This will be one of our shorter articles, but perhaps one of our most controversial ones. One may ask why England is struggling at the national team level, indicated most recently by failure to qualify for Euro 2008.
One theory is to look at the number of English players in the Premier League. In 1992, 75% of all players were from England. In 2007 that dropped to 38%.
Now that may not be unusual in the top leagues today; Germany has a high % of imports in the Bundesliga, and they have enjoyed moderate success. Italy, France and Spain also have imports in their leagues, but more nationals??
Now here is the interesting difference between England and Germany, for example. Premier League teams have an unusual high % of import goalkeepers. And that is where we will challenge your thinking, if you're an England fan. Could it be that the goalkeepers are more important than experts give them credit for?
Where are England's Kahn, Lehmann or Buffon? Aren't critical goalkeeper mistakes in world cups (Seaman), qualifiers and friendlies becoming routine? Why start a national rookie against Croatia?
Our suggestion: ENGLAND - DEVELOP WORLD CLASS GOALKEEPERS.
Godspeed
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