Football: Capello can be the best foreigner in English football ever

Premier League / Tareq Quiroz / 05 December 2008 / Leave a comment

Tareq Quiroz laments a decline in the standard of punditry, talks up England's chances of World Club glory and hails a Premier League which is the most exciting and intriguing it's ever been.

We are not even halfway through the season yet you would think that the end was nigh. How many more times do we have to listen to statements as to how you can only lose so many games before your chances of winning the title are gone? Or how teams with a certain amount of points at Christmas have never stayed up. Predictions are part of the game but you can't help but think that many of them require little in the way of thought and are just far too easy to roll out.

The art of punditry has long since taken a huge dive due to the amount of pundits in operation. A favoured topic is the discussion on whether or not foreign players are good for the Premier League. I largely keep quiet on the subject but I feel now is the time to make my move. Are the amounts of foreign players in the Premier League making it too difficult for English youngsters to come through?

It frustrates me to hear pundits suggest that too many foreign players in the top flight are responsible for the National side's dismal performances in recent years. The England side doesn't require quantity it simply needs quality. How is a big pot of mediocre players going to assist the England cause? The country has ample quality players who surely are much better off playing with decent foreign players rather than less talented English players.

Recent results under Fabio Capello have given the country hope that the dream of winning World Cup 2010 is very much alive. The market certainly seems to back that up with England trading at just [10.0] to win the title in South Africa.

It is so easy forget just how English clubs struggled on their return to European football following their five year ban in the late eighties. They were exposed in the first few years and it was clear that the league had fallen behind its major European counterparts. The import of the top foreign players was absolutely necessary to get the domestic league back up to a suitable standard.

Arsenal were England's first European Cup representatives following the ban and they didn't even make it to the group stages. Imports were born out of necessity to improve the overall standard and that is something clearly that Arsenal really took on board. I would say a little too far with their current team but you can't argue that they do have a reasonable chance of claiming this year's Champions League. A target that they are currently trading at [14.5] to achieve.

Arsenal are one extreme and in terms of decent teams there are a few other top half clubs who are now predominantly home grown. Aston Villa and Portsmouth have both fought out European ties this season with plenty of English players.

Pompey didn't make it through to the next stage but Villa have and, with lots of young English players, Martin O'Neill will be hoping he can take his exciting team all the way and they are available at [18.0] to win the UEFA Cup this season.

Whichever way you look at it the Premier League would not be the force it is today without the influx of overseas players. It was vital for the clubs to establish a foothold in European club competitions and without that the league wouldn't command the sort of money it does from all around the world. It is undisputable that the league is more exciting and intriguing than it has ever been.

Any failing from the national side is down to poor management, players not rising to the occasion or, dare I say it, simply that for large periods the players were just not as good as their opponents. England does not have a divine right to win major tournaments. Recognise that and embrace what components the top foreign players bring and maybe the players will relax and maybe, just maybe, the foreign import that is Fabio Capello can be the best England has ever seen.