Players Under The Microscope / Gary Speed / 09 November 2007 / 2

Bolton's evergreen midfielder on coping without Anelka, promising youngsters at Villa and upsetting Sir Alex Ferguson

It was a really good feeling flying home from Germany in the middle of last night having fought back to get a 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich. We had already been lifted by snatching a point in the last minute at West Ham last Sunday - that felt almost like a win. But to come back from behind against one of Europe's biggest clubs made us feel that the spirit to battle for everything which has always been so crucial to Bolton is returning.

I had to watch the game in Munich from the bench because I turned an ankle in training the night before, and the medical staff wanted me to protect it to be fit for Sunday. But it was great just to share the atmosphere in the dressing room afterwards and feel the confidence returning. Since the new manager took over we've started getting back to the values which have always made Bolton so difficult to play against.

I think the two results have also disproved the theory that some people have been suggesting that we are a bit of a one-man team. We've now taken two good results in a week without Nic Anelka and the secret in both games has been everybody working to their maximum. Of course we miss Nic when he's injured because he's a big goal threat but there's plenty more to us than that.

In fact I've got to say that no such thing as a one-man team exists in football, no matter how talented the individual. Of course one player can turn a game with a bit of brilliance, and the people who have the ability to do that will always attract the most headlines and the most money. But if you haven't got a team around them they still can't win things on their own - and the very best world class players down the years, the likes of Cruyff or Pele or Maradona - have all done their work for the team as well as for themselves.

We were talking on the flight over to Germany about the latest spat between Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. Now I know we are due to play Manchester United in a couple of weeks time, and there's no way I'd want to upset Sir Alex Ferguson before that, but that's not the reason I'm saying he's absolutely right in his comments about foreign players.

One of the biggest changes in the Premier League in the last ten years or so has been the number of overseas players who have come here. And of course for the most part they have dramatically improved the overall standard of the League. That's certainly true at Arsenal where they play such dazzling football and it's true of pretty much every club. At Bolton we've had some brilliant foreign players who've brought new ideas, skills and have helped take the club to heights that could never have been dreamed of. You only have to think that we were playing against Bayern Munich in a UEFA Cup tie last night to realise how far the team has come.

But people are asking now whether that is having a damaging effect on the England national team, and on the other home nations too, and I think it probably is. John Toshack already has to look outside the Premier League for a large part of his squad when he prepares for internationals, and you worry that before too long Steve McClaren might have to do the same.

I think there has to come a stage when the English game bites the bullet and introduces some sort of quota system so that three, four or five of every team are home grown. It certainly won't be an easy process because in the short term it will weaken all our top club sides. If you think back to the early 1990s when UEFA rules said there had to be a minimum number of English players it made it really tough for clubs - they were forced at times to leave out a couple of top stars from Wales, Scotland or Ireland so as to meet the rules and I'm sure that's why it took so long before English clubs started winning European trophies again.

The same would happen now because if you told Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and even Manchester United that they had to have half their team from England it would seriously damage their prospects of winning anything in Europe for the next couple of years. But then I do believe the long term effect would be that more English players would come through and rise to the standards and in the end it would produce a bigger pool of talent for the home international sides as well as the clubs.

One club who have produced a lot of youngsters recently are Aston Villa and when we played them a couple of weeks ago I was particularly impressed with Gabby Agbonlahor and Luke Moore. I think you have to give Martin O'Neill great respect for giving them their chance.

Agbonlahor's pace is absolutely frightening, but it was his enthusiasm that impressed me. On the day we did pretty well and Villa were struggling to get into the game, but he never gave up running and was very bright to make Luke Moore's goal. I think Ashley Young is also one who's on a big crest of confidence at the moment.

It's one of the reasons that Martin O'Neill's team should be capable of winning at Birmingham who have been going through a tough time with only one win in their last seven games. But I've just got a sneaky feeling that Steve Bruce's side could be worth backing at (2.96). Apart from anything the fixture has a history of goalkeeping gaffes and will put pressure on Scott Carson and I'm not surprised you can get odds as big as (3.15) for him to keep a clean sheet.

The other really good bet for the weekend could be to lay Manchester United against Blackburn at (1.38). Mark Hughes' side showed against Liverpool last week how strong they can be in defence and with Benni McCarthy and Roque Santa Cruz they are always capable of pinching a goal. Oh dear, what did I say about not upsetting Sir Alex?

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(2)

1. Mike Norman | 09 November 2007

   Congratulations on a great result last night Gary, though I'm not sure a few of the short odds players will agree.

   I feared the worse when I saw the team sheets, but full credit to you guys, you certainly showed some battling qualities.

   You are playing my beloved Boro on Sunday, so you make sure you look after that ankle won't you, I reckon it needs at least another 5 days rest :-)

   Good luck.

2. Paul Moon | 09 November 2007

   Gary

   Congratulations on a great career!

   Disagree about your quota system, tackling the problem from the wrong end, do not want it at any price. We have the best set of players we have ever had and still not going to qualify let alone win 2008 Euro Championship. Feguson only said it to score points, not because he meant it. Why should he care about English International Football?

   Good luck for the future!

   Paul

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