LONDON (AFP) — Steve McClaren has struggled to keep England on course for Euro 2008 despite having a so-called golden generation to call on.
But, in the view of many involved in the English game, the current head coach's eventual successor could face a far more daunting task if there is no let-up in the influx of foreign players into the Premier League.
Of the 220 players who started in the ten Premier League fixtures on the weekend beginning November 10, only 74 were qualified to play for England.
The likes of Cesc Fabregas, Didier Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo have undeniably helped to make the English top flight the most popular league in the world.
But it is also a trend that some feel should be concerning the English Football Association even more than the immediate future of the team under McClaren.
Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president, believes international football is in danger of being marginalized and has proposed the introduction of quotas that would require a minimum of six England-qualified players in each team.
His suggestion has won influential backing in recent weeks, with both Steven Gerrard and Sir Alex Ferguson speaking out in support of his stance.
Liverpool captain Gerrard fears England's hopes of success are in danger of being eroded further unless the clubs regularly competing in the Champions League are forced to include local players in their squads.
There are only 12 English players on view among the 32 teams involved in this season's Champions League group stages. By contrast, there are 53 Brazilians involved and the Ivory Coast, with 11 players, comes close to matching England's representation.
To see the positive effects of nurturing talent from within your own borders, English football only needs to look across the border to Scotland.
As a consequence of a financial crisis triggered by a lost broadcasting deal five years ago, Scottish clubs have been forced to concentrate on the development of home-grown players and that trend has been encouraged by rules stipulating that at least three under-21 players must be in every club's 18-man matchday squad in the Scottish Premier League.
Supporters believe the changes have underpinned the current revival in the Scottish game with both Rangers and Celtic involved in the group stages of the Champions League this season -- for the first time -- and the national side having pushed Italy and France all the way in Euro 2008 qualifying.
Gerrard is convinced that English clubs must act now if the upturn in Scotland's fortunes is not to be mirrored by a downturn in England's prospects.
"I believe if foreigners do take over completely it will affect our national team even worse than it is now," Gerrard said. "I sit here and proudly say I'm playing in one of the best leagues in the world but the important thing is to have one of the best national teams as well as one of the best leagues.
"It's no good having the best Premier League and a national team that's suffering. It is important to keep bringing quality players through, the likes of your Wayne Rooneys and Michael Owens. Otherwise the national team will suffer.
"I support the Liverpool academy now and I'm desperate for another young English player to come through into the Liverpool team.
"It certainly helps the team because they help foreign players. And it's a connection to the supporters if you like of what's needed at that club."
Ferguson agrees with Gerrard. He said: "For the good of the game in England, it would be good to see more home-based players at the top clubs.
"I totally agree with Blatter, but there would be opposition from clubs like Liverpool and Arsenal."
Not surprisingly, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger disagrees. The Gunners boss has built a superb team that sits top of the Premier League and refuses to apologise for the fact that there is rarely an Englishman in his starting line-up.
"I find the whole proposal completely ridiculous," the Frenchman said. "The thinking behind it, I believe, is to protect the national teams.
"But it won't protect the best players, it will protect the mediocre ones and you don't win a World Cup with mediocre players, you win it with world-class ones.
"The best English players - the Rooneys, the Owens, the Gerrards, the Lampards - they are all playing for their clubs anyway."
Wenger will be relieved to hear that Blatter's plan is unlikely to prosper in its current format. Although England could make changes based on age as the Scots have done, any quotas based on nationality will fall foul of European Union law.
There have been suggestions that an exception for sport could be granted in a new treaty currently being negotiated by the bloc's member states but the EU's executive arm, the European Commission, has made it clear it sees no case for footballers being made a special case.
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