FOREIGNERS in the English Premier league: Good or Bad?

Question

Why are clubs so reluctant to buy English players from the Championship?

Take for example Sven Goran Eriksson the new Manchester City Boss: last week when a skysports news reporter asked him, 'Why haven't you bought a single English Player?' He replied...'Because it's hard to find decent English players?'

My question to him would be...'Has he ever looked in the right places?'

We should learn from Scotland's example....Five years ago none of their top two clubs had a Scottish manager let alone many scottish players...now they have got both! And if you notice thier national team has done a hell of a lot better!

Should we follow suit? What harm would it do to bring in a quota system?

Answer 1

I have said for several years now that the British game is not yet ready for foreign managers. Mourinho and Benitez (sort of) have done OK, but simply because of the money available to them, Wegner has also taken Arsenal to the top, but only by essentially eliminating all Brits from his team. The Scottish national team has certainly benefited since Scottish clubs reverted to British managers. A close look at teams in the EPL and the Championship will reveal that foreign players tend to perform much better under British managers, than players born in the UK do for managers from overseas. The mentality of the two are simply not compatible at this point in time. Foreign managers are not quite as willing to accept or adapt to the new culture and environment they find themselves in and try to change things too quickly, resorting instead to bringing in mostly players from their own country. Most foreign players are the opposite and work hard to adapt to their new surroundings and teammates. The ongoing assimilation of UK and European football styles is coming about through the interaction of the players, not the forcefulness and policies of the managers. I think having too many foreign managers in the leagues is much more detrimental to the national team than foreign players. (One of the reasons I hope Manchester United stay with a Brit when Fergie finally calls it a day).

Answer 2

Eriksson should know he was the England manager and if he could of found some good English players he might still be England manager but as for bringing in foreign players i have no problem if they are top drawer players but a hell of a lot of the players that come in are not any better than the British players but seem to attract stupid wages and that's why football has gone out of control so come on the fa the players that come from abroad should be up to certain level and no team outside the premier league should sign foreigners they should be made to buy British

Answer 3

While it is good to see the quality foreign players coming to the premiership, there should be a limit as to how many can play in the same team, especially if they are not E.U nationals. The sort of thing they have in Italy. Otherwise the national team will suffer if the biggest clubs in the top league in England(Normally where the national side is picked from) have only a few English players where will you find the necessary quality to represent England?

Answer 4

I am still 50/50 on this one, on the one hand we get to see exciting skillful players the best from around the world week after week without having to wait for the world cup, on the other our national team suffers because English players are not getting the chances in the premiership as they once did. Also i do not like all the drama and play acting that has come into the game, and i am not saying it wasn't there before it was just not as much. I think that there should be a limit on how many in a squad, but wages need to be capped along with transfer fees. I know the wages thing has arisen before but i feel for the players on £100,000 a week can retire at 38/40 and in 20 short working years if they have not made that amount of money work for them tough!

Answer 5

The EPL has made its name by being able to draw the big cash because it attracts the very best players from all over the world. Sven's is pretty much an ***.

There are several clubs (Tottenham, M'Boro) that make a regular commitment to sign a certain level of English talent, even while keeping some foreign players for diversity. I think the English "game" suffers a lot because too many English players insist on playing in the Championship or League 2 when they would do better to play in Italy, Germany, La Liga. They get mired into one style of play, one way of thinking about the game.

The 4 of the 5 best teams in the EPL last season have probably the greatest mix of English and foreign talent (all with foreign managers). ManU, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham all have a very even mix and do very well because of the diverse styles in the game. Arsenal is very foreigner heavy, and I think it actually hurts them.

Answer 6

I think a quota system might be a good idea. But ultimately it comes down to making the best team possible and making money, and it would only work if other leagues did the same. If EPL made a quota and, say, France and Brazil did not, then they could get all the best players, including English players, and they would eclipse England. So this needs to come down from FIFA itself, or else all getting rid of foreigners in the English Premier would be to make the English Premier a second-tier league in the world.

Answer 7

I agree that there are too many foreigners in the EPL, for Eriksson to say there aren't any decent players in England, is a slap in the face of the English. Unfortunately, we now have a win now attitude instead of purchasing players that will benefit the team in two or three years. There are hundreds of talented English players, the English football academies produce many talented ones, and given the chance there are players in the lower leagues that can benefit the premiere teams.

Answer 8

its got to the point that clubs would rather buy the premiership rather than play for it
the whole of the the English and Scottish game has been taken away from the true supporter and now its just a figure on a balance sheet
to many foreigners ,too much money and not enough pride

should be limited to 3 FOREIGNERER'S per club
and then we may get back to having a decent national side

Answer 9

It would bring more English players into the English league. It would also help the German and Dutch leagues. England is only a strong league because of it's internationalization. The foreign billionaires wouldn't be interested in English teams if they couldn't buy the international talents. They are looking to market the teams internationally via the lingua franca (English).

Answer 10

I don't give a toss about Englands team but I am grateful for Gordon Strachans input, firstly for Celtic and also strengthening Scotlands squad by buying Scottish and helping young Scots advance in the game. For us its a win win situation. Given that Rangers also are signing more Scots it helps gain experience in europe and hopefully the international squad will benefit too. We have seen some wonderful foreign players here but surely its time we develop and nurture our own stars.