The hopes and dreams of a nation were shattered Thursday night as the brilliance of Luis Suarez sunk The Three Lions, who now need a miracle to progress through the Group Stage. Failure to do so will constitute England's worst performance in a World Cup finals since 1958. Only the eternal optimist could have believed England would win the tournament and the group on paper was a tough one; however, no one expected this England side to go down without a fight. As we await our fate it must be asked how does a country with the best league in the world, produce so few quality players?
Looking at that England side last night, there was a lack of spark - a Paul Gascoigne perhaps - with no true leader to pull the team through. Wayne Rooney was on the score sheet last night, ending his World Cup goalscoring drought, but as a whole the side was poor. Steven Gerrard, who ultimately cost his team, was missing throughout. This isn’t to say the blame can be placed squarely on any individual, but on the biggest of stages you need your experienced players to stand up and be counted. Yet they shirked responsibility and failed to perform, when their country needed them the most. It would seem now that The Three Lions will be leaving with barely a whimper, let alone a roar.
In all fairness, the Uruguayans weren’t special last night. They matched the England side punch for punch and in Liverpool striker Suarez, had that one bit of extra quality with which Roy Hodgson's side were undone.
In comparison with other nations such as Brazil, Argentina and France, all of our players are picked from English clubs in the English league, whereas in the nations mentioned the players mainly look to play in teams abroad. For exampe, the likes of Sergio Aguero, Neymar Jr. and Karim Benzema, who all apply their trade overseas. Of course, their nations' leagues are much weaker, but by playing in teams abroad they are guaranteed - in most cases - first team football, and ultimaetly that leaves the international sides a wider pool of players to chose from.
However, in England a ruling states there must be at least five English players in your 25 man squad, which results in a hoarding of English players by big teams who have no intention of them having a role to play in their team. Manchester City is a prime example; the likes of Scott Sinclair, Jack Rodwell and even James Milner have seen their careers stagnate as they lack the game time needed to fulfil their potential. This is not exclusive to them, of course; the likes of Danny Welbeck and even Tom Cleverly are bit-part players in a failing Manchester United side. It would seem English teams have a hoarding problem.
The solution: the FA and the English Premier League can either place further restrictions on clubs, or they should be lifted. English players should look to play abroad and not be content with sitting on the bench. Look at the Spanish (okay, so they have been poor this tournament, but they have an abundance of quality); their players play all over Europe, despite having one of the biggest leagues in the world.
There is no easy solution, but if nothing is done it would seem England's agony and despair of previous tournaments, will be set to continue.
