Alison Wheeler (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} alisonw) wrote,@ 2007-11-22 11:14:00 |
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A game of two halves
I understand from commentary in the blogosphere that the England team played some sort of game of Football last night, and lost, removing them from entry to the "Euro 2008" competition.
Now I take precious little interest in Association Football (or American or Aussie rules football either, for that matter) but is it not the case that few of the leading clubs in the UK actually have many native-born players of calibre? I can see Arsenal's ground from my window, yet I believe nearly all of the cast of players are from foreign climes.
How can one expect a national group to perform well when they get little chance to play in the top echelons of their sport in the first place? Was this loss not just a sympton of the downgrading of the home-grown player?
I understand from commentary in the blogosphere that the England team played some sort of game of Football last night, and lost, removing them from entry to the "Euro 2008" competition.
Now I take precious little interest in Association Football (or American or Aussie rules football either, for that matter) but is it not the case that few of the leading clubs in the UK actually have many native-born players of calibre? I can see Arsenal's ground from my window, yet I believe nearly all of the cast of players are from foreign climes.
How can one expect a national group to perform well when they get little chance to play in the top echelons of their sport in the first place? Was this loss not just a sympton of the downgrading of the home-grown player?
