This thought occurred to me up thread, where someone name dropped "Delph" as a guy who might have fit in the midfield. Except, you can't really select a guy who doesn't play - unless his name is Jack Wilshere (who has a big name AND was injured). A guy like Delph doesn't get NT selections because he only ever plays in garbage time or in less important matches.
A few years ago, I recall English fans being somewhat excited about Jack Rodwell's potential. Then he moved to City, got hurt?, and never saw the field. He lost several years of development time and now he doesn't even make the list of guys who are "unspectacular but reliable".
City - and Chelsea, and ManU, are killing the English national team. That the flameout took place on the same day as the Brexit should scare the shit out of all of us who enjoy the EPL for what it is - the best league in the world because the best players can play together, without the roster restrictions of the other top leagues. La Liga allows three foreigners - Gareth Bale is now a foreigner, so Real Madrid may need to sell another Brazilian to stay under the limit. The Bundesliga has similar domestic player requirements.
The EPL says 8 of the 25 registered players have to be "homegrown". City buys guys like Delph (and Rodwell before him) not because they think Delph is a good player who can help them win big matches - but because they have to have some homegrown players. Don't cry for Delph - or Rodwell - they got paid a lot to basically derail their careers to sit the bench for City. They chose to take less playing time and more money.
But the fact that three or four EPL teams field teams that have few homegrown players - and the ones they do have to have never play in anything other than Capital One Cup matches - is kind of a huge problem. There are plenty of jobs for homegrown players at West Ham, but the NT manager is under pressure to take big names, from big clubs. This all results in a system that is very broken, and getting worse. Because now - flush with cash - the EPL teams like West Ham are bringing in more and more foreign players. That results in a better, more fun to watch West Ham, no doubt. I am not giving West Ham crap for playing the game as it currently exists.
BUT, even a minor tweak to the roster rules could be disastrous for a club like City. And for the EPL. But it would be a huge boon - eventually - for the National Team. This will be a major issue before long (I bet). Interestingly, the only "top" club in the EPL that would not be affected at all by incresing the number of homegrown players is Arsenal - but their fans want to sell all those guys (Walcott, Oxlade Chamberlain, etc.) because they don't play very often, or very well for Arsenal.
This is all a bit of a cock up, right?
P.S. I still love you
@teddykgb but I know you're gonna hate this post. Sorry.