johnny punkster Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 (edited) night...first ever english league game not to have featured a single englishman in the starting 22 players from both sides. "Wednesday's match, which Arsenal won 4-1, featured players from 15 countries among the 22 starters with seven French players on the field. There were two Algerians and one player each from Bosnia, Ireland, Israel, Iceland, South Africa, Scotland, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Wales, Cameroon, Croatia and Russia. There were four English players among the 14 substitutes and two came on briefly: Arsenal youngster Craig Eastmond, who replaced French striker Sami Nasri five minutes from time, and Portsmouth's Michael Brown, who replaced Scot Richard Hughes after 90 minutes." Edited December 31, 2009 by johnny punkster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusoe Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Doesn't bother me in the slightest. If Latics had a team of non-English players doing well I'd take that over the current largely useless mercenaries! Besides, Arsenal at least have some decent English prospects for those worried about future national teams - Lansbury, Wilshere, Gibbs, Hoyte, Eastmond, Cruise, Randall, Emmanuel-Thomas, etc, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny punkster Posted December 31, 2009 Author Share Posted December 31, 2009 i think the article i read it from was more about the fact young english players are being too easily overlooked for foreign players who may not be better than them,and the long term effects it could have for the english national team etc. i'd agree with your sentiments though Crusoe,i couldn't give a :censored:e where the latics first eleven came from as long as the performances ,effort and results warranted it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footy68 Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Didn't Arse v Chelsea a few years back lay claim to this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeslover Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Didn't Arse v Chelsea a few years back lay claim to this? I was thinking that, but I think it might have been the first team without any English in it, not both teams? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusoe Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Agreed, Johnny. Although while I'd love every club to field a team of homegrown players of the same nationality (albeit only to improve the national team's chances - not for any xenophobic reason) who are playing for the teams they love, I'll settle for a manager who fields the best damn team he can assemble, regardless of any other factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oafc88 Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 Didn't Arse v Chelsea a few years back lay claim to this? I think that was the FA cup final?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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