England and Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard claims it is harder than ever for young English players to break into the first-team

Midfielder says foreign imports have made it harder for youngsters to break through

Agency
Wednesday 02 October 2013 08:37 BST
Comments
Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard (GETTY IMAGES)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

England captain Steven Gerrard believes the influx of foreigners into the English game is making it harder for young players to break through at top clubs.

New Football Association chairman Greg Dyke stated his concern over the amount of imports into the Premier League in his first major speech last month and announced the setting up of a commission to look into the problem of dwindling English players in the top flight.

Raheem Sterling and Andre Wisdom have both managed to make an impact alongside Gerrard at Liverpool in recent seasons but the Reds skipper admits that competition from overseas talent, coupled with the desire for instant success, is making it more and more difficult for managers to take risks.

"Managers are only ever eight to 10 days away from the sack so to take risks on unknown young players is difficult," he told BBC Breakfast.

"I mean (Liverpool manager) Brendan Rodgers has been fantastic at this club because he's been brave and he's given young players a chance.

"But there's no two ways about it, it's a lot more difficult to break through nowadays because of the standard of players and because there is a lot more foreigners about.

"That's the whole top and bottom of it."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in