In contrast, Most time the Italians (or Ukrainians, Swedes or French before them) seemed to be much more comfortable receiving the ball and would lose it far less often.
The only time England players looked comfortable and with time on the ball is when they were passing it around the back 5 when the opposition weren't pressing them.
You could have written that at virtually anytime since 1966 (swapping the overseas national teams as required) with the possible exception of 1990. Blaming it all on the premier league is rubbish. I heard people saying the same about lack of basic skills in English footballers during the 1980s. England were left behind with the arrival of total football, not the premier league, and haven't since caught up. What always makes me laugh is when armchair pundits say player X, or player Y was playing out of position etc. If they're so good they should be able to fit into the team system. Managers and tactics make a marginal difference, but if you've not got the basic abilities required no amount of shuffling of the cards will make much difference.
My much earlier post rambled on about much more than blaming the Prem. I highlighted past development methods that were outdated compared to the continental style of football which evolved from the 70's onwards. I must say that the direction that FIFA has taken football in terms of the physicality has handicapped the British way of playing much more than any other nation, too.
But it's undeniable that the riches of the Premier League has had a huge influence - in terms of both the dearth of opportunities for English players at top clubs (caused by too many foreign players) and the tiny number of English players who play in other countries.
The last time England got beyond the quarter-final stage of a major tournament was when they hosted Euro 96, four years after the coming of the PL. IIRC, that England side still had a few players in it from the team that ran W Germany so close in the semis at World Cup 90 (Gazza, Stuart Pearce, David Platt come to mind- possibly Tony Adams as well, although I can't recall for sure if he played at Italia 90 or not).
During the first 5 years or so of the PL, although overseas players were starting to become more in number, most of the top teams in England still had a good number of English players in their sides. The factor that I feel has been overlooked by many here is the Bosman ruling of 1995, which got rid of transfer fees for players that were out of contract at their club and wanted to move elsewhere. Also, it forced UEFA to scrap the "three foreigners" rule that hitherto had been in place for the various European competitions. Once this happened, clubs had greater freedom to sign larger numbers of foreign players and they knew that they could play an unlimited number of overseas players in European ties since the three foreigner rule had been scrapped. When the rule was still in place, there was less point in signing large numbers of foreign players because in European ties, they couldn't play more than three at anyone time.
IMO, the one thing that had seriously disadvantaged homegrown players in England apart from the PL has been the Bosman ruling, but I think in many ways that homegrown players in many countries throughout Europe have been disadvantaged by it as well.
Edited by user
26 June 2012 23:17:17
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Reason: Not specified
Lenzie, Glasgow
"Let us not take ourselves too seriously. None of us has a monopoly on wisdom, and we must always be ready to listen and respect other points of view."- Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022