Will the USA one day win the World Cup in football whilst England fails to make the group stages?

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Richard Dorman                                                                                     January 2004

Will the USA one day win the World Cup in football whilst England fails to make the group stages?

        Almost 65% of the football players in the English Premiership are not English, so clearly only 35% of homegrown players are keeping the Premiership English. There are only two English players that play in other countries, which are in contention for the English National team. This means that there are only 200 topflight players that the English selection committee can choose from. How can we win a major cup or championship with this small figure to select from? In 1966, the year England won the World Cup, the number of Non-English players playing in the Premiership, was around half of what it is in 2004. Is there a connection between these figures and the poor performances we have seen over the last 48 years?

        Arsenal, a team that has the biggest squad in the Premiership, is at the top of the Premier league with 26 Non-English players in a squad of 39. Clearly, in this instance the Non-English players make Arsenal one of the best teams in the Premier league. However, closely following them is Manchester United, which has a much higher percent of English players. Manchester United are and have been one of the best teams in the Premiership and Europe for many years now, so obviously Non-English players are not automatically needed for a successful team. Similarly to Manchester United, Charlton Athletic, which are currently 4th in the league, have a very high percent of English players. This is further evidence that Non-English players are not essential to a successful team. The majority of the Non-English players that play in the Premiership are European. I understand that these players have the right to play football in this country under the European Community rules. However, if England wants to contend with the best teams in the World, at the sport we invented then more English players must play at the highest standard possible.

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        The English Academy system, which brings young and talented players through into high level football, is an excellent one and the quality of the young players is improving rapidly. Alarmingly, however, Premiership Academies are now bringing in children as young as 7 years of age from their Foreign Satellite Academies. These are mainly based in countries like Germany, Australia and France. Furthermore, the age that an English player can leave school can count against the young player’s development. 15-year-old players from Ireland and France are brought in to train full time as professionals, whilst English players, by law, are still ...

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