There are foreign players in all the top European leagues! There are plenty of players from the British Isles in the Premiership:
But England has a far greater percentage than any other league.
Take the big 4:
Liverpool: Gerrard, Crouch, Carragher, Finnan, Pennant
Manu: Rooney, Giggs, Hargreaves, Carrick, Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Fletcher, Eagles
Arsenal: Walcott, and erm......
Chelsea: Cole, Cole, Lampard, Sidwell, Bridge, Terry, SWP
So you've near enough listed the England squad, so where's the backup to this when injuries/suspensions kick in? I think we seen part of the answer to that on Wedneaday.b]
With the exception of Arsenal, you can see plenty of British (and Irish) players in their teams every week.
Most last weekend in the top 4 was 4 in Chelsea's side. 3 each for Man U Liverpool & Man City, there were no players from the top 2 in the England team on Wednesday.
Spain is pretty much universally accepted as the 'most skillful' league. The Premiership as the 'most exciting' to watch. Well, Spain are even greater perennial under-achievers than England. A league that is in utter disarray (Serie A) with its corruption, crowd violence, etc., has produced the world champions.
I don't think the state of the domestic league is the best indicator of the success of the national side.[/b
I merely said this was part of the problem and not the whole cause
By having so many foreign players there is less chance for some of the better up and coming youngsters within the lower divisions to progress through to the Premier league and be in the shop window for the National side. Agree with Boldie regards when one of them do show a bit of promise they tend to be overpriced.
I'm not saying get rid of Johnny Foriegner, it would kill the game in England. Although steps need to be taken to ensure that Englands young hopefuls have something to carry on after the Academy etc.
Really wish people would understand what was being said and also think through their replies.
Geo
Geo