West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has blasted the culture of foreign imports in English football and has claimed that English clubs have to "think British" and be more "selfish.
Speaking to the Express, the Irons chief warned of the English national side suffering "in the near future, because there are fewer players from which to choose." The 58 year old drew a comparison between the grassroots football in this country and in other European nations, saying that in Spain, Italy and Holland, "you don't see the fairness we have in England (in giving overseas players a chance.)" In a string of interesting comments, Big Sam also criticises what he sees as another culture in the English game- a culture of putting results on the pitch first. He told the newspaper that "the problem is that results are everything in the Premier League and everybody just focuses too much on that. Every club's strategy should be to develop young players; and there should be more emphasis on that than there has been in recent years." The gaffer praised the development of players at West Ham, which he says has been "an outstanding bonus to the club," but states that it's difficult to continue that progress and develop the next Frank Lampard or Joe Cole due to "the circumstances we (as managers) have to work under." In an interview with Yahoo! website, the Hammers manager also stated that he didn't believe there were "enough quality coaches in this country, and until we get that sorted out, we will not develop the next generation of top players for the England team."
Allardyce certainly isn't backwards about coming forward with his opinions on the bigger footballing picture, but one can't but help these latest comments are nothing more than a tactical device designed to deflect fan and press attention away from the fact that he is under increasing pressure to deliver results, with his contract up at the end of the season.
By Alex Shilling
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