Why this is a great time to support the one true United | OneFootball

Second-rate international competitions have kicked proper football into the long grass this month.

An England centre-forward who has hardly played as a spearhead for the past couple of years is being hailed as an all-time great, while spending most of the game running away from goal.

Excuse me for not jumping on that bandwagon. I will remember him for a disgraceful scissors ‘tackle’ that wrecked Florian Lejeune’s debut and ankle ligaments at St James’ Park in August 2017.

The latest Uefa-enforced interruption has at least allowed time to reflect on the opening few games of this Newcastle United season. And one development in particular.

Newcastle United have picked no fewer than seven (7) English-born players to start each of our first three English Premier League matches, with Eddie Howe calling on several others from the subs’ bench.

I no longer spend much time poring over the football pages of the national press, so perhaps I’ve missed the plethora of articles highlighting this remarkable statistic. And perhaps online accounts of our Anglo-rich selections have also escaped my attention. Perhaps. Perhaps not.

None of the rentagobs paid by Sky or TNT have, to my knowledge, commented on Eddie Howe’s reliance on home-grown talent. How strange the silence…

Could it possibly be a difficult story to sell when reporting on a club majority-owned by the Saudi Arabia PIF?

Just imagine how many sycophants in the media would be rushing to praise that lesser United from Salford, or their noisy neighbours, or the former Woolwich outfit, or the club whose supporters booed them off at half-time in a Champions League final, if any of them had selected so many English players.

What’s left of the Amazon rainforest would be felled to supply newspapers with the means to publish tribute after tribute.

Well, it would if the circulation of those rags hadn’t collapsed faster than James Madison desperately seeking a penalty.

For the record, Newcastle United began against Southampton with Pope, Hall, Burn, Livramento, Longstaff, Gordon and Murphy. Kelly and Barnes came on after 70 minutes.

At Bournemouth, Pope, Kelly, Burn, Livramento, Longstaff, Gordon and Murphy all started. Barnes, Trippier, Hall and Willock played their part in the second half.

Against Spurs, it was Pope, Kelly, Burn, Livramento, Longstaff, Barnes and Gordon who were the native starters, with Hall and Murphy two of the utilised subs.

A mere six Englishmen lined up for United at the City Ground for the League Cup tie, though three more were introduced from the bench.

What of our opponents?

Forest had two English starters: Elliot Anderson (lately of this parish and named his new club’s player of the month this week) and Zach Abbott. Callum Hudson-Odoi played the last 25 minutes, though by then Abbott had been replaced. Let’s give Forest a generous two out of 11 for patriotism.

Southampton scored a lot higher. Six English starters and three more off the bench. No wonder the club’s long-established development programme is held in such high esteem.

Their South Coast neighbours make far more typical English Premier League selections: two English starters and two active subs when hosting United, unless you count Daniel Jebbison, who was born in Canada but has represented England at youth level.

And Spurs? The aforementioned Mr Maddison was the only Englishman in their starters at St James’ Park. Brennan Johnson played the entire second half, helping to earn his club a not-so-grand 1.5 out of 11.

You might well believe none of this matters. The most lucrative football league is bound to attract foreign talent. Scouts have “been around the world” more than once, as Lisa Stansfield, Rochdale’s latter-day Gracie Fields, liked to sing.

Long gone are the days that any overseas player was regarded by some clubs as a risky signing. Or, in the immortal words of Alan Michael Sugar, just another Carlos Kickaball.

At United we are blessed to have two outstanding Brazilians, a Dutch master, a Swiss maestro, an Italian midfield stallion and Ice-Cool Alex from Sweden. Not forgetting Isak’s defensive compatriot and Paraguay’s personification of the Duracell Bunny.

All of whom, you could say, render the previous 500-odd words redundant.

However, tell me this: where would United be without our core of English players?

From the last line of defence to the cutting edge of attack we depend on them, identify with them and cheer them to the rafters. Especially if they are from our neck of the woods. There is no finer sight than a Geordie crashing the ball into the opposition’s net.

The first football book I can remember reading told the story of the Lisbon Lions. And the fact I will never forget? All 11 were born within a 30-mile radius of Celtic Park; all but one spent their childhood within 10 miles of the stadium.

Remarkable, truly remarkable.

Celtic won every competition they entered in the 1966-67 season: European Cup, Scottish League, SFA Cup, Scottish League Cup and the Glasgow Cup.

They were more than the dominant force. They were all-conquering. The past, as LP Hartley wrote, is a foreign country.

Different eras nearly 60 years apart are almost impossible to compare.

Manchester City have, of course, been No1 in England for a while, winning six Premier League titles under Pep Guardiola. How many of their starters this season could represent England?

Against Chelsea in their opener, just Rico Lewis (who played last night in the “give Kane a goal” testimonial against Finland) while Phil Foden had half a game.

Against Ipswich in their first home match? Only Lewis, with John Stones, Jack Grealish and James McAtee joining from the bench.

And against West Ham at the laughably named London Stadium, Lewis and Grealish, with Walker making a brief cameo appearance.

Does that suggest teams can be successful only if they are packed with foreigners?

I would argue the 115 alleged breaches of financial regulations allegedly committed by those in charge at the Etihad are a bigger factor. Allegedly . . .

Arsenal have been the latest challengers to City’s hegemony, though not by relying on English players in the English Premier League. Against Wolves in their first match of the season they included Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Ben White, though the last-named has excused himself from representing his country. Those three started at Villa Park, with Reiss Nelson given five minutes or so at the death. And it was the same story against Brighton, minus any English substitutes.

I’m no flag-waving patriot but, given the choice, I reckon most old-school football fans in this country would prefer to cheer a club composed largely of home-grown players over a line-up of overseas imports. Which is why this is a great time to be a supporter of the one true United.