Its getting fairly regular now to start hearing about calls for the EPL to implement a sort of quota system just about anytime a club has just been anihilated by Arsenal.

Last monday, after watching his team outclassed 3-1, Steve Coppell joined the growing chorus of those calling for English quotas in the EPL. Never mind there were only 4 English players in Coppell's line up.

Perhaps these people need to tell us what happened to the English national team prior to the foreign invasion in 1996.

Maybe one question i should ask officials crying about the English national team is this: how many English players are plying their trade in Europe?

let's face it, arsenal has too many foreigners joo sentiments aside, its not just about winning games, it's also about english football. where is the englishness of arsenal? the home boys are being denied a chance of playing in the top league in their country. dont be selfish, if a big organisation is established in lagos or the niger-delta and the local graduates dont get enough chance to work in it, they'll complain. some english dudes are missing a chance of playing in arsenal and you'll be stupid to expect them to be happy.

i'm not an arsenal hater, though i'm a swansea fc fan, but let the truth be said, let the home guys get small chance abeg.

otele:

let's face it, arsenal has too many foreigners joo sentiments aside, its not just about winning games, it's also about english football. where is the englishness of arsenal? the home boys are being denied a chance of playing in the top league in their country. don't be selfish, if a big organisation is established in lagos or the niger-delta and the local graduates don't get enough chance to work in it, they'll complain. some english dudes are missing a chance of playing in arsenal and you'll be stupid to expect them to be happy.

i'm not an arsenal hater, though i'm a swansea fc fan, but let the truth be said, let the home guys get small chance abeg.

Otele . . . if English players were any good they would be playing in Arsenal instead of Swansea . . .
Just a simple homework . . . care to mention just 2 English players better than Fabregas, Rosicky, Hleb, Van Persie . . . pls make sure they dont cost more than 10million pounds.

If you want to see what the English league is like without foreigners pls watch a game between Wigan and Derby county!

but david is that not the more reason why we should allow those english lads more space to really improve a bit? and even the derby vs wigan u talk about have foreign players too. i was watching a game between liverpool and nottingham forrest in I988/89 season on liverpool tv yesterday and the game was exciting and of high standard. and both teams were at least 90% english.

this problem is not about arsenal and stop arsenalising the problem, even my darling liverpool has a lot of foreigners too, almost only steve and jamie are the english boys who are regulars. i pity the english, they cant move on at this rate. they should be given a guota. even if it is . . . say . . at least 4 english players in the field. trust me it wont stop arsenal from winning games but it will help the english have great high level football experience.

i know say u be naija so u no care about the english, but make we see some truth, english national team is crap. owen, SWP,crouch, etc these guys aint even regulars in their clubs(owen due to injury). i think they should have a little leverage.

Of the 266 players that featured in the games at the weekend,179 players were non-English while 88 where English.Middlesbrough and Derby featured the highest at 8 while Arsenal featured the lowest at 1

The rest were:
- Birmingham-2 A.Villa-7
- Bolton- 4 Boro 8
- Chelsea-4 Everton 4
- Derby-8 W.Ham-5
- Liverpool-3 Fulham-1
- Man Utd-4 Blackburn--4
- Pompey-6 Man City- 3
- Reading-3 Arsenal- 1
- Sunderland-1 Newcastle-6
-Spurs- 6 Wigan-5

toshmann:

but david is that not the more reason why we should allow those english lads more space to really improve a bit? and even the derby vs wigan u talk about have foreign players too. i was watching a game between liverpool and nottingham forrest in I988/89 season on liverpool tv yesterday and the game was exciting and of high standard. and both teams were at least 90% english.

1. The game was "exciting" because it was fast, explosive, end-to-end stuff? Did you really see any technical skill there or just a bunch of athletes running up and down the field trying to "burst a gut"?
2. If these players were so good why did England fail to win anything between 1988 and now?

toshmann:

this problem is not about arsenal and stop arsenalising the problem,

this is not a matter of arsenalising the problem but even you have to admit that when people talk about foreigners in the English league they are mainly refering to Arsenal. Alex Ferguson came out in support of quotas despite spending over 50million pounds on 2 players over the summer. Of course neither were english.

toshmann:

i know say u be naija so u no care about the english, but make we see some truth, english national team is crap. owen, SWP,crouch, etc these guys aint even regulars in their clubs(owen due to injury). i think they should have a little leverage.

