Wenger, Tony Pulis believe FA chairman's plans to improve quality of English players in PL are flawed

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ANI London
Last Updated : Apr 03 2015 | 1:57 PM IST

Premier League managers Arsene Wenger and Tony Pulis believe that Football Association chairman Greg Dyke's proposals to improve the quality of English players is flawed, as the Arsenal boss claims that the right to play has to be earned, while the West Brom head coach says that the quality of English youth is the problem.

Dyke wants to increase the number of home-grown players in top-flight squads from eight to 12 and his plans have received the backing of five former England managers.

However, Wenger claims that the right to play has to be earned, while West Bromwich Albion boss Pulis says the quality of English youth teams is the problem, the BBC reported.

Last season English players accounted for 32 percentage of playing time in the Premier League, compared with almost 70 percent 20 years ago.

A letter signed by former England managers Glenn Hoddle, Sven-Goran Eriksson, Graham Taylor, Steve McClaren and Kevin Keegan said that this trend cannot continue.

It stated that the FA and the Premier League are already doing a lot of good work to improve the standards of facilities and coaching at all levels of the game offering young players unparalleled support and coaching, adding that the one thing they are not being offered is the most important of all is opportunity.

McClaren, who is manager of Championship side Derby County, believes the future of English football is already exciting, but says the increase in the home-grown quota can only help. He also believes that the Championship is a good platform for young English Premier League players to gain experience.

Wenger, though, urged caution over whether the proposed reforms would lead to an increase in the quality of English players, suggesting that the England national team was not hugely successful between 1966 and 1996 when there were relatively few foreigners in the domestic league.

Wenger said that he believes they are in a top-level competition and one earns ones right through the quality of their performance rather than their place of birth.

Pulis, meanwhile, added that he believes that the Premier League is now not an English League, it's a world league, adding that what they have got to do is produce English players that are as good as any players abroad.

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First Published: Apr 03 2015 | 1:44 PM IST

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