If the restriction on foreign players was in place Man Utd would have won the Premiership and most Cups probably every year since it started because of its relative financial power. How boring would that have been?
As the national team only plays in a few interesting and competitive games whilst the Premier League teams play 9 months a year in high quality matches, I don't think the quality of our League should suffer on the off-chance the restrictions would help the England team.

Andrew, London, UK

I as an individual am sick of Fergusons moans, he does not like the idea that some other clubs can compete with Man U.

If he wants to compete on a level patform then lets revert to no players outside of Britain at all.

After all Celtic were the first British team to win the Eurpoean Cup with all players where British, in fact every player in the Celtic team was born within 30 miles of Parkhead Glasgow.
Where would Man U be in the present day without their imports, probably nowhere, so dont bgive us Ferguson crap.

Barry Graham, stirling, PERTH, AUSTRALIA

As an Arsenal fan, I can say that I've grown increasingly disappointed with Wenger's attitude. If he really is interested in finding home grown talent why is that every English player in the squad (nine including three on loan) was born in London and is under the age of 21. Not exactly an energetic scouting policy.

David, London,

Karen - Perhaps Wenger has lots of French players because unlike England, France have reached two of the last three World Cup finals and won the European Championships recently. So perhaps their country is producing more quality players......

More importantly the French youth training set-up is very effective and the emergence of all their talent in the 90s was not a coincidence but the result of foresight & planning.

As others have said English players have comparatively poor basic technical skills. The FA's decision to abandon the centre of excellence was very short-sighted and even more galling while their mismanagement of Wembley's construction cost millions.

Dan C, London,

That'll be the Alex Ferguson who is manager of a club with 16 foreign players in the first team squad, will it?

Kevin Hawthorn, Hereford,

I just can't stop to wonder why anyone would think Sepp Blatter, a Swiss, has the English National team's best interests at heart! EPL is doing well, better than any other league in the world both Financially and footballistically because of the rules currently in place. Change that and you change the terraine, and the impact can only be negative. The positive impact on the national team however is only speculative and not definite. Follow this through and teh EPL becomes a one horse race like the Scottish premier league were Celtic wins every year. Who in the world watches the SPL except the Scotts? Do you want that for the EPL? The fact is football is a global game and the best in the world will get all the audience and with that, all the money.

Taff, Stoke-on-trent, UK

The problem is we have foreign players who are much better and they are welcome - but also have alot of dross playing in the EPL - because of their experience and price. The dross are the ones keeping english players from getting experience - its a Catch-22

Viera, Henry, Anelka, Fabregas - Viera was at Milan, Henry at Juventus both for large sums, Fabregas was feted as the best young player around.
Wenger rescued the first 2 from unhappy situations after he had them at monaco.

Fabregas; Arsenal "stole" because of a legal loop hole after Barca spent years developing him - here is were Platini does have a point this area needs looking at.

Terry, london,

Maybe the powers that be should have thought of this before. When Arsenal and Manchester United met in the 1979 FA Cup Final at Wembley only 5 players in the starting 22 were eligible to play for England!
David J London

David Judd, Dorking, UK

I think the game is about unity and the ability of the locals can improve if there is significant competition for position like it is at arsenal. The decision to restrict the number of foreign players in a domestic league is not a prudent one for the sport at present. this decision will keep many world class players unnoticed. The EPL is one of the best in the world because of the amount of foreign talents that has been attracted to the league. I think the problem with the English team is managerial and can be better addressed at that level instead of making EPL unpopular. If this view of Blatter is any thing that the EU will hold to then the effect will be very adversed on the African game.

Allen Gweh, Monrovia, Liberia

Same old Ferguson. Same old hypocrisy. He is after all Scottish and his assistant is Spanish. Scotland have a separate FA and contribute nothing to the English international XI. So do Scottish, Irish and Welsh players also fall into this quota story? By the letter of the law in terms they should. Which means Ryan Giggs, John O'Shea count as foreigners. Then comes the issue overpaying for players. Arsenal have never paid (nor would they) £30million for a player. Man Utd paid £30mio for Rooney and Ferdinand. Man Utd and Chelsea have inflated the price of English players to such a level that the press automatically assumes that England must have the best players given their astronomic cost. But the results at international level point to another truth. Until the price of English players declines, it is highly unlikely that Arsenal will be able to pay the asking price for players who are not neccessarily world beaters. In addition the propensity of Arsenal's home grown English players to insist on first team roles despite not being the best picks (David Bentley, Jermain Pennant, Richard Wright, Matthew Upson, Sol Campbell, Patrice Muambo) makes life very difficult for the manager to satisfy all those demands. All of the above mentioned players left of their own volition because they were not prepared to fight for their places. So to conclude, Arsenal have tried very hard to keep and field English players but sadly the players themselves have not always delivered what was required.

ketish pothalingam, london,

Wenger's argument can be easily turned against him. If it is only quality that matters why are there so many French and French speaking players in his side? and far more than in other top teams in Europe outside France.

Karen Izzaha, London, United Kingdom

i watch the premier league here in naiorbi and the game has great support in this part of the world. it is a terrific spectacle. like many others in the rest of the world, we watch it because the english league is the best in the world. It is a blend of the best players from the rest of the world combined with the best in england. if you confine players to be selected on nationality or passport, then you see for you self how the other divisions of the english league are watch in the world. I will not bother to watch 22 english players playing against each other evey week no matter how good there are. That you already have in the other divisions of the english leagues. The english should be pround for their export to the world. That you have some foreigners in the chain of production shouldnt be a problem, it is still an english league.

ahmednasir, nairobi, kenya.

