22 February, 2000 - (SEASON ONE/S1)

Lost Youth - Joe Muddiman (The Man Behind Joe Carfton)
How exciting does the World Cup 2006 sound? Chances are, it'll be in England, and, best of all, England will be sporting a great side. Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Richard Wright, Francis Jeffers, Lee Bowyer and Alan Smith - all great youth players now, what will they be like in a few years time? Don't forget that players like Sol Campbell, Michael Owen and David Beckham will also be around then. All this youth talent around us makes you think why the influx of foreign players is bad for the game.

Yes, I'd agree in saying that there are way too many foreigners in the English game. Far too many. It's estimated that over 50% of the players in the Premiership are NOT British. To me, that's disgusting. Why though, do people say, usually the 'experts', that these foreigners stop youth talent developing?

Look at Chelsea. World renowned for having a team full of foreigners. A team which plays at the most 4 English players a game. No youth talent? How about Jody Morris? He's a candidate for World Cup 2006. Jon Harley, the promising left back? Jon Terry, the centre-back, or even Mark Nicholls, who played 20 scored 9 just under two years ago. Or maybe West Ham? Javier Margas, Paulo Wanchope, Igor Stimac, Paulo Di Canio, Marc Vivien-Foe, Samassi Abou, Marc Keller etc. and yet they have one of the best youth programmes around. Joe Cole? Frank Lampard? Rio Ferdinand? Need I say more?

Foreign imports have risen so much over the last 5 years, but there have been some class acts to come in and become role-models for the young ones. Jurgen Klinsmann had kids diving on the concrete in the playground when they scored, kids pretend to be Dennis Bergkamp and try his goals where he turns, and then blasts it in the roof of the net (Holland vs. Argentina World Cup 98), Peter Schmeichel was, still is, a role model for most goalkeepers, Jaap Stam is one of the best defenders around, kids want to mark like him, kids love the big names. Even players like Tony Yeboah (Leeds United 95-96 season) can capture people's hearts. Two great goals by him spring to mind.

Foreign imports must calm down. It's a fact, but youth talent is not suffering as a result of the high imports. Millions are spent on youth development programmes each year, and there is no lack of young talent around at the moment. Lost youth? Not at all...

Vote For SAS by clicking on the button!

This site is best viewed with a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels, 16 bit true colours and Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher. It should however work in MOST screen resolutions and web browsers. It's advisable to view this page in full screen mode. This site is copyrighted © to ScreamKing Ltd 1998 - 1999