the English team is crap because:
1. they have very poor managers.
2. The players are just not good enough. Is Gerard as good as Andres Iniesta? Why is John Terry who is not half as good as Ricardo Carvalho being paid 150,000 pounds a week?
3. It is extremely difficult to get black players into the English team unless it is too obvious that they can't be ignored. Does it make sense that David James is kept out of the team by Paul robinson? SWP remains a bit part player for england and in his place a half fit David Beckham (a media circus) is prefered?
- What about David Nugent? Picked ahead of the likes of Agbonlahor, Lita and Ashley Young?

The English don't have good players . . . even if they removed all foreigners things will not improve. We'll have wages of half decent English players hit the roof and be forced to watch the likes of Watford win the premiership by packing the bus in front of goal and hoofing balls up to Marlon King to "strike" home.

England are very good at decieving themselves they over pay their players over hype them and yet they find it difficult to do their job on the pitch.Their players suck their refs suck even their coaches suck.Make una leave Arsenal alone does anyone care to explain how come none of the top 6 clubs had no english men as managers? They will just kill that league and people will go back to the La Liga or Serie A

Make dem knock England out,na wetin I dey wait for today.The xenophobic bastards will soon start quacking.Maybe they want to watch Sidwell rather than Fabregas.

@Anal-40

That your useless team suppose buy Englanders na.As una useless already,you might as well add some crappy English men to your team.

@I-mag-got
I am sorry to say this but it is obvious to anyone observing that stupidity is reigning supreme in your life infact there is no network where your brain is at

@ davidylan,

english players cannot play anywhere else because the premiership is the best league in the world.
why would any top english player ply his trade elsewhere in europe when there's sterling quality in england?
english players are over-paid because england has one of the highest cost of living in the world.
i think players deserve what they earn because the tv money and the money involved in the whole shebang is very high.

The english league is what it is today due to its foreign influence please tell me when last an English player won the PFA?

I agree that the number of foreign players in the EPL is on the rise but I see that more of an advantage to the English national team. If wayne rooney, John terry, Gerrard , Lampard and co who play and train day in and day out with the likes of Drogba, Rooney, Fabregas , Torres and co cant up thier game on the international scene then I wonder what will happen to the quality of the national when these world class players are resticted from playing in the EPL.


@ Cougar

Are u telling me that a club like Derby county is much better than Real mallorca or Real sociedad . English players really need to castr thier nets wider, that is if they have quality they have been bragging about.


I agree with David point about sentiments in the English team. I remenber when Andy cole was ripping the charts both in the domestic league and in Europe yet he never made it to the national team. Shearer was untouchable. However, Shearer played in the same league with Cole and Cole topped the scorer's chart.

I wont be suprised if Lampard is preffered over Garry Bareth who clearly has been doing a yeo man's job in the English midfield.

Bottom line: I really want the English team not to qualify for Euro. Somebody has to tell them to stop playing most of thier football in the media

knowing all these, is it not reasonable to say that these half baked english players will be better if they played more regularly? i mean, john terry would have been worse than he is today if he wasnt playing regularly for chelsea. i just said, let the english players have some leverage. say at least 3/4 english players in the field per team. it wont push out the foreign players and ur arsenal will still be good.

just some pity for the crappy english footballers.

and the liverpool game i was talking about had so much class in it. john barnes was there with his dribbling skills and the team game was excellent

the english league is what it is today because of the fa.
the money generated through packaging, broadcasting and tv rights and the sponsorship.
foreigners have no serious influence on this league apart from the added quality.
imagine the fa paying btw 30-50 million pounds to each club in the premiership at the end of last season.
money made premiership what it is today.

@ uchenna,

some clubs in the bottom half of the table will beat real sociedad and real mallorca.
lets be realistic, spanish la liga is filled with south americans. take them out and they are useless as well.
there's quality in england if these foreigners can allow young english players to come of age.
sidwell, agbonlahor, ashley young, leroy lita are good prospects but they have not been given the chance to really show their premium quality.
is adebayor better than agbonlahor? or pizarro better than leroy lita?

