San Marino vs England: 4 Reasons Why Fraser Forster Should Be Number 1

1. Example To Others

England's last great success was at Italia '90 when they reached the semi-finals of the World Cup. It isn't a coincidence that at that time they had many players who were playing in different countries. Rangers€™ Terry Butcher €“ pictured €“ was at the heart of defence and took over the captaincy after Bryan Robson was injured. Three of Butcher€™s Rangers teammates also were in the squad, including Gary Stevens who was the first-choice right-back. Along with this, Chris Waddle of Marseille was in midfield and the striking duo of Peter Beardsley and Gary Lineker had both previously played abroad. Lineker at Barcelona and Beardsley at Vancouver White Caps. In modern football it is so difficult for a country to be successful if every player is playing in the same league. Especially if - like in the Premier League - the majority of the best players are foreign. A big team like England should only be looking to pick players who are first picks for teams who regularly play in the latter stages in Europe and challenge for domestic honours. The problem is that Manchester United are really the only English team who have done that in the last few seasons and they only have a handful of Englishmen in their first XI. While there are a few other top English players at the other clubs there aren't enough quality players to make a full starting XI never mind a full squad of 25. If Forster €“ and also his team-mate Gary Hooper €“ were to get in the squad then not only would it improve the quality of England€™s team. But it would also show other players that moving abroad could be highly beneficial to their careers and would give them a better chance of playing for their country. Moving to another country means that players can get a taste of a different style of football, improve different aspects of their game and bring a different perspective to the national team. Many players from foreign countries have a higher level of creativity and technical ability than the average British player so moving abroad could be highly beneficial to improving a player's ability and the overall level of the national team. There is also a "big-club mentality" that certain clubs in Europe have and players who play for them are generally more determined to win than others. Celtic and Rangers are two examples of that type of club where there is a vast amount of pressure on players and only those with a huge desire to win will succeed. This makes players at these clubs more suited to playing for a big country like England where there is also a lot of pressure to succeed. On the other hand, there are only a limited number of clubs in England where a similar level of pressure is evident. This means that only a small number of English players are being exposed to the high level of pressure which exists only at the top level of domestic and European football. By making Fraser Forster the first-choice keeper Roy Hodgson would show players that moving abroad is a good way to get in the England team and if more players did move abroad this would help to improve the quality of the national team.