Post by scriptman on Jun 8, 2008 21:39:30 GMT 1
I was just perusing ESPN Soccernet and Wikipedia and decided to do a little number crunching regarding the ratio of foreign players to home grown talent that represented teams in the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions league.
I know it's been said before, but at the risk of reiterating observations made from pundits and public alike....it really doesn't take a genius to see why we are struggling at international level.
Looking at the clubs and respected countries the players represent, almost half of the Fenerbahce and Schalke 04 team were born in Turkey and Germany respectively. By comparison Arsenal's team consisted of just one single English player in Theo Walcott....Chelsea and Liverpool faired little better....and Manchester United who pride themselves on home grown talent could only muster 35% of English players. These are our top four teams....what should be the nucleus of English football.
England in fact provided 50% of teams in the last eight, but only 12% of the players. Both Brazil and France all but equalled the English tally of players, and they were not represented by a club.
Of course Brazilian teams are unable to enter anyway.... but of the teams that represented France in the Champions League last season, circa 55% of the players were born in France compared to circa 25% of players that represented English teams, and who were born in England.
The next couple of week is meant to be a showcase for European football. The Premiership will be represented, and represented well.... but sadly England will not. We've either got things topsy turvy in this country..... or the horrible truth is...we simply ain't good enough.
Thoughts anyone?
I know it's been said before, but at the risk of reiterating observations made from pundits and public alike....it really doesn't take a genius to see why we are struggling at international level.
Looking at the clubs and respected countries the players represent, almost half of the Fenerbahce and Schalke 04 team were born in Turkey and Germany respectively. By comparison Arsenal's team consisted of just one single English player in Theo Walcott....Chelsea and Liverpool faired little better....and Manchester United who pride themselves on home grown talent could only muster 35% of English players. These are our top four teams....what should be the nucleus of English football.
Graphs showing home grown players compared to foreign based national.
England in fact provided 50% of teams in the last eight, but only 12% of the players. Both Brazil and France all but equalled the English tally of players, and they were not represented by a club.
Graph showing the number and percentage of players who played in the Champions League Qtr Finals by nation of birth.
Of course Brazilian teams are unable to enter anyway.... but of the teams that represented France in the Champions League last season, circa 55% of the players were born in France compared to circa 25% of players that represented English teams, and who were born in England.
The numbers above represent the percentage (%) of players representing teams from the countries in the Champions League, and who were born in that country.
The next couple of week is meant to be a showcase for European football. The Premiership will be represented, and represented well.... but sadly England will not. We've either got things topsy turvy in this country..... or the horrible truth is...we simply ain't good enough.
Thoughts anyone?