A rare Football related post by Will. I think Paul Scholes is spot on here with what hes saying, English football is in a state right now, the Golden Era of players are all pretty much retired and its very hard to see where the National Team go from here. Never before have I known a situation where a Captain retires as Gerrard is potentially about to and there is no natural successor waiting in the wings. I mean, a few years ago when Beckham handed in his captaincy we had John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard all more than capable of taking the reigns. Now who have we got? Wayne Rooney? Gary Cahill? Joe Hart? Hardly inspires confidence does it? Something needs to change and change soon. Only those who show exceptional natural talent are getting the chance to play for the bigger teams and those who need nurturing more are simply cut loose because lets face it, its easier and cheaper to bring in a ready made talent from abroad. The Championship and lower leagues are full to the brim with players who didnt make it at Premiership clubs and a massive factor in that is due to have squads bursting with foreign players. Some may say its lack of talent, but I dont necessarily agree with that. Even the most talented players need a chance to shine and theyre simply not getting that. Look at the likes of Micah Richards and Jack Rodwell. Before Man City were oil rich Richards was considered one of the best Right Back prospects wed had in years and looked set to be an England player for the next decade or more. Man City get rich, bring in more players than any team needs and his chances are cut. There goes his naturally development, confidence and thats another career stunted. Same goes for Jack Rodwell, when he was at Everton he was getting plenty of playing time and looked like a likely successor to Englands ageing central midfielders. One big money move to Man City and hes barely getting a club game, let alone getting near the National Team. If England want to progress and not become cannon fodder like other British national teams not only does there need to be caps on the amount of foreign players but also caps on the amount of transfers any one team can do so that they have to really consider the players they want to bring in. Its all well and good a team being able to make 15 signings every summer, but when it comes down to it, how many of those are actually going to get a decent run in the first team in an already talented and hugely expensive squad? I think a lot of the transfers we see, particularly by Chelsea, Man City and even Tottenham to a certain extend have been more about stopping other teams getting players rather than them needing or wanting them, which to put it bluntly is ridiculous and at worst unfair. Teams like Southampton and Everton have proved that if you give English players the chance to develop they will do just that, its not some secret formula, its just putting trust in young players and giving them game time against decent opposition. Okay, some will flounder and some wont make the grade, but at least they will have been given the chance which is more than theyre getting now. Things need to change fast in English football and fannying about with B-Leagues and all the rest of it isnt the answer, its time to be ruthless and make sweeping changes to how the game is run. Hopefully this catastrophic World Cup failure is just what the FA needs to stick the boot in.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 12:16:55 +0000