Are there too many Internationals or too many excuses heading towards Brazil 2014 for England?
Recently in an article published in the Guardian, a shocking statistic was released. Of all starting 11’s in the first week in the Premier League 2013/2014 season, merely 34.1% were of English nationality. The English Premier League is undoubtedly the most competitive and publicised league in the world, so it is understandable that a considerate amount of competing players would be of international descent, but the statistics are mind-blowing.
Twenty one years ago, in August 1992, the statistics revealed a very different picture, with 73.1% of players participating in the Premier League of English nationality. Although shocking to read, does this statistic really affect England’s Football?
Considering the lack of competitiveness in the FIFA World Cup where the England Team has been plagued by relatively low results, including a failure to qualify, since a 4th place result in the 1990 World Cup, it will be interesting to see how England will do come 2014 FIFA World Cup, where England coach Roy Hodgson is already facing difficulties in qualifying.
In the Premier League though, it is not such a gloomy picture for England.
In the Top Goal Scorers so far, England has two players in the top 10. Daniel Sturridge of Liverpool, a born and raised Englishmen, who played his whole career in England, sits in 2nd place with 3 goals out of 3 starts, and Danny Welbeck of Manchester United, in a comfortable 4th position with 2 goals to his name already.
Although Frank Lampard doesn’t feature in the Top 10 Goal scorers, he is still putting in a good performance for Chelsea. With 3 starts, a total of 270 minutes played and 1 goal to his name, it seems the Englishmen are right on track, despite criticism within the league.
Despite the number of English Players in the league, the competitive English Players included in England’s Squad are from undoubtedly the best teams in the World, and not only participate in the matches played, but play a big part in the team’s performance.
Majority of the team, starting from Goalkeeper Joe Hart, who is the main goalkeeper for Manchester City, to the more common names, Steven Gerrard, James Milner, Ashley Cole, and Theo Walcott to the rising talent of Raheem Sterling and Leighton Baines, amongst only a few, it seems the only problem facing England next year in the World Cup is the competitiveness of the Premier League disrupting ‘Team Building’, an essential feature in any successful team.
Despite the statistics, however shocking they may be, the old saying still stands strong: Quality over Quantity and such is the case in the English Premier League, the greatest league in the world.
