David Layne
First Team Squad
With the losses by Arsenal and Chelsea tonight in the Champions League can we but hope that the Champions League cash cow will now dry up for English clubs and return the game to what it was?
With the losses by Arsenal and Chelsea tonight in the Champions League can we but hope that the Champions League cash cow will now dry up for English clubs and return the game to what it was?
The prospect of losing Champions League places is the reason Richard Scudamore will steadfastly refuse the imposition of foreign player quotas in the Premier League. According to him, CL qualification for the elite few is far more important than a genuinly competive England international side.
UEFA won't allow the final place to go to the FA cup winners even if the prem allowed it which they wouldn't. If the 4th place spot goes what have spurs and scousepool got to aspire to anymore?
See Gary Neville's tweet from this morning, describing yesterday's England selection meeting.
Neville states that picking from the English players who started last weekend in the Premier League gives a pool of 61 players to choose from. That's 30%.
See Gary Neville's tweet from this morning, describing yesterday's England selection meeting.
Neville states that picking from the English players who started last weekend in the Premier League gives a pool of 61 players to choose from. That's 30%.
Wow that must be the lowest ever pool of potential England players. Still, rather than complaining the best solution is probably for this country to start producing better young players who are good enough to play in other top European leagues, and so gain experience that way.
Cant see that happening Ravz.
Our youngsters are brought through the ranks seeing and hearing that money is the one and only only object of the beautiful game.
And that's all they'll ever be interested in.
Cant see that happening Ravz.
Our youngsters are brought through the ranks seeing and hearing that money is the one and only only object of the beautiful game.
And that's all they'll ever be interested in.
Well let's not forget that Barcelona lost last night, and with the money they've spent and the players they've handpicked from any club they like, they should never be losing.
Arsenal are just poor in the Champions League, and although Wenger can just about get away with it in the Premier League, he's always left exposed in Europe of the weaknesses within his team. He left out Cech too, one of the best goalkeepers in the world out of sheer cockiness, so it serves him right.
Last year I looked at Chelsea's squad and it looked fantastic, where as this year I look and it seems to have something missing, I don't know, perhaps a world class centre back?
Doesn't mean anything to them anymore
Well let's not forget that Barcelona lost last night,
Barcelona won last night Kieran.
It would if winning it were worth something. If the FA Cup became a ticket into the Champions League, I'd be amazed if any of the PL sides outside of the relegation battle didn't play anything other than their strongest side.
He forgot.
Wow that must be the lowest ever pool of potential England players. Still, rather than complaining the best solution is probably for this country to start producing better young players who are good enough to play in other top European leagues, and so gain experience that way.
This is a rare occasion where I beg to differ with you Ravi.
I completely understand your implication regarding the futility of complaining about the ever-growing global expansion of the Sky League (which is what the PL is in reality) but, someway or somehow, this nation has to try to reclaim it's football at the top level.
I hope I don't sound jingoistic with that statement because I think it's important that excellent football should be accessible all around the world, even it has to be by way of Murdoch's dishes, but the PL is essentially a global competition that just happens to be played in England....for the present. I truly believe that when Scudamore, inevitably, achieves his desire of "the 39th game", it will be the tip of the iceberg.
*apologies to the OP for going off on a tangent.