Hi all. Wrote this and talked a little about Terry/Cahill and other defenders. http://thepenaltyking.blogspot.com/2015/03/is-british-better.html Hope you enjoy.
Well I wouldn't dismiss this so quickly. As an Aussie who lived 24 years in Chelsea I definitely think there's a character in English football that is unique. Terry is a great example, and there are many others. Defence seems to be where this type excel, the Tony Adams, Roy McFarland, Sol Campbells etc all have this attitude. So finding and playing British defenders seems not a bad idea to me, they have certainly been great for Chelsea. Mind you, the French ones haven't been too shabby either, but they are completely different types.
We deffinately excell with defenders, and in the past keepers. It is attacking, technical players that let us down, we tend to put the emphasis on speed and strength but ignore the talent. When people quote the likes of Gazza and Hoddle as great English players i cringe, pick any other European country and they wouldn`t make the top 100 list. (maybe being harsh, top 50)
Even top 25 ??? Agree about ignoring "talent". Especially in the past, players like Le Tissier, Jimmy Greaves, Rodney Marsh etc were overlooked for others who had a better "work ethic". Think things are different now, but with the emphasis in the PL on strength and speed, home grown technical players are pretty scarce on the ground. Good British defenders though would make many European teams better, even teams like Barca and PSG.
