Foreign Player Limit: Helps England, Hurts Newcastle?

It’s one of those suggestions that swirls the second after England loses in a major tournament. The Premier League has a ton of foreign players, and the influx of these players is stifling the national team’s development. Shouldn’t the Premier League place a limit in foreign players in order to build up the domestic game?

Of course, for many Newcastle supporters, club versus country is not much of a debate. More than a handful of fans offered cross-channel support for Euro 2012, preferring to cheer on Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa instead of an England squad filled with rival players. But a cap on Premier League imports would be a double blow for even the most patriotic Geordie. It would almost certainly harm Newcastle United, while doing nothing to improve the national team's prospects.

The trickiest issue with a cap could be completely outside the league’s control: it may violate EU laws about freedom of movement. The Spanish league system, for example, only limits non-EU players. (And actually, non-European players with European ancestry are not subject to the cap. Fabricio Coloccini was European as far as La Liga was concerned.)

But if the Premier League could wave a magic wand and change European law, it still would not help the national team. There are much deeper systemic issues in the youth system at work, which actually are much the same here in the United States.

In both countries, physical qualities have been valued over technical ability among youth players. That leads to a national team full of big, strong, and/or fast guys without the tactical awareness or skill to make the most of those natural gifts. (In lieu of being big, strong, or fast, a willingness to dive in for tackles is also an acceptable substitute for being able to play the sport properly.) When the World Cup or Euros roll around, is it any surprise that such a team looks bewildered when it has to break its opponents down in the attack?

You see it carry over in the English press as well. A tenacious but limited player like Scott Parker receives gushing praise, but technical passers such as Leon Britton and (dare I say) Danny Guthrie go unnoticed, and have no hope of wearing England white. It has mostly fallen to imported players to bring different qualities to the league. Just looking at Newcastle players, where in England would the club have found Ben Arfa, Cabaye, or Papiss Cissé?

A cap on foreign players would also directly hurt Newcastle, and every other club that has a limited budget. The club’s success has been built on bringing in relatively undervalued continental players. You can import Cisse for £9 million, or buy Andy Carroll for four times as much. Bring in Ben Arfa for £5 million, with Champions League and Ligue 1 title experience under his belt, or 18-year-old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for twice that. The cap would make English players an even greater commodity, with only the league’s heavyweights able to buy the best domestic talent.

If England hopes to regain its status as an international force, the only solution is to coach better players, not rely on league gimmicks to ban foreigners. Such a move just dilutes the quality of the Premier League and prevents less-wealthy clubs from creating sensible transfer policies. As fans of a club that seems to have a solid plan in place, it would be a shame to see that scrapped because of the Three Lions’ failures.

This is the first part of a summer series exploring commonly proposed changes to the Premier League.

Comments

[tony]

there is not enough good British players to make it work and the money from TV would collapse ie not much of a spectacle

[JP...from The Rock]

Let's be honest England players SUCK!! Technically they are some of the worst in the world. Tactically they are also one of the worst in the world ( in the International scene, not the league). Also the appointment of England managers in the past has been shocking to say the least. England would stand a much better chance if all of the United Kingdom including England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales were to form one team. This team could include the likes of Gareth Bale, Ryan Giggs and Bellamy to name a few. This would be extremely beneficial to the whole of the U.K as these players and players from lesser leagues could unite to become a formidable team. It would inspire Scots and Welsh alike to try harder for their chance to earn a Cap for the National Team as they would now have a much better chance to progress in Tournaments.

FIFA should really look into that.

[JP...from The Rock]

The biggest problem with the England team is that they don't know how to play like a team. Individually they are brilliant but together they are awful. Much like what happens to France and Netherlands. Tactics are dreadful also as hoofing the ball up-field seems like the only way to play and no one seems to realize that that just gives possession to the opposition over and over again. Goal kicks for example are always played long when it can easily be played short to a defender that can pass along the ground and keep the ball. Some odd selections from managers don't help either as leaving Lennon out of the team or not playing Walcott until the last 10 minutes of a match. More common sense is desperately needed and I don't see it changing anytime soon.

[mick]

Hate to break this to you pal. But theres already a cap in place. And has been for the last two seasons. Youll notice it more now the financial restrictions are coming into force this summer. Im english and would like to see more english players given a chance.

[Matt]

@Mick: The cap in place is quite different to what I'm writing about here. People like Vuckic and Krul are exempt because they came up through the youth system, though they're not English.

@JP: Interesting suggestion to fold the whole UK into one national team. You're right that Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish players would likely relish the opportunity. Not sure what fans would think. Though you've probably got a better handle on it than I do in the States.

[Dave From Newcastle]

Lets shelve this discussion for 2 months to see what happens at the Olympics with a UK team playing in the UK. If they win gold, I suspect you will hear more drums beating for a unified team. Part of me hopes that happens- mainly for the unintentional comedy that will occur, like Scottish players not singing "God Save the Queen/King" before the game and then the storm that will happen after that. Or what would happen if a Welsh player got the start over an English player and then had a shocker?
Also, could they bring in a Scottish manager for that team or would the press in London lose their mind if that happened?

We need this to happen, the U.S. is not in the Olympics so I will be cheering for the red white and blue or the UK in this one.

[Jaeger]

assuming we keep simpson and stevie taylor starts....they'd be the only truly english players in the starting lineup. then theres only a couple in reserves....shola and sammy, a bunch of reserves/academy players in the squad (correct me if i missed any). obviously shows the lack of quality of english players compared to spanish or french pools of talent. england had a poor outing at the Euros, i don't recognize them as a powerhouse in International football anymore.

I don't think the other countries in the UK will agree to a joined team. Just need to put more effort into youth development a more united national team.