MilnersJaw wrote:That's not even 20 players. That's not even one top English player per team.
Is that really a good way to measure who gets chances to play? Some clubs have more than others, obviously as I was also referring to playing on top sides, of which quite a few of them are playing. Yet, some are amongst the best on mid-table sides as well.
There are others I've left out, some actually on Utd (not Phil Jones), Arsenal and Liverpool who I could have listed:
Welbeck, Gibbs, Flanagan, Lallana, Ibe, Shaw, Lingard
and a few elsewhere:
Berahino, Zaha, Shelvey, Deeney, Antonio, Mason, Rodriguez
We're talking about players ready, or close to ready, to play on the national squad this summer and beyond.
The Premier League being the richest league in the world, about to get richer, is going to buy most of THE best players other than those that want to go to top clubs on the continent, generally. The competition is stiff, and the pressure high so you won't get as many chances as in a lower league, but are there really that many talented enough young players who don't get an opportunity to play? Part of that issue, as has been stated elsewhere, is the apparent reluctance of English players to live/play abroad so they are more limited to find opportunities to develop.
If you want to see more English players play then the quality of the PL will drop, and then you are less likely to see these "potential" players get as many chances to compete at the highest level. By there being so much competition one could argue it is also helping, not hurting development of certain players. They train with and compete in the most competitive league top to bottom where you rarely get an easy game, allowing you to hone your skills faster. If you aren't ready? Okay, play on loan in another league. Prove yourself in training against the best, and in some games, and now you are seeing those players are getting their chances. Chelsea just buys too many players they have no intention of playing. We do it a bit as well, but they are the worst, easily.
I see quite a few players getting their chances across the league, and could make the national team as hyped as the previous generation was. Yet, as I stated, I see more pace, and flair than the past, which we got a hint of in the last WC with Welbeck, Sterling and Sturridge up front. Yet the team was still relying on styles suited to Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney in the midfield. The front 3 could all possibly be displaced by some I listed.
There does seem to be more of an abundance of pacey attackers than centre midfielders, but Alli, Drinkwater and Dier could be the future there. Then Kane up front, Barkley as the no. 10 flanked by any of Sterling, Vardy (short term), Sturridge, Berahino, Welbeck, etc. Some pacey fullbacks with attacking quality are there, and Stones and Smalling could make up a quicker, better on the ball, passing, defensive partnership than the past that could turn defense into attack than the past.
