Blanc Blames foreigners for flop

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NEWS Laurent Blanc - blames foreign imports.
ENGLAND MUST THINK HARD - BLANC The Premier League's reliance on foreign imports is to blame for England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008, according to former France defender Laurent Blanc.
England's 3-2 defeat to Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday meant they finished third in their qualifying group and missed out on a place in next summer's tournament in Austria and Switzerland.
Various opinions have been expressed as to the reasons behind England's problems.
But former Manchester United centre-back Blanc reckons it boils down to a lack of English players competing in the country's top-flight league.
"It is sad because it is a great football nation - it is a negative thing to have happened for the whole of football," said the current coach of Ligue 1 side Bordeaux.
"England basically have the best league in the world, but I am part of the group that thinks the Premier League is strong because of its foreigners.
"That poses a problem for the national team because it is no longer producing English players."
Blanc, a member of France's 1998 World Cup-winning and Euro 2000 winning squads, added: "At the moment, English clubs prefer to buy rather than to produce their own players. Paradoxically, that makes French football stronger.
"If someone has to think hard, it is the English."

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Foreigners not to blame - Beckham

Foreigners not to blame - Beckham

Beckham is still hopeful of continuing his England career

David Beckham believes the influx of foreign players into the Premier League is not to blame for England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008. England lost the decisive qualifier 3-2 to Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday.
The result ended England's hopes of reaching Euro 2008 and signalled the end of coach Steve McClaren's reign.
"There's many excuses out there that people can come up with but I don't think you can blame it on foreign players," Beckham told BBC London.

Interview: David Beckham
"For me, the foreign players have brought something special to the Premiership and our country.
Hopefully I'll still be playing, and playing well enough, to be in the England squad in 2010


David Beckham


"If you look back at 1974 and 1978 when we didn't qualify for World Cups back then there was probably 90% of English players in the English league.
"Now there's probably a lot more foreign players but I don't think you can turn round and look at it like that."
England team-mate Steven Gerrard had already called for foreign player quotas before England lost to Croatia and former France and Chelsea defender Marcel Desailly agrees.
"The clubs should concentrate a little bit more on the top foreign players only," he said. "In each English club team, there should be only three or four top players from abroad.
"At the end of the day, it is the foreigners who have lifted the level of the Premier League - and that has given the league better exposure and increased sponsors and the media.
606: DEBATE
Should David Beckham retire from international football?

"But you have to be careful how you play the game, and it is true that the national team is not following the level of the league.
Beckham won his 99th cap as England lost on Wednesday but the 32-year-old says he has a future with the national team.
Speaking on the second anniversary of the David Beckham Academy in Greenwich, he said: "I'll still be available and hopefully I'll still be playing, and playing well enough, to be in the England squad in 2010 but who knows?
"Everything can change and I've seen that in the last 12 months. I said at the start of my career I'd always want to play for my country and I'd never retire from playing for my country.
"Obviously that could be taken out of my hands but I want to reach my 100 caps, I want to reach the milestone and to get 100 caps would be a dream come true for me."
And following McClaren's dismissal on Thursday, Beckham is waiting like the rest of the country to see what the Football Association does next.
"It's all down to speculation on who's going to be taking over," he said.
"The support was there for the manager last week and rightly so because players support managers and people that they believe in.
"Obviously Steve is not the England manager any more and everybody has to come to terms with that now.
"Now it's down to the FA to pick another England manager to take over the team."
Watch Inside Sport on BBC ONE at 2320 on Monday for a full interview with David Beckham.

[Karl]

The problem is the "bottom".

England is not giving the youngest of their players...those at the earliest age-group levels...with great technical potential and creativity a chance to develop.

They are discared too quickly in favour of those quick to follow the 'rigid well organised England script'. The kids should be allowed to play...play with the ball at that early age....they should be allowed to express themselves. The organisation can come along later.

Will not accept that the young England lad is just clumsy! ..and, dull! ...given to not thinking for self not given to, within game, reacting to dictates of confined space and wall of opponents...given only to following orders for a ram-rod sargeant-major on the sidelines?

[Lazie]

I think that people needed to look at McClaren's decisions. Why start Lescott ahead of the experienced Wes Brown? When England was struggling, it was realized that Lampard and Gerrard couldn't play together ... why start both players here?

There is one move he made that I cannot fully blame him for. Gareth Barry played the defensive mid previously and did a good job and I was curious if he would have started Hargreves ahead of him. Okay .. he started Barry. No prob. His incompetence came to the fore when England equalized.

According to one report, As soon as Crouch scored his strategist, Venables told him to bring in Hargreves immediately to shield the back 4. Anyone who see him play for Manu, sees how effectively he does that job. McClaren, the genius he is, instructed Defoe to play much deeper. As that guiness ad used to say ... BRILLIANT. We all saw where the winning goal was scored from.

[Baddaz]

ok.. when was the last time england won a major tournament again... they weren't winning when the prem was mostly their players... then, everybody acknowledged that their league was crap... and now their league has gotten better, they are blaming the very players improved their league... typical, they want it all...

[Sir X]

Lazie is see it as a coaching error , Mclaren is to england what C.B is to Jamaica , he is either a genius or a lucky man.The verdict is in im luck run out , at home at that.

[Sir X]

Yep and I dont believe that they will kill thier only cash cow(PREM) to go back to what ? and not winning a damm thing on the international stage to boot , then what ? blame who or whom ?

They know its a coaching problem a philosophy that has to be rooted out of the english game , the long ball game is dead.

I see every european nation trying to play a passing game except england .If dem nuh learn from croatia , dem deserve wha dem get.

Like a man say dem caan play like arsenal because dem nuh think like wegner .

[Jamaica2099]

And it's ironic that the Arsenal Professor is the manager with the youngest team in the BPL with an average age of 23.
He is the one that has a great eye for young potential footballers. Be it foreign or English.