Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
You can say what you like about Sepp Blatter, and most people do, but he certainly doesn't lack the courage of his convictions. His proposal that football clubs should limit themselves to just five foreign players by 2012 is going to upset some very powerful people. Not that Blatter cares, of course. The tubby Brazilian has always seen himself as something of a crusading force, but on this occasion, he has taken on a foe more powerful than his usual rivals. He's gone up against the Free Market itself.
It's rather flattering to see that all of this bluster appears to be England's fault. Blatter was dismayed to see three English teams in the Champions League semi-finals and claims that it is indicative of the imbalances in world football. It's odd that he didn't feel the same way when Spanish clubs achieved the same feat in 2000. Ah, but that's different. As we've seen with their attitude to international hooliganism, Football governing bodies tend to base their actions on the guiding principle that it doesn't matter unless there's a chance to punish the English.
But let's get back to Blatter's big idea. It has been suggested that the proliferation of foreigners in the EPL has led to the demise of the English national team. This, I'm saddened to report, is absolute rubbish. Steve McClaren's ineptitude and a motley collection of surly, barely interested multi-millionaires led to the demise of the English national team. England didn't miss out on Euro 2008 because Roque Santa Cruz has been keeping Matt Derbyshire out of the Blackburn side. They missed out because Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and all the rest of the so-called golden generation were too bone-idle or stupid to figure out that you can't win games just by showing the opposition your paycheque.
What will Blatter's ideas actually achieve? They will water down the quality of the leagues for starters. Managers will no longer be able to pick players on merit, they'll have to check passports first. The EPL will clog up with fairly average English players because sending your Togolese hopefuls home will not automatically result in the discovery of a new Rooney. Will everyone in the world keep watching as Darius Henderson and James Coppinger do battle? Will the TV revenue ebb away? It's a slippery slope.
I'd give the idea more consideration if I could see any possible benefits, but there don't seem to be any. Yes, there are a lot of foreign players in the Premier League, but there are still approximately 50 decent English players available to Fabio Capello. How many does he need? The signing of Thomas Radzinski didn't stop the development of Rooney. Karel Poborsky didn't block the progress of David Beckham. If the English players are good enough, and they are, they'll come through regardless. It's meritocracy, the survival of fittest.
The genuine source of the imbalance is the Champions League, but no-one in power is going to mention that, because FIFA keep trying to invent their own global version and it makes everyone at UEFA such a phenomenonal amount of money. It is no coincidence that the EPL has four Champions League spots and is cursed with an almost unassailable 'big four'. It is no surprise that Lyon have just won their seventh French title on the bounce. Look across the European leagues and they are all dominated by Champions League regulars. If Blatter wants to redress the balance, he could start by looking at that and not by launching a destructive and doomed attempt to bring the Free Market to its knees.
It's rather flattering to see that all of this bluster appears to be England's fault. Blatter was dismayed to see three English teams in the Champions League semi-finals and claims that it is indicative of the imbalances in world football. It's odd that he didn't feel the same way when Spanish clubs achieved the same feat in 2000. Ah, but that's different. As we've seen with their attitude to international hooliganism, Football governing bodies tend to base their actions on the guiding principle that it doesn't matter unless there's a chance to punish the English.
But let's get back to Blatter's big idea. It has been suggested that the proliferation of foreigners in the EPL has led to the demise of the English national team. This, I'm saddened to report, is absolute rubbish. Steve McClaren's ineptitude and a motley collection of surly, barely interested multi-millionaires led to the demise of the English national team. England didn't miss out on Euro 2008 because Roque Santa Cruz has been keeping Matt Derbyshire out of the Blackburn side. They missed out because Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and all the rest of the so-called golden generation were too bone-idle or stupid to figure out that you can't win games just by showing the opposition your paycheque.
What will Blatter's ideas actually achieve? They will water down the quality of the leagues for starters. Managers will no longer be able to pick players on merit, they'll have to check passports first. The EPL will clog up with fairly average English players because sending your Togolese hopefuls home will not automatically result in the discovery of a new Rooney. Will everyone in the world keep watching as Darius Henderson and James Coppinger do battle? Will the TV revenue ebb away? It's a slippery slope.
I'd give the idea more consideration if I could see any possible benefits, but there don't seem to be any. Yes, there are a lot of foreign players in the Premier League, but there are still approximately 50 decent English players available to Fabio Capello. How many does he need? The signing of Thomas Radzinski didn't stop the development of Rooney. Karel Poborsky didn't block the progress of David Beckham. If the English players are good enough, and they are, they'll come through regardless. It's meritocracy, the survival of fittest.
The genuine source of the imbalance is the Champions League, but no-one in power is going to mention that, because FIFA keep trying to invent their own global version and it makes everyone at UEFA such a phenomenonal amount of money. It is no coincidence that the EPL has four Champions League spots and is cursed with an almost unassailable 'big four'. It is no surprise that Lyon have just won their seventh French title on the bounce. Look across the European leagues and they are all dominated by Champions League regulars. If Blatter wants to redress the balance, he could start by looking at that and not by launching a destructive and doomed attempt to bring the Free Market to its knees.
