The Premier League problem
The Premier League’s success since its 1992 inception has certainly made it harder for young homegrown players to transition to first-team football at the highest level. In such a competitive league, where clubs have huge funds, managers and football directors always want the best possible “ready to use” talent from around the world. English membership of the EU single market – we’ll see what happens after Brexit – makes it particularly easy to get players from Europe. And with so many continental managers at Premier League clubs working under enormous pressure, it’s only reasonable they sign players they know well. Southgate for one is not convinced it’s a simple quality problem. As he put it : Nobody can tell me that, if [English] players are good enough, they will come through. That is not true. There are plenty of players who are good enough. If so, we must ask what else could be done to boost the chances of aspiring Lions. One major difference between England and certain contin...