Nowhere has the summer squeeze on English footballers been more pronounced than at Tottenham. It has been an impressive reaction by Daniel Levy, Franco Baldini and Andre Villas-Boas to the prospect of losing Gareth Bale. With £86million at their disposal, they have identified targets swiftly and closed deals with far more aplomb than Arsenal, who are suddenly the North London club with a British core. This spree has transformed the complexion of Spurs, who were for many years a prime example of a big club investing in young British talent.
When the dust settles, they could have eight signings from eight countries and, when Tottenham reconvene after the international break, Villas-Boas could field a very good team without a Brit in sight: Lloris, Kaboul, Chichires, Vertonghen, Coentrao, Paulinho, Capoue, Lamela, Eriksen, Chadli and Soldado.
But where does this leave Jermain Defoe, Kyle Walker, Michael Dawson, Aaron Lennon, Danny Rose, Kyle Naughton and Hodgson’s winger of the month Andros Townsend? Some will undoubtedly feature as Villas-Boas has to include seven homegrown players in his 25-man squad. Others will be left to consider the next stage of their careers. Tottenham boast a crop of young players considered to be among the best in the country and yet Tom Carroll was the only one selected to start Thursday night’s Europa League play-off, with Spurs already five-up. Carroll, 21, is precisely the kind of technical footballer England must produce and yet he needs time to develop before he can expect to force his way past Paulinho, Capoue, Sandro, Mousa Dembele, Gylfi Sigurdsson, etc. He will probably go out on loan.
Fulham have been the Premier League Academy champions for the past two years and have a team jammed with foreign players. Manchester United, who supply more than a quarter of the England squad named this week, are one of the few who give extended opportunities to English youngsters. Southampton are another and yet no sooner is Rickie Lambert an England debut goal hero than he is contending with the arrival of Dani Osvaldo from Roma. Saints have also splurged £12.5m on Victor Wanyama and £12m on Gaston Ramirez.
New TV cash has armed clubs in the depths of the Premier League with funds to tempt them to buy abroad. Paolo Di Canio has signed 10 players, nine from overseas plus a teenager from Altrincham, as Sunderland copy neighbours Newcastle, who started against West Ham last Saturday without any England-qualified players. Michael Laudrup included more Spaniards in his Swansea team at Spurs on Sunday than half-a-dozen teams in La Liga. Leon Britton has been displaced in midfield by new signing Jose Canas.
England boss Hodgson doesn’t seem to know whether to make a racket about this or not. When his squad congregate at St George’s Park on Monday, you can bet he will purr that these shores are awash with talent. Most probably, he will refer to the 10 English players who started in the game between Manchester United and Chelsea on Monday and yet he knows his options are dwindling.
Gary Neville and Gareth Southgate have recently chipped in on the subject but the FA must provide stronger leadership on the issue. Surely it is something new chairman Greg Dyke will tackle? Warning signs have been there for more than a decade but England’s development teams still drift along under the non-confrontational leadership of Sir Trevor Brooking and Ray Clemence. Stuart Pearce was the scapegoat for a dismal summer, but what else has changed? The signs are not encouraging. England internationals such as Huddlestone, Caulker, Livermore, Parker, Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing have been forced out to find more playing time. Darren Bent has sought a fresh start at Fulham. Gareth Barry looks set to follow Scott Sinclair out of Manchester City, while chances for Jack Rodwell and James Milner will be hit by the signings of Fernandinho, Stevan Jovetic and Jesus Navas.
A few homegrown players have defied gravity. Gareth Bale cannot go much higher than Real Madrid but then you are looking at Dwight Gayle (Peterborough to Crystal Palace) and Nathan Redmond (Birmingham to Norwich). Gary Hooper has traded the Champions League football and another SPL cakewalk with Celtic for Norwich and the knock-on effect is that Grant Holt is squeezed from the Premier League to Wigan.
Being English can be a handicap. Everton released Leighton Baines as a teenager and are now reluctant for him to better himself at Manchester United, despite an offer which values him and Marouane Fellaini at £28m.
Turkey have just introduced a ‘6 plus 5’ rule to protect their players. In their Super League, teams must select six homegrown players. Such a rule is more difficult to enforce in the EU. The Premier League is proudly free-market and the seven homegrown players in each 25-man squad is about as restrictive as they are likely to get.
Much hope is pinned on Ged Roddy’s EPPP, a youth development plan hatched with great fanfare, based upon pairing the best young players and the best coaches and increasing time on the training ground. It has been criticised for its impact on smaller clubs, who rely upon youth development to survive, but Roddy is confident it will produce better technical footballers.
A large part of the problem is the gap from under-18s to the first team. This is where many young players hit a wall if they are not ready to make the leap to the Premier League and only the exceptional few are ready. Loaning out can work but there are risks. Townsend was out on loan at nine clubs before he made his full Premier League debut for Spurs on Sunday, at the age of 22. Now he is in the England squad. Was the loan system the best way to fulfil his potential? Young players learn the realities of winning and losing but over-exposure to low-grade football can stunt the technical qualities needed at an elite level.
The technical gulf opening up between the Premier League and the Championship is driving football into two codes: one more rugged and physical, based on traditional British qualities, and a refined Euro football, where the ball zips around and is never mis-controlled by the talented feet of many nations.
As for the Champions League, that is another step beyond and a competition where only one Englishman (Hooper) scored more than once last season.
English club culture will never advocate the inclusion of reserve teams in the lower leagues, as found in Europe, so the Under 21 league, launched last year with limited success, has to be more vibrant and testing.
Financial Fair Play should balance overseas spending with youth development but there has been no sign of this and Arsene Wenger is still tearing his hair out as he is implored to buy star players.
The first step most clubs have taken has been to find more creative ways of generating income, with exhibition games abroad and more sophisticated sponsorship schemes, including selling space on training kit. Prices for these deals are driven up by a cosmopolitan squad with commercial appeal in all corners of the world. English football is trapped in this vicious circle.
The free market does not appear close to finding its equilibrium but something has to be done to ensure this country produces its own footballers capable of breaking into a vibrant Premier League.
