Excellent ! England are out, so now perhaps the 'experts' will start talking some sense about English football, whatever the result against Costa Rica next Tuesday.
The Premier League may be one of the best leagues in the world, but it's populated by so many foreign players that to equate it's success with English football is a nonsense. While there are many world class players in the league, few if any of them are English and the poor showing of the national team at the World Cup is a clear consequence of this. The way that foreign owners with vast fortunes now infest the Premier League and use it as a means of self-aggrandisement inevitably reduces the opportunity for young home-grown players, as owners prefer to buy-in expensive but proven players rather than develop their own talent. Unless this trend is reversed, England will continue to be bit-part participants for many years to come.
The sad truth is the likes of Rooney and Gerrard never have been 'world class', whatever the media hype around them has been. Hart is a somewhat shaky goalkeeper and the likes of Baines, Cahill, Henderson, Johnson et al are nothing like as good as they're painted. Sturridge without Suarez alongside him is only half a threat and the rest are a mixed bag. Welbeck and Barkley have yet to prove themselves at the highest level, while Lallana's elevation to the national side smacks of desperation as does that of Lambert, a man who's never even been in contention before. Jagielka is possibly the best of a poor bunch. The one bright spot has been Sterling, but a couple of good games doesn't make a world class player, though our media will undoubtedly build him up to superstar status.
It is not the manager's fault, we simply don't have the players. There's no immediate answer and the European Championships in 2016 may well be even worse for us; after that, it'll be another new manager, more encouraging words and on to 2018. God Help Us.
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