‘The Premier League Is A Fraud’ – Didi Hamann Softly Tears England And Their Second Rate Players Apart On RTÉ (Video)

Chris Wright

28th, June 2016

8 Comments

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As ITV’s assembled panel of experts mumbled about the need to take stock and move on in the wake of England’s miserable defeat against Iceland, Didi Hamann was busy letting all of his feelings on the Premier League and its standing in the world spill out over on Irish television.

Appearing as a pundit for RTÉ’s coverage of the match, Hamann seized his opportunity to deliver a few home truths post-game, embarking on a gentle but scathing critique of the Premier League, its vastly overrated quality and the second-rate fodder being used to pad it out.

“They (the Premier League) have sold a Skoda as a Lamborghini for the last 15 years,” the former German international said.

“Players should light a candle every night when they go to bed because if they were Icelandic, Portuguese, Dutch or German they would struggle to earn a quarter of money they’re on now.”

Here’s the whole magnificent thing in full…

Never a truer word spaketh. Maybe, just maybe, the penny is starting to drop.

Posted in England, Euro 2016, Media

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8 Comments

  1. Jacques says:

    I don’t know how true that is. Yes, England’s top teams can’t match Europe’s top teams. Yes, English players believe they’re better than they are ,but that’s as a result of playing with high quality foreign players that make them look good. To say the entire league is overrated is completely wrong. Look at the Belgian team Many people tip them as favourites and their players are overwhelmingly English based. It’s more a matter of English players being sub par instead of English teams.

  2. P.B. says:

    The successful English CL teams of 10 -15 years ago used to have a backbone of English players. The Utd sides with the likes of Scholes, Neville and Beckham and Chelsea with the likes of Lampard, Terry and Cole. This is not the case anymore. The current era of English players is way below par for whatever reason I don’t know.

    • jcc says:

      Yep, the crop of players which were (relatively) succesful in 1996 and 1998 were all developed pre-premier league. Despite all the money supposedly invested, there is no meritocracy or sporting motivation in English football, just excessive money, parasitic agents and a youth development system that places too much reliance on brute force, speed, pushy parents and the ability to bully. The standard of first touch, passing, fitness, even basic dribbling and dead-ball craft is appauling. I think a side formed of English league one and league two players could have faired just as well in this Euro competition, and sadly Wayne Rooney could have player-managed as effectively as Hodgson. Carroll, Defoe, Drinkwater and Townsend should arguably have been in the side to face a team like Iceland, and they were not even in the squad. We need Glen Hoddle and Chris Waddle to manage the side for the next 4 years, with a view to redeveloping the whole FA and Premier League and grassroots.

      • M says:

        So, AFC Bournemouth then? Being a Cherries fan, I actual agree with you as I was saying that most of the team would be performing better than the England team. And no England can’t have Eddie as coach!

  3. John says:

    The over-hyping, over-pampering of any significantly talented young English player is the problem. They’re brought up to believe they’re way better than they are, and the media jumps on this at the same time. They never experience any form of rejection or challenge until they make it to the first team. The result is a cluster of English players with huge egos that everyone thinks are better than they actually are. Whenever they get a bit of pressure they bottle it as they’ve never faced a real challenge and you get players like Wilshere, Sterling and Kane.

  4. P says:

    I understand everyone wants to take stock and look at the broader failings and hidden causes of this defeat. And yes, the Premier League is overrated and so are many of its English “stars”.

    However, this really came down to poor management from Hodgson because he put player’s individual reputations before his team.

    Rooney: other than scoring the PK, did nothing all tournament. Is not a midfielder, and is 5th choice striker. But he is Roy of the Rovers so he must play.

    Sterling: did nothing all tournament, other than winning the PK. But he is England’s most expensive youngster, so he must play.

    Kane: Did nothing all tournament. But he is the great blond English hope like Wayne before him. Rooney should lose the armband for not taking free kick duties off of him. Sunday league quality would be a compliment on this man’s ability to hit a dead ball.

    Alli: One good season. Clearly did not have the experience for a day like this.

    Hart: do i need to say anything? has been shit for years, but a good save here and there, a good face for the cameras, and the most expensive squad on the planet have papered the cracks.

    The end product is a 4-1-2-3 that does no one in the squad but the supremely average outside backs any favors.

    Roy and his over-hyped players lost this for everyone, but a more common sense approach to the team selection would have seen England facing France, losing to the 2nd best team there, and having no one attempting to make grand revelations about the quality of the league. The PL, for all of its cringeworthy over-hype and reliance on corporations, did not lose this match for England.

  5. P says:

    I forgot Wilshere. Cottage cheese poured into football boots. but hey he’s Action Jack – all round box to box crafty distributor power and pace etc – right

  6. SA says:

    didi the plank, him and carragher 2 scouse bastatrds that should STFU,

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