Roy Hodgson worried by lack of English players in the EPL

England manager Roy Hodgson has questioned the ‘Englishness’ of the Premier League and bemoaned the number of foreign players that feature week in, week out. The former West Brom and Liverpool manager is looking to get the combination right for the Three Lions ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Speaking to SkySports at a League Managers Association event, he said:

“Quite a few of the games I go to do not have any English players. So, one has to be very careful these days when talking about the Premier League and talking about the Englishness of it, because more than two thirds of the players in the league are not English.”

“We have one of the lowest number of homegrown players to choose from in all the leagues, which, if you are national team manager, is not a great advantage, to be frank.”

Just a few days ago, Hodgson’s assistant and former Manchester United defender Gary Neville had also voiced his opinion on the matter and condemned the treatment players like Josh McEachran have had at clubs like Chelsea, who spare no expense to acquire quality players from abroad. In his recent column, Neville had written:

“I’ve always been a defender of our globalised Premier League. Foreign owners have invested huge sums to bring top stars from abroad and that has driven standards higher. Foreign coaches have brought new ideas and helped us to develop. But there has to be some balance in the equation.”

“I’ve always argued that young English players should have to compete with the best talents from Europe and that the cream will rise to the top. I still think that’s true. Players like Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Paul Scholes would have stood out in any environment. But what about players like me? Players like my brother, Phil, or Nicky Butt?”