West Ham fan and London24.com writer Brad Pinnard makes an interesting point in his appraisal of West Ham’s transfer window dealings.
Brad sees a European influence dropping onto the club more and more with the arrival of a Foreign Legion of players, not to mention a Croatian manager.
He declares: “Slaven Bilic has come in and certainly added some passion and togetherness on the terraces again after a difficult spell under Sam Allardyce.
“West Ham have been smart and efficient in arguably their best ever transfer window, however are the Hammers a prime example of club’s being revamped by foreign mentalities simply because it is cheaper?
“From having an English manager and a squad littered with English players and styles, the club now has European roots embedded and that is unlikely to change for a long period of time.”
On the Irons’ reliance of home-grown talent, Pinnard says: “It wasn’t long ago the Hammers had six or seven Brits guaranteed to start every week and still finished 13th in the Premier League.
“The top clubs scrounging around for home-grown players is evidence that foreign spending is now the norm and it may not be long until we see regular, full foreign XI’s being picked in the Premier League
“West Ham of course are not to blame for doing what they have done this summer, they have been shrewd, however someone needs to take the blame for clubs valuing English players the way they do.
“If John Stones is worth £45 million, then West Ham got a bargain in Andy Carroll.”
I except your reasons 32 but also many things have changed IE the way Referees are told to use the rules,more protection to players giving the chance for players to milk the system by diving,giving free kicks such a big influence in the game,
The British game especially in the lower leagues is so much faster than European football for many reasons especially the weather,
You only have to watch kick abouts on the beach in Brazil or Argentine and here at Blackpool or Southend to see where values in skill differ,
We have talent in our country Like Hoddle who was hounded by His national manager to tackle back instead of told to spray the ball around and find space,
But also the fans in this country love to see there players giving 100% all the game not waiting for those magical moments from certain players,
If Andy Carroll player for the recast of this season and scores 15 goals or more he will be part of the England set up and offers of £30 million will come in,
That’s when you have to decide will he stay fit or cut your losses,
Sorry but im still struggling to understand how we got a bargain in Andy Carroll.Think i will go for a couple of lunchtime pints & try to get my head round it.Maybe a few beers will make me feel more benevolent towards our Andy 😉
I don’t think the problem is that the European players are cheaper its the fact that at grass roots especially at established football clubs the coaching of our young players is wrong, there is an over reliance on athleticism and results that isn’t seen in other countries and as a result we have a lot of great athletes but a shortage of great players. What I mean by that is that these players are over coached often by morons that were usually successful ex players with no true coaching ability. Sadly with the way the coaching certificates are regulated this is likely to become even more fomulaic with every new coach being taught a limited way to coach in order to pass a certification, instead of the Dario Gradi’s, Tony Carr’s, Martinez’s etc understanding that players are individuals, being allowed to teach players to play, express themselves and to think. Of course there will be those that learn to pass the exam’s then install their own philosophies but how many will be lost because they don’t tick the boxes in order to pass the exams and what career paths will they have open to them ? Football at its best is an art, you watch a Zidane, an Iniesta, Gascoine or a Scholes for example and they captivate you, you can’t learn genius but you can inhibit it if a brainless moron thinks they know that there is only one way to achieve things, sadly a high number of the top clubs give coaching jobs to these ex players instead of looking at what is best for these impressionable young kids development and lack understanding that playing is and always will be completely different to coaching.