Big Sam warns of bleak future for England national team
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Sam Allardyce believes that if the spiralling number of foreign players in the top flight continues unaddressed, then the English national side will suffer from a lack of talent.
The Blackburn Rovers boss was dismayed that not a single Englishman appeared in the starting line-up for the Premier League clash between Portsmouth and Arsenal on Wednesday night.
The match featured players from 15 countries among the 22 starters, with seven French players on the field. There were two Algerians and one player each from Bosnia, Ireland, Israel, Iceland, South Africa, Scotland, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Wales, Cameroon, Croatia and Russia.
The landmark match came almost exactly 10 years after Chelsea became the first British side to field an entirely foreign starting line-up in a Premier League match against Southampton on December 26, 1999.
And Allardyce fears the trend may be repeated on a regular basis in years to come.
He said: "As an Englishman, my thought is that the Premier League and the FA really need to get together and start immediately, regarding how they are going to address this situation.
"For the national team in the future, it is looking very, very, very bleak indeed.
"If you went through the amount of English players that are now playing in the Premier League there are very few indeed and those are the only players that England's national side can choose from.
"We all know how passionate we are about our national team so it's a real big one for the Premier League and FA to get their heads together and develop a culture in this country of developing young English players."
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The Blackburn Rovers boss was dismayed that not a single Englishman appeared in the starting line-up for the Premier League clash between Portsmouth and Arsenal on Wednesday night.
The match featured players from 15 countries among the 22 starters, with seven French players on the field. There were two Algerians and one player each from Bosnia, Ireland, Israel, Iceland, South Africa, Scotland, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Wales, Cameroon, Croatia and Russia.
The landmark match came almost exactly 10 years after Chelsea became the first British side to field an entirely foreign starting line-up in a Premier League match against Southampton on December 26, 1999.
And Allardyce fears the trend may be repeated on a regular basis in years to come.
He said: "As an Englishman, my thought is that the Premier League and the FA really need to get together and start immediately, regarding how they are going to address this situation.
"For the national team in the future, it is looking very, very, very bleak indeed.
"If you went through the amount of English players that are now playing in the Premier League there are very few indeed and those are the only players that England's national side can choose from.
"We all know how passionate we are about our national team so it's a real big one for the Premier League and FA to get their heads together and develop a culture in this country of developing young English players."
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Related links:
Team
Personal
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