Embarrassing... WHY?! Other utter xenophobia?!!
Xenophobia my ****. We're not a world-renowned club every young boy dreams of playing for: we're well known in England, but not that well known internationally. Therefore, there is a greater chance that a player from England would have a connection with the club that a foreign player would not, simply because players in England would have grown up at least hearing about the likes of Hoddle, Lineker and Gascoigne, something that cannot be said for foreign players. If Barca decide to create a team of Barca fans they have the luxury of being able to look across the world for players simply because of their global appeal: everyone has heard about the likes of Cruyff, Ronaldinho and Messi. The same cannot be said for us, making acquiring English players a sensible way to at least gain a greater chance of one of them having an attachment to the club.
Secondly, English players aren't as good as foreign players, full stop. That will change (the new generation of young Englishmen coming through (Carroll, Barkley et al) are at least as skillful as their foreign counter-parts when it comes to technique and ball retention), but for now, it's a fact. Ergo, they are less likely to be courted by a top club like Madrid or Bayern, which will give them a greater chance of staying with us than a foreign player would have. And even if they do turn out to be good, English players are usually overpriced in the market anyway, which should further put off any potential suitors from making an approach.
Ideally, I would want the majority of any match-day eleven to come from our youth system. That is my dream. It doesn't matter if they're all Belgian or Congolese or Ukrainian, as long as those six players (out of eleven) have come through the youth ranks of our club, learned about our traditions and history, and owe their professional careers to the care and guidance of the staff at our club alone. That would engender true loyalty, I feel... and that would give me the greatest satisfaction I could hope to have. But until then, wanting more Englishmen in the side is a logical reaction to a game that is fast losing its appeal to a whole lot of people by way of its sordid impermanence and rush to grab whatever dollar it is offered. It isn't xenophobic in any way, shape or form.
