Gary Cahill Only Chelsea FC Player In England Squad
Earlier today, Roy Hodgson announced his 24 man England squad for a batch of games at the end of this month. These are a EURO 2016 qualifying tie against Lithuania and a friendly against Italy. Chelsea FC’s Gary Cahill, as expected, was named in the 24 and will also be expected to start when the matches come around.
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However, as has been the case in recent times, he is the sole Chelsea FC representative in the national squad. Is this not indicative of why English football is in such a poor place right now? Here we have the domestic champions-elect being able to provide only one player for the national cause. Further to this, Cahill is the only realistically viable contender in the Chelsea Premier League squad with the other English players made up of a retired John Terry and youngsters Jamal Blackman, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Isaiah Brown.
This is in stark contrast to the end of Mourinho’s first stint in charge, where the club could provide as many as six feasible players to represent the country on international duty. At the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, four Chelsea FC players were taken on both occasions with at least half of them being nailed on as starters. Last summer in Brazil, only Cahill and Frank Lampard flew the flag for West London and now that Lampard has moved to the US (via the north), Gary is the last man standing.
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Looking at the make-up of today’s squad, each club represented is done so at least twice except the Blues and Aston Villa (Fabian Delph). Manchester United lead the way with five included, followed by Liverpool’s four and three each from Arsenal, Tottenham and Everton. Southampton and Man City provide two.
One can look at this and say that at least Chelsea FC have someone there, but this is not the issue we’re faced with. Chelsea are a team that historically, despite all the big spending, have always had a relatively English spine behind the side. From Terry and Lampard to the two Coles (and even Wright-Phillips and Wayne Bridge), there has always been an undeniable native facet to the squad.
As these players have moved on the club has failed to replace them, instead opting to import talent from overseas. Now we have runaway league leaders with a squad almost entirely composed of foreign players. This cannot be good for English football.
having English players at your club will result in little but a plunge down the table
However, as often is the case, there is a secondary edge to this sword. In South Africa and Germany (2006, 2010 respectively) England undertook ultimately disastrous campaigns to win the World Cup. Additionally, between these two tournaments they failed to qualify for the EUROs altogether. This was the period where Chelsea FC could provide as many players as anyone else. These England teams sucked despite being composed of footballers playing at the top of supposedly the best league in the world.
Furthermore, look at the current situation. Chelsea FC almost have the Premier League signed, sealed and delivered with minimal English influence. Meanwhile, the nation’s largest contributor Manchester United are floundering in a race for fourth while Liverpool (despite the recent resurgence) are nowhere near the title either. If these last two paragraphs say anything, they are suggesting that having English players at your club will result in little but a plunge down the table.
Chelsea FC
This is the sorry position of English football at the moment, caught in a cyclical state of mediocrity. Big clubs are failing to invest in English players as they are on the whole consistently not good enough to bring an advantage. As a result, English players are failing to improve as they don’t get much exposure at the top end of the game leading to a dire national team that always seems to disappoint on the big occasions.
Ultimately it is English football in general that suffers the consequences. As has been seen on the European front over recent seasons, the top Premier League clubs fail to measure up against their continental counterparts and it would be arrogant, stubborn and foolish to carry on declaring our league as the best in the world. The players which we hold as top of the pile over here (Yaya, Aguero, Hazard to name but a few) have been shown up to be little more than above average against European competition.
In typical English style, the FA went about commissioning a report to look into the inadequacies of our system but more than all this bureaucratic nonsense is needed to solve the problem. Unfortunately, though, it seems like the million dollar question at the moment.
Let’s not get started on English cricket either.
England squad to play Lithuania and Italy:
Fraser Forster (Southampton), Joe Hart (Manchester City); Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur); Ross Barkley (Everton), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Fabian Delph (Aston Villa), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), James Milner (Manchester City), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Theo Walcott (Arsenal); Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal)
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