Tal Slams England Approach

Tal Slams England
By Mark Heys
September 5 2007

Former Bolton Wanderers midfielder Idan Tal has criticised the state of the English national team ahead of Israel's European Championship qualifier with the Three Lions this coming weekend.

Tal, who also played for Everton, left the Reebok Stadium earlier this year to link up with current club Beitar Jerusalem and he has spoken out about issues concerning the English national team and Premier League.

"When I was in England I remember speaking with a lot of fans who were so disappointed with the state of the national team. They didn't like how they played and maybe the reason could be the manager. They are just not convincing at all." said the veteran midfielder

The player who turns 32 in eight days is also critical of the way in which England neglects its homegrown talent in order to sign players from the continent

"One of the problems is that the gap between international football and Premier League football has been filled by foreign players. There is no doubt about it. The players that come to England increase the level and that leads to problems against the best national teams. The Premier League is good mostly because of these players."

Israel are most likely to include Tal and his former Bolton team mate Tal Ben-Haim, now of Chelsea, in their starting line up against England.