What do people think of Arsenal fielding an entirely non English team?

I think it would be good if most professionals playing in this country were English, but, at present there are no rules that clubs should play English players and for ex Arsenal players to be bandying around words like "disgrace" is some way over the top.

We'll find out on Saturday whether Arse'n'all's 100%international squad are all that better than the Blades' all English (except Geary and Quinn) squad. Okay, the odds are that United will lose, but it will be interesting to see which team shows the most guts, fitness and drive.

Up the Blades!!:thumbsup:

Wenger said that he didn't know anything about this until someone mentioned it. But after reviewing the Arsenal squad there are only a handful of English player and if these are injured, what can he do?

I wouldn't say it was a disgrace but the news certainly made me feel sad. I was thinking of the implications really.... Are we so short of quality English players who want to play in this country and if so why?

A manager should always be able to choose his best team but obviously this choice would be hindered if they were forced to put a few token English players because the rules dictated so.

Apparently Jose Mourinho has said that he would never send out a team with no English players, but does anyone seriously believe that if the circumstances occurred that any manager would send out a weaker team than he could have done just to ensure that there are English players in the team?

If he did, I should imagine his bosses may take a rather dim view of it.

Personally I'd like to see more English players but it is hard to see how there could ever be any restrictions on EU players without breaking European Law (I know UEFA are trying to get around it by talking about "home-grown" players and making no mention of nationality - but whether this is challenged successfully remains to be seen)

It's no big deal. Until English clubs value their own players at more realistic prices then Mr Venger and company will scour clubs abroad and buy better players at far cheaper prices.

Is it England's loss? Perhaps, but people need to get real here. Look at the amount of money that has swapped hands in transferring players like Emile Heskey and yes, Wayne Rooney. It's ridiculous! The other night, (the likes of) these very players were IMHO given a lesson in football by the Dutch, none of whom commanded a fee like that of Wayne Rooney.

Don't get me wrong, we have great players in this country, but they are over-valued, never more so since 'Agents' climbed onboard the gravy train.

I think that, until the English clubs stop overestimtaing how much English players are worth, we'll carry on with the current trend of buying the cheaper, foreign imports who have already had the chance to develop into good enough players for the top leagues.

Besides, now that Football is more of a business than a sport, why spend a lot of time and money to develop a group of footballers (only to hope that 1 or 2 are good enough) when you can get a player who is good enough and is a damn sight cheaper?

Only one English player in the team for Asredivers today and he was the sub Keeper (Taylor) so not much chance of him getting on except for injury to the first choice.