When England take on Switzerland on Tuesday, there could well be 12 Englishmen on the field. North Londoner Scott Sutter has been called up by the Schweizer Nati senior squad for the first time and could make his bow in the Euro 2012 qualifier against Capello’s men. In a different world he could have been on the opposition team.
The full-back, who was born in Enfield and grew up in Potters Bar but has a Swiss father, probably came to the attention of most English fans when his club, Young Boys of Bern, took on Tottenham in the final Champions League qualifying rounds. Although Young Boys ended up losing heavily, Sutter won praise for his performance at right-back.
Not that the appearance of Sutter in a foreign team should have come as a surprise. The 24-tear-old had been plying his trade in Switzerland since he was 16 and played against Middlesbrough in the UEFA Cup with previous team Grasshoppers.
With over half a decade playing for two leading teams who regularly qualified for Europe, he could hardly be regarded as an unknown quantity playing for small teams, as some media were quick to paint him as.
While the Swiss Super League may not be quite on a par with the Premier League, Sutter has amassed European experience and hold down a place in a team challenging for domestic honours. What’s more, he’s previously expressed a wish to play for England, should the call have come.
After spending time in the youth teams of Aston Villa and Charlton, there’s every possibility that, had he stayed in England, Sutter may have found himself drifting down the leagues, as has happened to so many young English pros. Instead he took the brave decision at the age of 16 to join Grasshoppers.
Having a Swiss parent would have helped, but to a teenager who had grown up in England, moving abroad at a young age was a gamble but one that has paid off.
And, daft as this may sound, the example Sutter could set to future young English pros, coupled with his impressive form for Young Boys, is a good enough reason to try him for England.
Fabio Capello is not big on symbolic gestures, and nor should he be, but if he’s going by form as well then Sutter is worth a run-out for the Three Lions, especially as there are few alternatives available at right-back and Glenn Johnson looked increasingly skittish in the 4-0 victory over Bulgaria.
By picking Sutter, Capello could send out a powerful message to young hopefuls that there is life beyond the English leagues and playing abroad will still leave you in good contention for an international call-up.
In addition, having players ply their trade in the top flights of other major European leagues would add a greater understanding and appreciation of other styles of play and tactical set-ups, as well as opening opportunities for young players released before they’ve had the chance to prove themselves at club level in the Premier League.
One excuse brought up when England goes through one of its regular periods of introspection is that the Premier League contains too many foreigners. But in their book Why England Lose, Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski argue that there are too many Englishmen playing in the top flight, while Kuper, Szymanski and Jonathan Wilson have all pointed out that England’s isolationism costs them when it comes to adapting tactics and playing styles.
Put simply, there’s no reason why the likes of, say, Scott Sinclair, a decent prospect who couldn’t get playing time at Chelsea, so left for Swansea City, wouldn’t have been better off in choosing the Eredivisie, Bundesliga or Ligue 1 over Wales to develop his career. He may even get to play in the Champions League or Europa League, something that definitely won’t happen at his current Championship club.
It’s long been an oddity that while foreigners are happy to flock to the English leagues, English players are, for the most part, unwilling to move across the Channel in search of employment, preferring to drop down the divisions.
The excellent Les Rosbifs blog chronicles the Englishmen who currently play abroad, but there’s a distinct lack of recognisable names on the list. Ignoring David Beckham, who is an individual phenomenon, the number of full or fringe England internationals have been few and far between.
Jermaine Pennant tried his luck at Real Zaragoza, although clashes with the manager didn’t seem to help, while Matt Derbyshire, an underrated talent, has just returned from an 18 month spell at Olympiacos where he had a habit of popping up with important goals. Again, injuries aside, there was little reason why Derbyshire shouldn’t have been afforded a chance with England ahead of, say, Carlton Cole.
The days of English, Scottish and Welsh players spending a season or two in a foreign league are long gone. David Platt, Paul Ince, Gazza, Steve McMannaman, Dean Saunders, Mark Hughes and Ian Rush all had spells abroad.
The latter may have described is time in Italy like “living in a foreign country,” but all were willing to make the move and, in most cases, they added to their game. And one of Juventus’ greatest ever players was the gentle giant John Charles.
Yet the English distrust of their countrymen in foreign leagues is as strong as it ever was. It took many years for fans to accept Owen Hargreaves as an international class player despite his performances for Bayern Munich, while there was plenty of doubting voices when reports surfaced that Capello was looking at Werder Bremen’s Aaron Hunt, who has since been capped by Germany at senior level.
If Sutter plays for Switzerland on Tuesday and has a good game or even scores (and the Swiss are slowly building a solid and impressive looking young multicultural team) nobody can say England haven’t had plenty of opportunity to claim him as one of their own.
Tags: England, Fabio Capello, Grasshoppers, Matt Derbyshire, Scott Sutter, Switzerland, Tottenham Hotspur, Young Boys