William Saliba (2)

[ag6789]

Trent Alexander, Shaw...and host of others in all PL academies..??

[jayramfootball]

Once again the conversation drifts to French PLAYERS and the academy as opposed to the French league

There is nothing wrong with the French academies... producing some of the best players in the world - and when they show enough promise they leave to go to another country. That is because the French league is weak. By FAR the weakest of the 5 'big' European leagues. It is for players that have not proven themselves at the higher level, older players who can no longer hack it at the highest level and, with PSG now, players on a massive pay day and an easy ride.

There is no sane or agenda free argument that would place the French league anywhere close to the level of the PL.

[Marsbar100]

Messi can't score in the french divison tbf, the french leauge is very physical, he had it way easier in la liga, of course if doesn't have the quality of the pl though

[jayramfootball]

Messi can't score in the french divison tbf, the french leauge is very physical, he had it way easier in la liga, of course if doesn't have the quality of the pl though

Messi is on a retirement package.
He's 34. Like most older players, not all, he'll do it now and then but he's never going to be the player he was in his prime years.

[theHotHead]

Thing is better players are coming in from English academies than the 2000s hence managers are looking into English recruits. Win-win for all.

Huh ?!! How ? Prove it with facts/numbers !

Definitely can't prove with facts, but think that seems to ring true. If you look at the number of young English players now, that are more technically gifted. Your Grealish, Sancho, Saka, ESR, Foden, Trent. Seems to be more high quality players coming through than the 2000s. We might not have a superstar in the ilk of Rooney who burst onto the scene and was amazing, but quality seems to be there. Granted not facts or figures, just a feeling

Cool, I'll go with the fact you said its a feeling, you listed 7 players, are you forgetting the spice boys at Liverpool ? Are you forgetting Fergie's kids ? He had as many as you listed in his team alone !! When you think back, every team in the country had decent home grown players. if you don't believe me lets review the 2000s, just London clubs:
Arsenal - Ashely Cole, Jack Wilshere, Shezza,
Chelsea - John Terry
West Ham - Rio Ferdinand, Lampard, Carrick
Spurs - Ledley King, Harry Kane

If I had the time I could come up with loads more.

[theHotHead]

Simple, because England has been getting into SFs and Finals of international competitions regularly than they did before( at least throughout the 2000s).
There were great individual players always, but not above average across the board as nowadays.

Mate that is total nonsense ! We had better players in the past which is why the expectation was so high, the so-called Golden Generation, and they didn't do shit. They were all top players domestically, Rooney, Beckham, Ferdinand, Gerrard, Lampard, etc etc, there were no mediocre players in any position, they just didn't come together well as a team. The only reason this England team got to the finals was because all of the usual suspects were so shit, Germany, Spain, Holland, etc. they had their best chance of winning against one of the shittest Italian teams I can remember - t home at Wembley - and still couldn't win !

[ag6789]

Apparently those Fergie boys or Wlishere and company had to compete w/ far superior players from other countries and other leagues like Serie A, LaLiga or S.America which were much stronger those days than now.
Nowadays those leagues ex SerieA are a shadow of the past ( Inter, AC, Juve ruled the roost in the '90s and 2000s ) and so did Brazil , Argentina etc in the world stage.
Nowadays other than PL which league can boast of the 12th-13th giving the top 1-2 a run for the money? Of course exceptions prove the rule when Bayern or RealM might have a bad day at work, but usually....well they are exceptions.
The caliber of Brazilians and Argentines have fallen steeply for all to see in the Copa.

[Highbury Hillbilly]

Saka, ESR, Foden......Grealish, Madison.....????

None of these are defenders. This is the Saliba topic is it not?

[Highbury Hillbilly]

Trent Alexander, Shaw...and host of others in all PL academies..??

TAA and Luke Shaw are both attacking fullbacks. Their role is to bomb down the wing and hit crosses and corners. Neither of them defend much.

[theHotHead]

Yeah I can agree with that, the standard of international football has fallen way below club level for me now. I remember when the world Cup would come along and the excitement and anticipation of the Brazil team would have me salivating. Now, I literally couldn't give a shit because I know they will be an awful team lacking any flair.

[ag6789]

Not necessarily the over all standard has fallen; it is largely because most top players and managers want a PL stint due to the money circulation. PL teams( on an avg) are much better of than other teams in foreign leagues in general.
Top 2 -3 teams hog all the investment and limelight in most other leagues , which isn't the case entirely in PL.

[ag6789]

Yes, it is a Saliba thread but the discussion had digressed to other things sometime back.
Tons of decent defenders in PL; look around. Lots of up and coming ones other Stones and McGuire (only well known for breaking into the first team).

[Power n Glory]

Gabriel is our best defender and he came straight from the French league. Tierney came from the Scottish league and Nuno Tavaras came from the Portuguese league! This whole conversation on the French league is just another attempt to knock Saliba.

[Ach]

Gabriel is our best defender and he came straight from the French league. Tierney came from the Scottish league and Nuno Tavaras came from the Portuguese league! This whole conversation on the French league is just another attempt to knock Saliba.

Just have to mention Wesley Fofana tbh. Similar age to Saliba and he's come from France and been awesome.

No guarantee of course that Saliba will do the same. He might even be shit. We don't know but he's deserved his chance and only a grudge from our joke of a manager is stopping him

That's ultimately what it comes down to. Arteta. Jay has blind faith in him and the he can do no wrong mantra that he spews. Can't look at the Saliba situation with unbiased view

[jayramfootball]

Gabriel is our best defender and he came straight from the French league. Tierney came from the Scottish league and Nuno Tavaras came from the Portuguese league! This whole conversation on the French league is just another attempt to knock Saliba.

^yet another irrelevant argument, stupidly associating the nationality of a player with the quality of the league in the country he was born in.
Gabriel LEFT the French league.
What has Gabriel got to do with the strength of the French league???

The French league is weak because the best French players LEAVE.

Aubameyang is Gabonese.. Hey the Gabonese league must be great!!!