Roy Hodgson is sick of hearing the argument that England no longer produces top quality footballers – and has pleaded for the armchair critics to look a bit deeper before making their point.
With a particularly hectic transfer window to close today, followed immediately by the Three Lions putting their World Cup hopes on the line in crucial qualification matches against Moldova and Ukraine, the old debate about how many players the Premier League contributes to the national cause has been raised again.
Only a third of players on show on the opening weekend were qualified for England, triggering another round of hand-wringing.
Yet manager Hodgson is not interested in that figure.
He knows the number he could realistically expect to have any impact on the international stage is far fewer.
But, as he pointed out quite forcibly, it also excludes a group of players upon whom England may rely on in the future but can only hope they find a way of fulfilling their potential.
“I’m not impressed by the paucity of thought and research that has gone into this debate,” said Hodgson.
“I saw a TV programme the other day talking about there being 240 English players in the Premier League. In that case, they must be including a lot of players I have never heard of.
“I would defy anyone to come up with 240 names. I can’t name that many. I don’t think, quite frankly, you’d be able to come up with 30 or 40.
“It’s just the headline-making ‘We’re no good in England, we don’t produce players’.
“What about the number of players who are rated highly and would be first-team starters at most Premier League clubs, but their path is blocked because they are at one of the top four or five?
“Look at Tom Carroll at Tottenham. I’ve worked at Fulham and West Brom and Tom would probably have played in both of those sides.
“But he doesn’t play for Tottenham. Is that their fault? No, not really. Maybe he’s not quite as good as (Mousa) Dembele, Sandro, Paulinho or Scott Parker.”
Hodgson is anxious to point out he is not criticising the people in charge.
As a former Premier League manager himself, he is acutely aware of how the transfer system works and why, with pressure on to deliver immediate results, managers opt for a more experienced foreign player rather than a younger home-grown one, whose early performances in particular may be more inconsistent.
Yet he is also aware if some solution is not found, England will never reap the full benefits of the talent that is being produced.
“As a nation, we must hope these players’ lack of games will not destroy their careers,” said Hodgson.