Before the influx of the foreigners to our game......

The first World Cup I ever watched was Italia 90, and this was also the last World Cup before the influx started I think I'm right in saying. Yet in that squad was Steve Bull, of Division 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers. Did we have not enough choice back then either, just like today?

 

Italian 90 - Bobby Robson took some merciless flak in the run up to that tournament. The all knowing press wanted him out.

Afterwards he was a genius. Funny old game


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He was picked on merit IIRC

 

he could find the back of the net with his eyes shut,thats why he was picked.

 

The p-ress ought to FO

 

And we were pretty ***** in that group as well, scraping a win in the final game against Egypt to get through, and very lucky to beat Cameroon in the quarter finals.

 

To be fair, in 90 there was some class forwards/midfielders ...Waddle, Beardsley, Linekear, Barnes ..... so I guess Bull gave them another "the direct" option

 

I'm not knocking his selection at all, just that you don't see managers choosing players below the Premier League for our national team anymore. There is less choice now in the top league, but back then there was more choice. Appreciate that the gulf in quality between the top two leagues was much closer back then too.

 

Exactly. He was top draw but didn't want to leave wolves (and I bet he got plenty of offers). A lot like Le Tissier - some call it loyalty, some a lack of ambition. For those who thought Stones would've been picked if he was at Arsenal or Man United, this was a rare example where they picked ability and not club. I wish they'd given more caps to both Le Tissier and Bull - both quality.

 

Correct. He was the top scoring English player so he was given a chance. #meritocracy .

 

exactly right about LeTissier and Bull,both cracking players and very loyal,David Hirst told me Le Tissier was one of the best players he'd ever been on the pitch with.

 

The problem with Le Tissier was that he was seen as a luxury player and England managers wouldn't accommodate him due to the limitations of where he could play. Also I think many wouldn't pick a team that had him and Gazza in it and for me Gazza was a consistently better player.

 

I wasn't even one year old at the time but at a guess maybe because the premiership wasn't around there wasn't as much money in the game so he could earn similar money at Wolves to what he could get in division one?

 

Steve Bull was a goalscorer and a very good one.

About 60% of the of English players who are playing in the Championship would have been plying their trade in the Old 1st Division pre-Premier league Days. The influx of foreign players most of who are Internationals has had a detrimental effect on the England team and the English game.

England managers seem to fear picking anyone from outside the Premier League. This means that squad players at Premiership clubs are picked rather than Championship players. I think the press would really have a go at an England manager who picks Championship players for his squad.

Selecting players from lower leagues doesn't seem to be an issue with foreign teams. Even in the age of "Dutch Total Football" the Dutch picked players from outside the top levels. I think Johnny Rep was one of them.

I haven't seen the figures but I bet there are English players with better shot/goal conversion figures than some of the strikers who are in Brazil.

Fangs has 2 shots against England and puts them both away. Our strikers seem to need 8-10 chances to score. Look at Nymars shots to goal stats. He is never in the game and seems to score at will.