Does the power of the EPL suffocate English football?

[Thermopylae 15,286]

Just wondering if the fact that the top English players never get a chance to play abroad for a few years is detrimental to their careers?

It's just the last time they had a good team was back when Platty and Gazza were in Italy and of course a good few of them were up here

[The Godfather 67,591]

They can earn more at home than they can abroad so I don't see it changing, years ago when gazza ect were playing there was not a large intake of foreign players in England as there is today.

[Thermopylae 15,286]

I think it does help players to develop as footballers and as people to have to go elsewhere and adapt and that is what the present generation down south have missed out on

[philiprfc 1,799]

Well, why are the Spanish so successful then?

[Thermopylae 15,286]

It's a good point I suppose the really big difference is that they produce a lot of their own players where as the top teams down south have hardly any English players

[The Godfather 67,591]

It's a good point I suppose the really big difference is that they produce a lot of their own players where as the top teams down south have hardly any English players

Don't know, only a few years ago they had Beckham, Scholes, Owen, Gerrard, Lampard, Cole ect who were fine players all playing in England.

[Thermopylae 15,286]

But they did go further in the world cup (only going out on penalties in the semi-final) when their domestic league was weaker.

Also when they won 7 successive European Cups their international team didn't even quality for tournaments

[The Godfather 67,591]

This is true.

I still think they should have done much better when those said players were all together, Sven failed big time.

I don't see them as challengers for a very long time now Spain, Belgium, Germany ect have talented squads.

[Thermopylae 15,286]

Perhaps international football just doesn't mean enough to them ... suppose getting 200k a week at their clubs must take the edge off it

[AlBear. 8,499]

Just wondering if the fact that the top English players never get a chance to play abroad for a few years is detrimental to their careers?

It's just the last time they had a good team was back when Platty and Gazza were in Italy and of course a good few of them were up here

I've thought this for years now. You see all nationalities of players moving abroad learning new footballing techniques, cultures etc All except the British. Then when British players do move abroad there's alot of questioning and scepticism about their motives (He's only going for money etc etc) EPL is up its own arse. They believe that every player in the world sees the EPL as the peak of football. Not me. If you actually watch an EPL game the defending is absolute shocking, seriously piss poor. Best league in the world? No fucking chance. It's the richest league in the world. EPL is like an Americanized version of football. It's all about the sponsors!

[derek1872 548]

England have been the biggest let down in International football for many years. Some of the teams they have had in the last 30 years have been awsome. They should have cleaned up. However international football is a funny old thing. Look at Spain for example. They might be dominant now but how long where they in the wilderness? Even though the club teams always competed at the highest level in European football. Take another example - Brazil. During the 70's up until the 94 world cup they under performed all the time yet had some of the best players in the world. Look at them in recent years, lucky to make the quarter final in big tourneys.

Its a funny old thing international football.

[Thermopylae 15,286]

There does seem to be hidden forces at work almost like a genetic magic wand that touches nations and they suddenly have a team to take on the world and then it's gone ... look at the Dutch for example a team of world class players in the early to mid 70s and then by the decades end back to obscurity for a few years

[Thermopylae 15,286]

I've thought this for years now. You see all nationalities of players moving abroad learning new footballing techniques, cultures etc All except the British. Then when British players do move abroad there's alot of questioning and scepticism about their motives (He's only going for money etc etc) EPL is up its own arse. They believe that every player in the world sees the EPL as the peak of football. Not me. If you actually watch an EPL game the defending is absolute shocking, seriously piss poor. Best league in the world? No fucking chance. It's the richest league in the world. EPL is like an Americanized version of football. It's all about the sponsors!

It's a good point part of the excitment of the EPL is that the defending can be pretty poor and goals are easy to come by

[pcbear 10,913]

As long as the money is around the English national team will be mediocre, the high % of foreign players in the EPL are blocking the route of good young English players playing 1st team football, i bet Man City's new much trumpeted youth centre produces next to nothing in first team players in the next ten years, play a talented kid or spend £20m on the finished article is a no brainer for the manager, even the new England training centre will be training mostly kids who wont have a hope of getting a sniff of the first team at their respective clubs, waste of time and plenty pounds.