Subject: 6 plus 5

Sepp Blatters' new rant - all teams have to field 5 "home players" out of their first 11.

Good thing in my opinion. Anyone else ?

Bad news for almost every team in the Prem. Its an unfair rule tbh.

As an Arsenal supporter I am contractually obliged to hate this. And isn't it 6 six home players anyway?

Teams should be able to field anyone they like.

I think lower Prem teams will like it, Championship ones too. It might lead to the premiership becoming more competitive. Chelsea and Man Utd get close to fielding half an English team sometimes anyway.

I'd have thought that the England - USA game on Wednesday was a pretty persuasive argument for reducing the number of English players on the pitch at any given moment rather than increase it.

I think its a top idea, it will improve the English NT in the long term as more English players will get big match experience. And top teams will have to concentrate even more of their vast resources on their youth set ups, therefore finding more young talented English junior player. At the moment Arsenal go on the continent to sign the top youngsters there and put them through their junior set-up, they would have to search in Britain to keep the club at the top end of the table.
But I disagree that clubs near the bottom would love it, most of them scour Europe and afar for cheap uncut diamonds of players that they can improve and maybe sell on for alot of cash, this would hurt them more than the top clubs imo. The top clubs would just buy all the best English players as they have the money to do so.

It is an excellent rule that exists in most countries in most sports... unless one is afraid that local potential isn't any good. Judging by England's performance in the last 15 years in International cups... this seems like a golden opportunity to plan a better future.

sadly in that match we really needed 11 on the pitch.

i seem to remember a 3 foreign players limit back in the days of my youth...? I think the Middlesbrough - Chelsea FA Cup final in 97 was when I first thought - Ken me this has got out of hand! Of the starting 22 players. only 8 were English. At the time that seemed outrageous. Now it seems standard.

Mind you, for all the greif Man Utd & Chelsea get, they actually do have a decent England contingent. The Champions league final featured 10 English players - 6 at Man U, 4 at Chelsea - in the starting 22.

If the local talent isn't good enough then it isn't good enough. If it is good enough to make the grade, it will make the grade. I don't see what possible benefit this rule can have.
Jingoistic, Johnny-Foreigner, protectionist nonsense. I wonder if that slogan will fit on a T-shirt?

I think it was 3 non EU, was in CM2 that I remember that rule from.

I wonder if the 6+5 rule would work in SK.

Now you're talking. 17 of my 22 players are English and 15 of the 17 came from my youth school..

Not in my team. I struggle to field 1 englishman.

Bad news for almost every team in the Prem. Its an unfair rule tbh.

ken you have a very strange understandong of fair/unfair

unfair would be a rule that was bad news for only 1 or 2 teams. If it affects every team then it is fair.

the problem will be for smaller clubs. Suddenly the big teams will be looking to swoop on all the decent English players, and there just aren't enough to go around.

what about welsh teams / players? should e.g. Cardif be held to the same rule for welsh players - which is clearly riddiculous - or will they be told that Wales is part of England - which is clearly insulting. If Welsh teams can field a mix of England/Wales players can English teams do the same?

there is also a danger that we will end up with 22 Greg Rusedskis lining up in the FA Cup final.

i think the idea is good but needs phasing in and needs to be much more carefully worked out in how it will be applied.

there is also a danger that we will end up with 22 Greg Rusedskis lining up in the FA Cup final.

That would never happen - he's rubbish at football.