Quota’s Likely To Find Support In England
The plans for Sepp Blatter to impose a quota system on football have long been derided. Indeed, there was some cause for opponents of such a scheme to celebrate when an EU spokesman stopped long enough to wipe the gravy from his mouth to espouse that any system that prevented the free movement of labour was contrary to the principles of a common market and against European law.
Which means absolutely nothing whatsoever in the great scheme of things. European football politics and those at a governmental level are built of a tradition of horse-trading. On this subject, there is much to be done. The first point of contact for Blatter as far as English football is concerned will be his meetings with Richard Scudamore and Lord Trieseman. Having being voluble in their opposition to such plans, both men have much to gain by turning into Blatter’s most vociferous supporters.
The Premier League clubs may not have been surprised by the opposition to their ludicrous proposal for a thirty-ninth game. Blatter treated the idea as if it were worse than stepping in a pile of dogs you-know-what when the plans accidentally on purpose became public knowledge. Yet the league which has much to lose by capping the number of foreign players has more to gain financially through acceptance of their idea to play matches on foreign soil. Similarly, the Football Association want his blessing for their 2018 World Cup bid; what better way to achieve that aim by becoming an ardent supporter of a quota system?
Whilst the quota system is designed to protect national sides, it is a questionable methodology to apply to achieving that aim. Simply increasing the number players indigenous to these shores does not guarantee a successful England team. Indeed allowing sub-standard players to rise to the top could be a short term folly – even a long term one. The logic applied by the Governing Body appears to be that quality will show through in greater numbers if they have more spaces to fill in each team on the pitch. It is illogical to assume that this holds true for there is no evidence of such a convergence taking place. Simply increasing vacancies means that more ‘average-ness’ surfaces, certainly in the short term.
The clubs are trying to develop more local talent; they make no bones about this. However, if it is not there in the indigenous population, it is not there; it cannot be developed out of nothing or magically appear from thin air. On this aspect, Blatter cares not one jot. He wants to protect the national games. Yet he misjudges the detrimental effect that his plans will have worldwide.
There is no condescension intended in the following but the national teams of Africa have benefited from their players plying their trades in the French, Spanish, Italian and English leagues. It has opened up these individuals to a world of improved technique and different tactical ideas, benefiting the national sides. Those players possessed ability and technique in abundance beforehand; pastures new improve any player of any standing or nationality, foreign lands ensure education on a personal and professional level.
Yet Blatter seeks to shut doors to a large number of these individuals. If a club has to field a minimum of six ‘indigenous’ players, the opportunities for players to move abroad diminishes. In turn, the national teams reach a plateau far quicker than they might otherwise have done through lack of exposure to higher professional levels. It seems that Blatter has not made this element of his plans as vocally as the ‘protecting your interests’ angle.
Simply put, the big clubs will benefit from this plan more than the average. They will become more ‘choosy’ about individuals whom they train in their Academy; the best will be enticed to the top clubs, the average will find their choice of clubs wider but to whose benefit? And what of UEFA’s quaint classification for youngsters poached from abroad? Presumably this ruling will still be allowed by Blatter – he has yet to put the detail behind his sweeping plans – and it begs the question, exactly what changes? Perhaps a shift towards more dominance by the financially strong leagues? Already there, Sepp old bean. Indeed, with the lax nationality rules applied by European nations, there is a strong suspicion that Blatter could make the situation worse.
It is an ill-conceived plan, where the vested interests of a ruling body are acting against the interests of the game as a whole.
You are right YW, there will be plenty of support for this futile gesture.
Didn’t the Italians try it some years ago. Perhaps someone can remind me if it was a success for them?
If there were not 92 league clubs for English talent to find a berth at I could understand a need for some sort of quota system.
Unlike the old days, you now pay a significant sum of money to go to a football match. I believe for that we are entitled to have our managers choose the best players they can find from wherever he can find them. Foreign players (& coaches) have enhanced our game at all levels. I enjoy watching the high skill levels of the current players,wherever they come from, & don’t want that spoilt by some puerile nonsensical quota system.
I am fed up with the bumbling Fifa, Uefa & Fa doing there level best to fxxk up the game at every opportunity just to prove to the media that they are there.
What needs to happen is a bottom up approach.
What I mean by that is funding should be obtained from the big earners, ie PL clubs, to improve facilities & coaching at lower levels. No more bogs to play on , young players taught to use skill as well as strength. That way would produce local players good enough for the big clubs to want & pay money for. An extended loan system of coaches as well as young players could also be used.
Another way to do it would be feeder clubs or close associations between clubs from different divisions. The problems with that would be objections from the feeder club’s supporters because of the real danger of their club losing its identity, & of course the 2 clubs may not always be in different divisions, particularly likely if the lesser club is sponsored by 1 of the top 4 . There would also be the cup competitions to consider.
The way i see it is, either you let all the Foreign players you want in thru the doors(like what happens currently ) and go with the globalism theory of the 39th game .. Or cap the amount of NON- English players allowed in each EPL team . You cant have it both ways .Having harry kewell, calhill,viduka playing in the EPL ,but not wanting to play games on Aussie soil seems a bit hypocritical to me .. It would also give players like theo and others to develop more quickly if a cap was introduced. On a National scale its quite ironic that we have debatably the best competition in the world yet cant qualify for the EURO 08 . Some measures must be taken , although i cant see a cap EVER being introduced something must be addressed to Ensure the Youth of the English national teams are playing at top flight clubs .. Aston villa goes along way to prove you can play a lot of English players and still be successful . Same goes for Chelsea and spurs .. If given a chance English players can be just as valuable as their European -south American - African counter parts. Will it enhance the game itself ? NO .. In fact it would be several steps backwards .. But it would stop the dominance of the top 4 and im sure other than us arsenal fans , (man u -chelsea-liverpool) most clubs would welcome it ..
