On the AWB thread the question was asked whether Fosu-Mensah is rated because he’s a Man U player. There has certainly been a tendency for the England team to rate them over others. Wes Brown and Tom Cleverley amassed as many caps caps as Paul Reaney, Peter Osgood, Chris Lawler, Rodney Marsh, Stan Bowles, Charlie George, Alan Hudson and Matt Le Tissier did between them.
If Brown and Cleverley had played for CPFC they’d have got as close to the England team as they have since leaving Old Trafford. And rightly so.

Sorry about that!
The irony is that most England crowds are composed of supporters of smaller clubs.
This preference for Big Club players hasn’t been successful anyway.

I was never Beckham’s biggest fan but the fact he got wheeled out for a 10 minute cameo in lots of games must have been for sound tactical reasons

Yes, I agree with you and if players are the best in their position or suit a particular tactical plan then fine but my point is that players like Brown and Cleverley only get into the England team because of the club they play for.

He was a good enough player when younger certainly but he was still getting into the team when past his sell by date.
It’s hypocritical of me because I’d criticise a player for deciding he didn’t want to play for his country and I’m moaning about him being too willing to play but there you go.

Fully agree. He was actually a fantastic player, a point overlooked because of him and Posh being arguably the two biggest media whores in history.

He definitely won some cheap caps at the end though.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold...