Football Food For Thought / Paul Moon / 28 May 2008 / 1

Paul Moon is all for thinking of ways to improve the English national team, but FIFA's president has got it all wrong, not for the first time either.

Loose cannon Sepp Blatter is committed to serving football but I doubt his veracity. His latest act of buffoonery defies belief! The current president of FIFA is convinced he knows the answer to England's football problems. He would restrict the number of foreign starters each club is allowed to five. He expects that his proposal will be endorsed by the ruling body's congress later this week.

If he'd listen, almost all of us would tell Mr Blatter it's a non-starter because it is illegal with European Union employment law and at odds with the Premier League. Workers in Europe can circulate freely; but Blatter claims that footballers are artists, not workers, so should not come under this umbrella.

Research by BBC Sport has found that the number of England-qualified players starting in the Premier League dropped to an all-time low last season. Only 170 of the 498 players who started matches in the top flight in 2007-08 were English - just 34.1% of the total. It marks a big slide from 2006-07, when 191 (38%) of the starters were English.

Football Focus has shown that fans have concerns and when asked if there should be a quota of foreign players per club in the English Premier League, 56% of the 1055 people surveyed said they were in favour. They are wrong, there is absolutely no proof that this will improve matters! Lowering the standard of football being played in the country will be the consequence.

I welcome debate but this will be sufficient to bring all the 'little Englanders' out of their fox holes shouting foul! They will yell that Sepp Blatter is right and that there should be a numbers ban of foreigners playing in our leagues. They will claim patriotism. Inevitably racism will rear its ugly head. They will falsely comfort each other with the fact that we would have been at the Euro 2008 had we more English players playing for Arsenal.

Of course this is utter nonsense! It defies all known logic! The reason for our failed campaign was not because of the pool of players available but because of the management structure and decision making. Brian Barwick and Steve McClaren were 99% culpable (the other 1% was Steven Gerrard's awful miss against Russia). We need to admit and acknowledge this sad fact so that we can move on.

In the qualification matches we had the best collection of footballers in our history and Manchester United (six player's eligible for the English team on the pitch) and Chelsea (four player's eligible) getting to the Champions League Final proved this. Henry, Zola and Cantona improved our domestic footballers and deserve our thanks, not our irritation.

England manager Fabio Capello diplomatically agreed that he would have preferred a bigger pot to choose from but that quality is far more important than quantity. I not only agree with that but also think we have too many teams playing in English Leagues. More is not always better. With more you get dilution not strength! To lose the best of our foreign influx would be a travesty and have an adverse effect on our football and league.

I was interested to read about the intelligent David Bentley on this subject. He was ousted without remorse by Arsenal as a youngster but found himself at Blackburn before gaining three caps for England. He paid thanks to Arsenal for his tutelage and development. He said: "Growing up at Arsenal and developing there was great for me. I think it's made me stronger and a better player for it." Surely he represents a route map of the modern young footballer?

I do not see a serious problem about the pool of players available for selection for England but we must not be complacent. I do accept that we must redefine our youth academies organically, as this is our spawning ground. There is an abscess in English football that Capello has already started to address but it has nothing to do with numbers but more with self-indulgence and millionaire lifestyles.

So Euro 2008, starting on the 7th of June, will go ahead without England and I can only hope that Capello addresses the real issues. I think he has already made a mistake or two but I'd have to say he appears to be going in the right direction generally.

Latest Betfair prices on Euro 2008 - Outright Winner include:

Germany [5.2]
Spain [7.0]
Italy [8.2]
Portugal [8.8]
France [10.0]
Netherlands [14.5]
Croatia [16.0]
Czech Republic [23.0]
Russia [28.0]
Bar [32.0]

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1. J. STAMP | 17 June 2008

   I agreewith Mr. Luna's points. England failed to reach the euro's because of the players and management not performing. Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney and the rest didn't give it everything. We have some of the best footballers in the world, and part of that stems from the likes of Henry, Cantona and Bergkamp gracing our league. To limit the amount of foreigners is a ridiculous proposal, and Pablo's right.

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