England player numbers at new low

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The number of England-qualified players starting in the Premier League dropped to an all-time low last season, research by BBC Sport has found.

Only 170 of the 498 players who started matches in the top flight in 2007-08 were English - just 34.1% of the total.

It marks a big slide from 2006-07, when 191 (38%) of the starters were English.

"The number is important because that's what I can choose from," said England manager Fabio Capello when asked about BBC Sport's findings on Tuesday.

"But more important is quality - the level of the player. At the moment the total is 34% but the (quality) level is high.

"The work being done in the academies is very important. We probably have to change the system of training for young players.

"At Under-21, and younger national teams, we have a lot of good players.

"For the future, I hope next season is not 34% but 40%. It will be better for me and England football."

At first glance, Capello's diplomatic answer would seem to make complete sense. After all, only last week two English clubs played in the Champions League final and 10 of the 22 starters were English.

But the fact remains that his side is preparing for two end-of-season friendlies this week - against the USA on Wednesday and Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday - and not this summer's Euro 2008.

Sepp Blatter, the president of world football's governing body Fifa, is convinced he knows the answer to England's problems: restricting the number of foreign starters each club is allowed to five.

Despite widespread concern his plan is incompatible with European Union employment law (and robust opposition from the Premier League on principle), Blatter is determined to press on with his "six plus five" scheme.

If successful, this move would represent a huge challenge for English clubs. Last season, fewer than one in five starting line-ups would have met Blatter's quota.

On average, there were only four players available for England duty in each Premier League starting line-up last season.

Arsenal had the lowest number of English starters, averaging 0.34 per match, while West Ham had the highest number, with 6.61.

The Hammers and Aston Villa (6.42) were the only two clubs in the Premier League to average more than six English starters last term, while the big four of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, averaged just 2.64 per game.

See it's not only us.