Well packaging comes with good players and quality managers the F.A did their part but they had lots of help with the influx of foreign players coaches and managers you have no choice but to admit that.What contributes to their pockets is it not T.V what attracts premiership viewers in Nigeria it is the presence of our players in that league starting with the likes of Kanu Okocha and co. and the trend is the same worldwide

@Cougar
Leroy Lita better than Pizzaro? Agbonlahor better than Adebayor you must be Dave Chappelle or something

Sidwell and Agbo, must they really play for Manchester United , Chelsea or Arsenal  
I agree that foreigners make it a little bit more competitive but hey, that is what football is all about. That is why a Chelsea vs Arsenal game will generate more revenue than a Birmingham vs Wigan game. The russian owner of Chelsea does not give a crap about the nationality of the players as long as the stadium is always packed full. If Agbo and co can't get into Manchester United et al, then maybe their managers should start talking to teams like Inter, Barca, Sevilla etc. That is if they really have that quality we are all assuming
Come to think of it, when was the last time an English manager won the EPL trophy. Talk about quality and quotas

@ A-40,

you are a clown.
how much revenue does the viewers in nigeria generate for skytv? please count nigeria out of this.
the real mccoy is the british market where each customer pay nothing less than 500 pounds annually.
meanwhile, there are 10 million sky viewers in the uk alone . . .  . . . . i am not sure other viewers pay as much.
africa is seen as a poor continent so massive discounts apply.
besides, i am not sure kanu and okocha were the reasons why nigerians watch the premiership, nigerians have been watching it since 1992.
how do u begin to compare agbonlahor to adebayor? they are miles apart. adebayor is the wackest striker in the premiership.

Cougar:

@ A-40,

you are a clown.
how much revenue does the viewers in nigeria generate for skytv? please count nigeria out of this.
the real mccoy is the british market where each customer pay nothing less than 500 pounds annually.
meanwhile, there are 10 million sky viewers in the uk alone . . . . . . . i am not sure other viewers pay as much.
africa is seen as a poor continent so massive discounts apply.
besides, i am not sure kanu and okocha were the reasons why nigerians watch the premiership, nigerians have been watching it since 1992.
how do u begin to compare agbonlahor to adebayor? they are miles apart. adebayor is the wackest striker in the premiership.

U must be kidding, right

Uche2nna:

You must be kidding, right

i dont kid, i have followed adebayor's career since he started at metz in france.
the highest goal adebayor has ever scored in a season in all competitions is 12 goals.
name me any striker in the premiership that has scored less playing in top flight football in the last 5 years.

sometimes goals should not be over emphasised. it may well be that a striker is always contributing to goals without actually scoring. strikers could really make life miserable for defenders then their colleagues will do the scoring. ade has something about him that is pushful in any defence.

Cougar:

some clubs in the bottom half of the table will beat real sociedad and real mallorca.

Teams like Wigan, Reading, Derby or Bolton?

Cougar:

sidwell, agbonlahor, ashley young, leroy lita are good prospects but they have not been given the chance to really show their premium quality.
is adebayor better than agbonlahor? or pizarro better than leroy lita?

Here is were it gets even more ridiculous. Lita better than Pizarro and yet he cant even keep below average players like Kevin Doyle ad Dave Kitson out of the team?
Agbonlahor is good . . . take out the pace and what do you have left? For how long will English players keep relying on pace and athleticism to win games?
Sidwell? He's not even as good as Mikel who i think is poor.
If Sidwell were good he'd be playing alongside Frank Lampard.

Do all English players who show some half decent skill need to play for the top 4 to gain experience? Derby is filled with English players and they are no better than the average championship team . . . perhaps you want to watch a league filled with 20 teams like Derby.
Get the foreigners out of England and watch the entire world shift over to the Spanish La Liga.

@ davidylan,

a bottom side bolton was forced to a 2-2 draw by bayern munich in germany.
thats enough proof that english players can hold their weights in europe.
derby didnt qualify on merit, they qualified through play-offs so dont even use derby county as a yard stick.
leroy lita has not been playing because he is injured, it has nothing to do with his ability.
agbonlahor is better than adebayor by all means. pace, aerial ability, power and positioning.
i can name 30 english players better than adebayor in the premiership.
no one is saying all the foreigners should ship out but they should be reduced.

@ Cougar,
Every EPL supporter would always say Bolton drew Bayern true but wait till the end of the UEFA cup and see who last longer.

