Arsenal, Manchester Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool would perish without their foreigners

i thought it was quite fresh when it turned up but now i agree with the majority of posters on here that it should be quietly shut down. what a daft article. the quota system has been roundly ignored by all but the thickest internet bloggers for the last couple of months - even the tabloids that kickstarted the whole ridiculous bandwagon when england shamed themselves against croatia have tucked their tails between their legs and forgotten about it. come on people. grow up.

So would virtually every premiership team - check your stats before putting pen to paper 'what a waste of ink'

It's the grass roots,I watch my nine year old nephew play and it's appalling when you have a gifted kid and the opposition are screaming 'take him out'.we don't encourage kids to be skillful we encourage them to hoof the ball and tackle hard. we are years behind and it will stay like that until we improve the grass roots level. The FA has a lot to answer for and is keen to put the blame on overseas players to deflect the truth

This is the best article I have read on this site. I agree with you. In addition, the shortage in supply of quality English players available in the market would drive up the prices of English players. All the good English players would be hoarded by the wealthiest English clubs leaving the smaller clubs very poor teams, this would reduce the quality of the league. I can't see how the FA could possibly enforce quotas as it would be against European law and would be overruled in the European Courts.

What is always ignored is the fact that the percentage shows non english players which includes Scottish, Irish, Northern Irish and Welsh players who regularly come through teams youth systems will the quota include these "home grown" players being left out? Giggs, o'shea, Fletcher for the rags Dunne Ireland at city. Think of all the foreign "home grown" who will now not be allowed to play! No other nation has to deal with 5 countries being soo close together that they flood each others youth teams. Spain, Italy, Germany even France who poach all their talent from African nations dont have to deal with this problem as almost always a player in their youth setup will be of their own nationality. Maybe the quota system should be applied to youth teams!!

What a load of crap. English players just are not as good as people think they are, not to mention overpriced. Simple question, how many English players are plying their trade in frreign leagues? If they were good enough they would yet only some of the BIG names have moved- to European clubs. And not all have been successfull. The English team couldnt qualify for Euros despite a plethora of big names. The question you should ask is how badly would English footaball suck if it werent for foriegners raising the levels of play? Bergkamp, Henry, Van Niestelroy,Cantona,Ginola,Klinsman,Kanu? Darren Bent cost 16 million and is utter crap- couldnt score enough to keep Charlton safe yet Tottenham splash out all that cash. English people need to face facts and not blame other people for the afct that their technical levels are below par.

There's another article like this.. but I think this one is the epitome of stupid. Kicking out foreigners will lower the skill level seen in the Premiership. Is it worth having our players in the starting 11 at Old Trafford, Stamford, or Anfield at the expense of lower levels of play? That won't help our players improve. Besides, every other country should not have to suffer because the hapless FA want to give our national team a cookie, warm milk, and a futile attempt to try to develop them. Developing and improving English players starts at the GRASSROOTS!! Not booting out foreign talent.. If you're going to blame any one for England's failure as a team.. don't blame foreigners..dont look to getting rid of them as the solution.. that won't fix the problem. Maybe stop blaming the wrong people and see the FA for what they are.. a bunch of misguided idiots that have cost England enough hardware.

Surely some of the problem lies often with the foreign countries too and their rules? Its way too easy for a English club to 'poach' younger players like those from Spain. Professional contracts are mostly offered to 18yr olds, England 16 , meaning English clubs get high quality foreign youngsters free 'cept for tiny compensation. e.g Fabregas. If I ran a youth team at a prem club I wouldn't bother investing in 50 local kids where one might be above average when I could get the next big thing on a free from Barca or Real.

66% of the last 3 England managers have been foreign (including Capello). Seriously though, this 'debate' was a joke to begin with & it's still a joke now.

We don't need to block foreign players just introduce a minimum number of home grown players and i don't mean young players from spain i mean british players.As for the argument that the richest clubs would hoarde the best players! well thats happened already its called the Champions League. The problem lies in the coaching, get rid of the howard wilkinsons of football and just let the kids enjoy their football.

dat is a load of crap y foreignes should play in the prem i admit there good but there taking over english football the only true englishman is david beckham hes shown true commitment right from when he became captain

Reading the comments to this article, I'm surprised at the number of people who reacted as if it's PRO quota system. I'm arguing AGAINST the quota system, saying it does not work for cars, and wouldn't work for players. I'm saying the problem IS because the standard of English youth players isn't as high as foreigners, and that blocking foreign players isn't the solution. I'm arguing for improving the youth system with a national youth system with good coaches. I'm NOT saying there should a quota. The stupid headline that sportingo put on this article is the problem, and not the content of the article. Clearly, they've sensationalized my headline to get more readers, and having seen this, I won't be writing any more articles here (wish I saw this before my new - and last - article about American owners of Liverpool). I originally said nothing about any particular team - I was talked generally about English football.

Which part of the following sounds like I'm arguing for a quota? "It is my view that enforcing a quota would not accomplish both goals simply because...with any quota system the [value] is always reduced inferior players are forced on clubs and supporters who would otherwise import higher quality players often at a fraction of the cost." "So while the influx of foreign players may have highlighted the problem, it is not the source." "one thing is for certain: a quota system to solve the supply problem of local representation would be like shutting the barn door after Jean-Marc Bosman has stolen the horse." I'm saying there should be no quota system, but they should focus on improving the quality of English youth players coming from a national academy.