Reply To: Scunthorpe 2.0

[Siderite]

I am not a fan of clickbaiting, especially when the people doing it are trying to claim they’re being a level head. It comes across just as blinkered as someone like Mark Goldbridge saying England have to win the Euros because we have the best squad without consideration for things like squad balance.

In the article it makes the claim that the only reason we rate our players is because of performances brought on by foreign players. Then goes on to state that even unheard of players for Georgia, Turkey or Romania can play better than England’s because of this. I am not overrating players to say that Bellingham, Foden and Kane are better than their players, in my opinion. I don’t think Ancelotti will come to this great realisation that he has been had and that he is better off swapping Bellingham for Kocharashvili because of how they have played for their national teams.

It works out the other way too. Many times we have seen players impress on the international stage only to flop at club level. None of the Greek Euro 2004 squad became superstars at club level. Milan Baros impressed that tournament but was weak for Liverpool. He wasn’t facilitating Gerrard. I suspect that some of these Romanian, Georgian and Turkish stars wouldn’t replicate their international form at club level, so I think it’s a bit more complex than international football sifting out the chaff. Coaching comes into it too.

Given the article is written from the ‘neutral ground’ of Scotland, I wouldn’t be surprised if the author has been biased negatively from the locals. I have seen some Scots claim that we are ‘at their level’. Seems a bit like bitterness to me.