As you say a club team shouldn’t be punished for wanting to show it’s fans the best players it can, wherever they may originate from. The hope for English football fans should be that more of the best players can be English. Only major changes to grass roots football can change that.

On a differnt note…i am a Manchester United fan first and an England fan second so why should a club team be penalised to help the national team? Obviously i would actually like to see Manchester United field a team full of Mancunians but know that if i want to see the best footballersand have a challenging team at home and in Europe this is not possible. Though i do admit – i think for the likes of Manchester United it is important to not only have the the best of the foreign imports but equally the best of British born players (funnily enough pretty much what we have now!).

The pressure on young players to win games is far too high and completely unnecessary. They should be encouraged to improvise and try new things even if it means losing the ball. Playing their way out of trouble for example may lead to a young player giving the ball away in a key area but ultimately if he/she gets to the point when they can do it as second nature; then they have achieved something worth more than conceding a few goals as a teenager along the way.

As it is currently, almost every professional player would have played in a successful team as a teenager and yet only a select few will win regularly as professionals.

I think one thing though – winners are normally seen as better players and are given much more chances, I agree with making winning less of an emphasis but a winning mentality is still very important to become a top player.