EPL player quota is ‘desperate’
Posted on | May 14, 2009 | No Comments
Talentidius Englishus youngsterius (Engdangered)
Back at the end of March England’s under-21 side hosted their French counterparts in a friendly at the City Ground, Nottingham.
I was watching the game, my first proper Under-21 fixture, and two things surprised me within the first five minutes.
Firstly, there were over 23,000 people in the ground to watch an enjoyable but uncompetitive junior international fixture on a chilly Tuesday.
Second, France absolutely out-classed and out-passed England from the start and throughout. It finished 2-0 to the visitors, but it could have been more.
England were strong and kept their shape ok, but France were faster, had a better touch, superior movement and more creative approach. It was a no-brainer, even to these red rose-tinted spectacles.
The gap between young English players and their continental counterparts is clearly already there and growing.
And the Premier League is trying to fill it – by working on a rule on minimum quotas of home-grown players for clubs.
‘Misguided and desperate’
It’s designed to improve the future quality of the England team. But its misguided, desperate, and will probably fail.
To start with the quota rule could refer to ‘home grown’ players – defined as players who have been at a club for a certain amount of time and or since a certain age, regardless of nationality. So, for instance, Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal, who definitely can’t play for England the last time I checked, could qualify as a homegrown player.
Also, an enforced quota rule doesn’t directly address the fact that many developing English players simply aren’t cutting the mustard. Surely a faster way of sorting this out would be for the League and the FA to get together to sort out the debacle that is the National Football Centre.
What’s going on with ‘England’s Clairefontaine’?
Designed to rival France’s Clairefontaine facility for talented youngsters, the scheme has been on the table for about eight years and is meant to be built near Burton-Upon-Trent. Dogged by delays, it’s become something of a case study on how red tape, arguments over money and mismanagement are slowing the development of the national game.
A half-arsed quota isn’t the answer. It’s the equivalent of sticking a two-inch plaster on a gaping wound and hoping it works before the patient bleeds to death.
Unless more is done, we could be declaring a time of death for England’s national side faster than anyone ever feared.
Chris Breese
[Photo: Wonker CC]
Related Posts
Are English clubs bad for the CL?
Comments
Leave a comment