You all forget Larissa from God knows where eliminated Blackburn? And how Sevilla anhiliated Middlesboro and Tottenham England as a country is bereft of quality

footballing talent so they just overhype the junks they have. Did you notice that Owen Hargreaves one of 2 players who play outside EPL as

at last world cup was the best English player at the tournament? When theyi see people like Xabi Alonso, Hleb, Berbatov, C. Ronaldo, Nani, Anderson coming to show

them how it is done in other leagues they open their mouth ajar.

That High man was already here to spew shit and stuff as usual.

@ dayokanu,

its deeper than that.
premiership teams are great to watch these days and i will watch epl 20 times over before tuning to any other leagues.
bundesliga is gone, they are living on past glory. violence and match-fixing scandals have ripped out the heart of italian league.
spanish la liga thrives on south americans as well.
there are so many english talents lying around the country but the massive migration of the foreigners are undermining their development.
how can anyone say england has no quality?

Cougar:

@ davidylan,

a bottom side bolton was forced to a 2-2 draw by bayern munich in germany.
thats enough proof that english players can hold their weights in europe.

Which English players are you talking about in Bolton? Kevin Davies and Kevin Nolan only? Are most of the Bolton team not foreign? Take out Nickolas anelka, Campo, Jussi, Diouf . . . what do you have left?

Cougar:

agbonlahor is better than adebayor by all means. pace, aerial ability, power and positioning.

lol lets wait and see where Agbonlahor will be in 5yrs time. Didnt a certain David Nugent have it all? Wasnt he touted as the new England Alan Shearer? He cant even get a game at Pompey!

Cougar:

i can name 30 english players better than adebayor in the premiership.

Darren Bent included?

Cougar:

@ dayokanu,

its deeper than that.
premiership teams are great to watch these days and i will watch epl 20 times over before tuning to any other leagues.

Will you be watching a game between Wigan and Derby county over Real Madrid and Barcelona?

Cougar:

how can anyone say england has no quality?

Their recent perfomances say so.

@ davidylan,

i don't know where to start.
will i be watching wigan v derby game over real madrid V barcelona?
is that your comparison? do i even need to argue when your comparison of english strength to spanish is derby/wigan fame?
bayern munich players also have as many foreign players as bolton. ribery, luca toni, van bommel, lucio etc are foreigners.
agbonlahor is a good striker and its very glaring he is better than adebayor by all means.
lets swap their places and u will be amazed how inefficient adebayor will look in a mediocre team.
recent performances has got nothing to do with quality. every team suffers a blip. france once failed to qualify for a world cup tournament.
brazil once struggled and had to do it on their last qualifying match to qualify.
how does qualification to a tournament amounts to the litmus test of determining the strength of a team?
guys, give it a break, england has quality.

A lot of people don't understand something

Isnt it funny how you ask us to swap Agbonlahor and Adebayor and see how Adebayor fails to function in a mediocre team. That is an indirect validation of the fact that the average English player is tactically poor.

Aston Villa has an english spine . . . even you regard them as mediocre!
Adebayor enjoys the luxury of playing with talented foreigners in Arsenal . . . its is those foreigners that make the few English players better than they really are. Take Frank Lampard away from Chelsea and he is found out as an average player with no skill.
John Terry? Joe Cole, SWP?

If England has quality then let them show it when it matters! A team with quality does not crumble when they face any half decent team.

@ davidylan,

u don't get this, do u?
no one is saying england should not play foreigners at all. what we are saying is clubs should reduce the number of foreigners they play.
aston villa has an english spine and they are mediocre, man utd has an english spine and they are the best in the country.
rio-hargreaves-scholes-rooney makes united tick. how can u use aston villa as a classic example?
take terry and lampard out of chelsea team and they have no life. take carragher and gerrard out of liverpool and they have no soul.
the man utd team that won uefa in 1999 had 5 english players. if scholes wasn't suspended, it would have been 6 english players.
my point is, teams like arsenal can actually do better signing quality english players instead of adebayor, song and eboue.
peter crouch, bent, lita, agbonlahor, defoe will do a better job than adebayor. i don't need to have a rocket science brain to know that.
england has quality but they under-achieve just like so many teams in europe. spain, netherlands and portugal also fall in this cat!

england survives