Does the money in the Premier League hurt the performances of the England national team?
This is a hot topic around the nation seemingly every two years following all of England’s disappointing exits from major tournaments.
Is there a lack of opportunities for young English players to thrive in the Premier League? Is there too much money in the league? Should there be a winter break? Are English players burnt out by the time a major tournament rolls around?
Euro 2016 alone tells a different story.
Let’s start with young players’ opportunities. You only have to look across the England squad to understand this simply isn’t the case.
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Harry Kane scored 25 Premier League goals for Tottenham Hotspur and helped them challenge for the title. He started every game. Spurs’ success was largely in part to the opportunities handed to young English players like Dele Alli and Eric Dier. Fullbacks Kyle Walker and Danny Rose were both outstanding for their club.
All five players were key to Tottenham’s success and walked into the England starting lineup. Dier put together a strong Euros campaign and Walker was exceptional for the two group games he featured in, but Kane and Alli were among the biggest disappointments.
Raheem Sterling didn’t struggle through lack of opportunity in the Premier League. Neither did Joe Hart or Wayne Rooney.
When you compare Tottenham’s preferred starting 11 from the 2015/16 season to Barcelona’s, there are more English players in the Spurs’ team than there are Spanish players in Barcelona’s. The La Liga champions boast a front three of Lionel Messi (Argentina), Neymar (Brazil) and Luis Suarez (Uruguay).
Real Madrid are in a similar position. Only two of their starting 11 in the Champions League final were Spanish. Yet we don’t hear about La Liga not giving enough opportunities to Spanish players.
Another argument is that the Premier League is a more physically demanding league than any other in Europe due to its fast-paced games and competition. The Spanish and Italian leagues are renowned for a slower pace, and the level of competition is significantly weaker once you go beyond the elite teams.
A case can certainly be made here, and perhaps the Premier League should give serious thought to a winter break. But this can’t be blamed for England’s struggles at major tournaments. Many Premier League players have succeeded for their countries in World Cups and European Championships, just not for England.
Dimitri Payet played in 37 games for West Ham last season, but he hasn’t looked burnt out for France. Payet has been one of the tournament’s best players. Mesut Ozil hasn’t looked tired for Germany despite starting 47 games for Arsenal.
Almost the entire Wales starting 11 play in the Premier League, as does a large percentage of the Belgium squad.
Premier League players have succeeded in the World Cup and European Championship in recent years, just very rarely in an England kit.
The problem for England isn’t because their players are too tired, nor are they drowned out by European players at their clubs. There is a much deeper underlying issue holding back the national squad. The FA need to be held accountable for their woeful managerial appointments in the past decade. From Steve McClaren to Fabio Capello and Roy Hodgson, each manager has failed.
England need a manager who can get the best out of what is in fact a very talented squad. Kane and Jamie Vardy didn’t score a combined 49 Premier League goals by accident, while Alli wasn’t awarded the PFA Young Player of the Year for no reason.
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The England team has talent, just as it has at many tournaments in recent memory. The Premier League isn’t preventing the team from succeeding on the big stage, the lack of a top manager has.