English football: Is there a silver lining?

Of late, there has been a lot of talk about the lack of quality options made available for Roy Hodgson while assembling the England squad. After all, here is a nation which has the most football leagues in the world. If the underlying assumption of forming the EPL was to create a pool of players for the national side, then the England manager ought to have a relatively easy task. But as recent results have proved, managing the English team is anything but easy.

After every failure of the national side, the spotlight is invariably turned to the limited resources with which the manager has to operate. But then, is that ‘resource’ as limited and scarce as they make it out to be?

Among the EPL matches played last weekend, the match involving Arsenal was of particular interest. The match commentators were spot on when they said it was a stroll in the park for Arsenal, and rightly so, as the Gunners brushed aside whipping boys Reading, who are now at the bottom of the table. But what they failed to mention was that there was not even a single English player in Arsenal’s playing eleven. Even though they had three English substitutes on the bench, that is a far cry from a team which once famously had an English core in the 1997-98 double-winning season. This only gains significance with a recent statement made by yesteryear star Gunner Robert Pires. He said, “The difference between Arsenal today and my generation is that we had a backbone of English players. However, to go soft on Arsene, one could argue that he has a clutch of exciting and upcoming English players in Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain, Theo Walcott, Kieran Gibbs, Carl Jenkinson and the most prodigious of them all, Jack Wilshere.”

Among other sides which played this weekend, Tottenham had the highest number of English players in the starting line-up with five, followed by Manchester United and their rivals City with three each. Tottenham have Jack Livermore, Steven Caulker and Kyle Walker in addition to seniors like Jermaine Defoe, Scott Parker and Michael Dawson. Liverpool are endowed with a bunch of established players like Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson and Daniel Sturridge, who, along with promising English youngsters (Raheem Sterling the shining example of it), make up for a great composition. Brendan Rodgers drew up an ambitious plan of reviving the side with special emphasis on home-grown players when he took over, and that is what seems to be guiding him. On the other side of the Merseyside, Everton have their own bunch of English players – Leighton Baines, Leon Osman and Phil Jagielka. But then the rest of the first team is generally composed of players of other nationalities. David Moyes, who has been demanding large funds, will most certainly utilize them in foreign imports as and when he gets the required money for transfers.

Manchester United recently contributed six of its players to the national squad in a feat that surpassed all other sides. With the likes of Daniel Welbeck, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling amongst others in the squad, the Red Devils have it in them to be called a decent English club side. Manchester City, on the other hand, has been identified as a club that buys talent no matter what their nationality is (as often is the case with most rich clubs). Notwithstanding, they have Joe Hart, Joleon Lescott, Gareth Barry and James Milner, who are or were once regulars in the national setup. In addition, they have two young and hugely gifted players in Micah Richards and Jack Rodwell.

Chelsea have the fast-rising Ryan Bertrand alongside the more familiar English names like the now-retired John Terry, the evergreen Frank Lampard and veteran left back Ashley Cole. The figures do gradually increase while coming to the bottom of the table. Sides like Norwich and Southampton have regularly fielded sides with decent number of English players.

English players such as Andy Carroll are always over-priced

However, that does not diminish the telling fact that the number of imports in the league are only increasing in number. There is a genuine fear that the English Premier League is slowly turning into a foreign league. The clubs on their part have an easy excuse – it makes sense to import rather than to breed and cultivate a home-grown player as it is time-consuming. Overpriced English players like Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson (to name a few) have not helped the cause either.

The newly established St. George’s Park National Football Centre shall fail in its ultimate purpose if it is not put to full use. As one of internet jokes circle around states, “One might have excellent facilities but then the only men who are working on them are its maintenance folks!”

Invariably, the failures of the national team are linked to this absence of a core group of English players with flair. Comparisons with the Spanish team (composed almost entirely of Real Madrid and Barcelona players) and, to an extent, the Italian league are inevitable. But critics need to acknowledge the fact that these are the same players who perform week in and week out for their clubs. Most of these players cherish their national call-ups and love putting on the Three Lions jersey. It is only a question of realizing the responsibility and huge expectations that come with it, which is easier said than done. However, with talented players slowly being groomed, there may soon be a silver lining for the national team.