Nurturing Young English Talent: Loaning Players Abroad

There has been a lot of talk since the end of the transfer window about the number of foreign players in the Premier League. Big names such as Rio Ferdinand have voiced their displeasure at seeing teams fielding very few local names, and have suggested there should be a cap on the number of foreign players at a club, using Turkey as an example, where teams are only allowed a maximum of 10 foreign players on their books and no more than 6 in any match day squad. This has been exacerbated by the very average performance by England in the recent World Cup qualifier against Ukraine. The national team's lack of success is certainly something that needs to be rectified, but there are a multitude of reasons for the underwhelming performances over the last 47 years.

Scout Report: Viktor Fischer

Frank Arnesen, Jan Molby, Michael Laudrup and more recently, Christian Eriksen, are just some of the Danes who chose Ajax as their platform for development. Now another name to add to this list is Viktor Fischer. The young Dane is fairly versatile and plays predominantly on the left of a three-pronged attack, but can also play through the middle, or as an attacking midfielder.

Engineering Success: A Profile of Manuel Pellegrini

The 59 year old Chilean has acquired the nickname 'the Engineer' not only due to his ability to build up clubs from relative obscurity, but because he is in fact a qualified civil engineer. Cynics may point to the fact that he is yet to win a major trophy in Europe but look past that and it is clear Pellegrini has the pedigree to succeed at the highest stage.