By that logic Arsenal would be expected to play in France, most of the time, but certainly not in Asia.
Could there be a time when the wealthier clubs have 2 squads?
1 for domestic games, the other for European or Global leagues.
Difficult to see it working but is that how this could end up?
I think arsenal truly is an international team -swiss- brazillians- ivory coastians :)- a lot of french , and 1 or 2 english ,croatian even togo + more! .. Dont get me wrong i think its great to see the best in the world assembled at our club .. But do you think the passion for the international game has wained only because we aren’t doing well ! … I think so …
Measures must be taken , however drastic to up the level of English players . The top clubs hardly play a brit (3 max.).. and we are the worst of the bunch in that category ..The world cup and Euro’s are GREAT competitions ! The world stage is arguably better than any C.L final .. Its been so long since weve featured in it ,its not surprising you get people saying ‘pointless international friendlies’ . Being part aussie , but not by birth i know the buzz of winning things .. The home land brits seem to have lost the passion for anything international, i suppose im referring to the cricket and rugby ,swimming hockey,cycling etc… also being included in the world cup .. It was all a great buzz , the brits need to feel the passion again !!! And not worry so much about their sacred game which in fact has more international stars in its ranks than British ..You either have to ride with the devil on the 39th game or implement a international player cap which they do in the NBA and other sports ,football included in other countries.Like Australias parttimer leagues , 2 non aussie players per team ..
Most are just so against taking the game international (EPL) but forget its the international players that make it the great game it is !
“do you think the passion for the international game has wained only because we aren’t doing well ! ”
That is mainly correct & I also have to admit that in my case the lack of any Arsenal involvement is a factor.
There are other equally as important elements involved too:
The piss poor quality of play because the great majority of internationals are mismatches, where 1 team is just trying not to lose too heavily;
Boorish behaviour of English players, fans & media;
The disruption to the domestic season.
Making the top clubs play English players, by a quota system will not alter anything. We have to get to the situation, where English players are in the team on merit alone. We have to move up, not level down. So I go back to my 1st comment on this discussion for a way that could be tried.
By the way I don’t think there is any general lack of passion about the international scenes in the traditional British sports of football, rugby & cricket.
It is just that some of us feel a lot more about our club teams than the international one. That has always been the case for me but I am always delighted by British success in whatever sphere of sport.
I really cannot see how a 39th game has any effect other than providing a very few people the chance to see their team, once in a blue moon, & make the richer get richer.
The reason Blatter wants to do this is to make sure enough homegrown talent coming through gets a chance at the top level. Unfortunately, I can’t see it taking hold as the top clubs rely too much on overseas players and the overseas managers (Wenger, Benitez in particular) have always, and will continue, to buy in the best young talent from abroad rather than look closer to home for whatever reason.
As for the 39th game plan, it needs to be dropped as soon as possible. NO-ONE in the game really wants it (apart from some greedy chairmen) and it’s ludicrous to suggest some sides will face eachother three times in one season. Fairness goes out the window and how the league can be taken seriously if they branch out and go through with this plan is beyond me.
I think the top clubs go for the best they can get from within their English limitation zone & augment it with super talents from abroad.
The question to be answered is why the super talents are so thin on the ground in England?
flint
I think by you stating its’ The disruption to the domestic season’.
it proves the point that you dont set the same value on international competitions .
If i ask you what you think of gerrard or rooney , would you say they are great players or you hate them ?
I think recently the youth coming thru the ranks of clubs are better than previous years, once theo and lennon,richard ,baines,jenas,young, ferdinand,lescott Agbonlahor etc and rooney who still is only 22/23, i think in the next 3 or 4 years you will see them come of age,backed up by then the aging bale and wright phillips etc , i think theres interesting years to come with the English international stage . I think you need to blame the past failings NOT ON THE PLAYERS but on the coaching staff for either not getting it right or not controlling ego’s or even not bringing the team together as a unit. I remember last season yogi asked me who i would want as arsenal coach if wenger did leave , my response was ramos or capello . and its funny this season the UK has been introduced to them… But for the internationals and spurs it has only enhanced the quality of management both internationally and in the EPL , this is the way to go forward ,QUALITY MANAGERS , notice all those coaches like robson etc, gone from the game ..
and players getting more technical at the same time ..
it cant be co-incidence .
It comes down to this, if a player from the academy/youth system is good enough, he’ll tend to get more starts and more game time. I think the lack of any capping system on foreign players is actually a blessing in disguise for the respective national team as it weeds out all the bad (for lack of a better term) players.
Otherwise, you’d have teams that would generally be full of less-than-average players except for one or two players of genuine quality.
It’s the same concept as the Premier League getting 4 teams into the CL. There are only 2 teams that are automatically qualified, the other 2 have to qualify for it. Surely if those 2 teams manage to get through, it means that they deserve to go through as they beat quality opposition to do it.