Roy: Premier League not very English

England manager Roy Hodgson.

England manager Roy Hodgson.

Published Apr 18, 2013

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London – Roy Hodgson fears for the future of the England team because of the number of foreign players in the Premier League.

Hodgson claims he is selecting his squad from a decreasing pool of talent because of the number of overseas stars in the top flight, and worries the national team will be dragged into a World Cup play-off after last month’s poor performance against Montenegro in Group H.

Hodgson, who succeeded Italian Fabio Capello as the country’s coach last May, said: “I go to quite a few games these days and there are no English players. One has to be very careful talking about the Premier League and the Englishness of it because two thirds of the players are not English. We have one of the lowest numbers of homegrown players and that must put us at a major disadvantage to other nations.”

Hodgson was at Old Trafford to watch six English players start for Manchester United and three for Manchester City last week. But he is still at a disadvantage compared to the other major leagues in Europe.

Just 34.9 per cent of the players in the Premier League are eligible for the national team, compared with 45 per cent in Germany’s Bundesliga and Italy’s Serie A, 58 per cent in France’s Ligue 1 and 59 per cent in Spain’s La Liga.

The demand for foreign talent even gripped Hodgson during his spell in charge at West Bromwich Albion before he replaced Capello at the end of last season.

In his final game as manager at the Hawthorns, a 3-2 home defeat against Arsenal, he picked only two English players.

Billy Jones and Liam Ridgwell are both eligible to play for the national team, but neither are considered good enough to break into the current squad. Despite Hodgson’s concerns, there are moves in place to safeguard and protect the national team.

More than £340million is being invested by the Premier League over the next five years in development projects across all levels of the game.

The Elite Player Performance Plan has also been designed to produce more homegrown players because of the genuine fears about the quality of English talent.

The influence of foreign players has also affected the make-up of the PFA’s annual Team of the Year.

When the award started in 1974, nine of the players voted for by fellow professionals in the old First Division were English. That trend continued until Argentina playmaker Osvaldo Ardiles became the first overseas player to be named in the Team of the Year in 1979.

The Premier League era has had a massive influence on the nominations and now it is rare for more than four English players to be named.

Last year there were four, but in 2011 Joe Hart and Ashley Cole were the only English players in the team.

This year there are concerns that Leighton Baines, who has been outstanding for Everton this season, may be the only Englishman named at next Sunday’s awards.

Wayne Rooney, who is still a key member of Hodgson’s squad, is the last English player to have won the PFA Player of the Year award in 2010. – Daily Mail

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