Over a decade has gone by and there has yet to be a clear successor. Photo Credit: Duncan Hall

Five months after a disappointing English World Cup campaign, the same point that has been reiterated for years was being made by critics and former players alike after England’s unconvincing 3-1 European qualifier victory over Slovenia – the influx of foreign players in England is ruining the national team.

For the better part of six years, England could be described as average at best after failing not only to qualify for the 2008 European Championships, but also for the disappointing end to the 2010 World Cup, after struggling to advance from one of the weakest groups of the tournament before being hammered by the Germans in the knockout stage. A lasting memory of the 2012 European Championships will forever be two missed penalties against Italy in the shootout, after showing no attacking prowess through 90 minutes. Finally in Brazil, England failed to advance from its group for the first time in 58 years.

From the era of the famously named Golden Generation, – consisting of the likes of David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole – how has a football nation that boasts one of the best domestic leagues in the world not been able to develop another superstar since Wayne Rooney took the nation by storm in 2004? Former England midfielder Paul Scholes claims that it comes down to the expensive price tags that are attached to English players, as well as the overall draw of buying cheaper foreign talent that is closer to full-development.

“Compared to La Liga and the Bundesliga, English players are not getting enough first-team time in the Premier League,” wrote Scholes in his article for Paddy Power blog. “We’re going backwards from 1990 and the era of Paul Gascoigne and that ‘conveyor belt of talent’.

“Far too often, good English prospects are put on loan to Championship clubs, or elsewhere, at the expense of very average imports.

“The proposed £34m for the 18-year-old Luke Shaw to Manchester United is another example of something which has had a bad long-term impact.

“Clubs are priced out of this market which is why they go abroad for cheap options – they’re not better players. For a left-back to be worth £34m shows how silly the game has gotten.”

Current FA Chairman Greg Dyke announced last fall that he would aim for the Premier League to be 45 per cent English by 2022, with the hope that the national team would also win that year’s World Cup. According to BBC’s State of the Game report, the last time England was at 45 per cent was in 2000. The report also noted that of 373 non-UK players signed to Premier League clubs last season, only 92 (24.66 per cent) appeared in fewer than 10 matches.

Currently, the Premier League does enforce a Home Grown players rule, which was enacted before the 2010-’11 season to ensure that each club has eight home-grown players. However, the issue with this rule is that the player does not have to be English to qualify as a Home Grown player.

According to the Premier League official website, a Home grown player is defined as follows:

“One who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21).”

This means that Spanish international Cesc Fabregas will be categorized as one of Chelsea’s eight home-grown players because of his affiliation with rivals Arsenal, who he signed with at the age of 16 and left when he was 24.

With all the talk of foreign players and criticisms of the rules, currently how English is the Premier League? Of the 593 players signed to the 20 clubs, 217 are English, which is just over 36 per cent. The top English clubs have often been criticized for a lack of Englishmen within their team. Here’s the picture of how many Englishmen teams have been employing from the turn of the century to present day.

It’s interesting to note that Man City has gotten better as a club with fewer English players.

To continually look out of place against the world football powerhouses is unacceptable for a nation like England. Not since the 2006 World Cup, can we say that England has legitimately been contenders to win a major trophy. Not being able to produce any world-class talent since 2004 is also hard to believe for a nation that takes pride in owning one of the best leagues in the world.

The stats don’t lie. Spanish star Santi Cazorla only cost Arsenal £12m and he has been a successful signing for the Gunners. Liverpool once paid a combined £75m for Andy Carroll (£35m), Stewart Downing (£20m) and Jordan Henderson (£20m). They also paid £25m for Adam Lallana and £15m for Welshman Joe Allen. Manchester City paid £15m for Jack Rodwell and West Ham paid £10m for Matt Jarvis. These are players you would hardly describe as world-class. In fact, they are far from it. Yet, they all have once been considered some of the best talent that Britain has to offer, although they have yet to live up to their price tags.