About a quarter of the Premiership's income is from International TV rights and this is expected to grow to about half in the next few years. The premiership attracts this income by being the premier league in the world not by being the premiership of English players. A consequence of this proposed change will be a drop in quality: expect non-English viewers to vote with their pocket books. Whether this change will improve the English national team or not is not clear but it will definitely hurt the EPL's market position.

YD, NC,

.......so you end up with an England team full of 'make weights' rather than there on merit.
Like any quota system all it does is provide places for mediocraty.
Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney etc. are playing because they are the best - not because they fit a quota system. I also agree with Mac. There will effectively be two markets- for domestic and foreign players. We all know the manager's cliche' that 'home grown' players are too expensive and therefore they buy abroad. This will only get worse.

Perhaps we should not be too hard on Blatter. Though mistaken in his assumptions he is at least trying to do more more ''England'' football than the FA have ever done. If we want a strong England team then we should be looking at replacing this organisation with an experienced and professional body rather than a bunch of pocket liners!

Dan , London, UK

Man Utd has 16 non-English players in its first team! What' s Ferguson on about?

L. W , London, UK

When will people wake up to the fact that it is the way that kids are introduced to the game and the things the are expected do when they start out that is the problem. When the FA start putting money and effort into teaching kids to control and pass the ball before any expectations of competitive matches, maybe we will see kids reaching their teens being masters of these basics. There will then be a lot more players of an acceptable standard available for the big clubs to work with. The big clubs are under no obligation to the English FA when they are under pressure to produce results. I've watched England play for over 50 years (and I was at Wembley in 1966) and the problem is always the same, when England come up against a team who are masters of these basics of ball control and passing they struggle. It is not difficult to spot when you actually watch what is going on. However, while the FA remains inept and the media go for a story over proper reporting nothing much will change.

Allan Churchill, Porthcawl, Mid Glamorgan

With the Premier League being the most watched and lucrative league in the world, why put arbitrary and artificial restrictions on it?
I get very suspicious of people like Blatter and international sports administrators like him. They do not seem to like a run away success without having a finger in the pie that is doing the running !! This is made more so when it happens to be an English success. (Do not forget England supported Johannsen's bid to become President of FIFA against Blatter.) Now if the Premier League were to offer some "influence" to FIFA, I think Blatter's line could well change to something like "I support the magnificent opportunities being offered by the Premier League and their clubs to the development of the global game within our wonderful family of football and any restriction that hinders this development would have a negative impact on the standards of technical excellence displayed on the field of play that is so much appreciated by the fans worldwide ..

David West, Templecombe, England

Alex Ferguson is very good at changing the agenda to suit his situation. His well founded concern that Arsenal have assmbled a superior team in terms of results and style has prompted him to rekindle this debate on overseas players. Perhaps the debate should be on the unfair advantage that clubs like Man U have in terms of their spending power - their English players are mostly expensive signings, players who have been identifies and developed at other clubs and hence are a low risk option for Ferguson and his financial muscle. By contrast, Wenger would seem to have a better track record of spotting the potential in the unknown or unheralded players and turning them into world class talent eg Viera, Henry, Anelka, Fabregas, Eboue etc etc...
Sure, we'd like to see English players develop and thrive in the Premier League but we also like to see very best talent available. Stop complaining Mr Ferguson - you've done well over the years but you're not the only one!!

Paul K, Sydney, Australia

steve finnan is not 'eligible for the national team of the country where the league is based'.

Mark, Cork, Ireland

Fergie now knows that he has the second- or third-best side, and wants to change the equation -- this year, before anything happens -- and he can only do that by sowing discontent at Arsenal. Its not a credible threat, and never will be. Its against the law, for one thing, and if Blatter thinks that a bunch of companies who happen to run football clubs can limit the work rights of EU citizens, then he is a foolish old man, as foolish as sAF. My hope is that the rules get passed, and the UK does not lower its citizenship requirements in order for Arsenal's squad to all become temporary Englishmen, and that then all the best players will go to America, where they welcome foreign basketball and hockey and baseball players with open arms!

Nigel Ipswich, The Lakes, California USA

The point that seems to be lost by proponents of this quota is that such a rule will instill even greater disparities between the top clubs (in terms of spending power) and everyone else. If instituted what will in effect happen is two distinct markets will be created for players, a domestic market and foreign market. A basic understanding of markets allows us to deduce that with a finite supply of domestic players at the highest calibre and with virtually inelastic demand for these players, transfer fees and wages demanded by these players will skyrocket. This means that as teams scramble to sign English players, Manchester United and Chelsea with unmatched spending power will price everyone else out of the market. The cycle of money creating success which in turn creates more money will thus be sent in motion. The result will then be a truly uncompetitive league.
I understand that people are discouraged by the national team, but by imposing such a rule it will only encourage more foreign ownerships to finance clubs as they attempt to compete, destabilizing the sound running of clubs (key examples Chelsea, Manchester United, Leeds which are riddled with debt).
The root of the national team’s woes lies in the lack of infrastructure and funding in grass routes football. There will be a trickle up effect if the quota rule is enforced with only adequate players rising above their merited station. So, no matter who you watch on Saturday, (In the Premiership) would you rather watch the breathtaking skill of an African player or a rather more dull domestic player? (In the lower leagues) Would you rather watch a good Englishman with a piecing 30 yard pass or some guy who you could nutmeg in the playground?

Mac, Leeds, England