Many in the footballing world have heard of the new proposed
"6+5 rule."
The 6+5 rule means that at the beginning of a match, the
starting lineup of both teams must consist of at least six players
who can play for the national team of the club's country.
However, out of the three subs allowed to be fielded, there is
no limit to the number of foreign subs a team can field; and there
is no limit to the number of players with contracts with the
club.
Starting in the 2010-11 season, clubs must field at least four
players who may represent the country of the club. The next season,
they must field five players; and the following season it will be
increased to a third and final time to six, meaning at the start of
the 2012-2013 season, the full 6+5 rule will be implemented.
The purpose of this rule is to protect the national identity of
the clubs, level the playing field a bit, and to lower the spending
on high cost internationals (like Real Madrid and Manchester City
have been doing).
Now whether you agree on the rule or not won't matter, because
odds are the plan will probably be carried out.
But what would happen to the big name clubs if the full rule
were implemented immediately?
Would any of the teams have to switch there lineups around? And
would their results differ from their previous form?
For this article I will assume that all players are healthy to
reduce complications. Let's check it out.
Assuming that all players are healthy, Manchester United
shouldn't have much of a problem dealing with this rule, especially
since Sir Alex Ferguson is a supporter of the rule.
Between the sticks we can see Dutch international Edwin Van der
Sar in his last season for the Red Devils.
The center of the back line will be headed by the rock solid
pair of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. At right back we see Wes
Brown and at the left we see the familiar Patrice Evra.
In the defensive midfielder slot is Owen Hargreaves while
Michael Carrick can play right in front of Hargreaves. The wings
are manned by Nani and Antonio Valencia, while the strike duo of
Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney can play up front.
The subs are up to Sir Alex but I will point out that one
foreign sub for each outfield position is allowed, meaning players
like Berbatov, Fabio or Rafael, and Anderson can be introduced.
Since the lineup doesn't really change from their current one
bar the introduction of Owen Hargreaves, their match results
probably won't change either, nor will their form.
Chelsea, unlike Manchester United, may have some problems. It is
true that the Blues have seven Englishmen on the team, but three of
those players are too inexperienced to field leaving them with only
the four (Lampard, Terry, and Ashley and Joe Cole), in need of
two.
Chelsea's results will probably differ because of the absence of
two foreigners and introduction of two Englishmen.
Depending on which two foreigners are taken out of the lineup
will probably determine if their results stay the same, get better,
or worse.
Arsenal have the same problem as their London rivals
Chelsea.
Arsenal have only four Englishmen (Manuel Almunia, Theo Walcott,
Kieran Gibbs, and Jack Wilshire) in their first team squad, and two
of the four (Jack Wilshire and Kieran Gibbs) are inexperienced and
hard to count on.
With only four players in the first team squad eligible for the
English national team, it looks like if the 6+5 rule were adopted
now, then the Gunners would probably have to buy more Englishmen or
dip into their reserve squad.
Their results would probably fare the same as Chelsea meaning
the results would depend on who was taken out of the starting
lineup, although their form probably wouldn't change if they
managed to keep in crucial players such as Fabregas and
Arshavin.
With eight Englishmen on the team, one would think that
Liverpool shouldn't have a problem with with the 6+5 rule.
However, only three (Gerrard, Carragher, and Glen Johnson, all
of which have plenty of experience) of those eight have experience.
The others are young and have barely played any matches at all.
It is true that youth can win titles, as certain managers have
shown in the past, but more experience is required when up against
the big teams such as Manchester United, Arsenal, or Barcelona.
Two of the youngsters, Jay Spearing and Martin Kelly, look to be
competent enough to play against strong teams. Spearing has made
appearances against PSV Eindhoven and Real Madrid; while Rafa
Benitez has said that the departure of Hyppia may open the door for
Kelly.
Once again, results will differ according to which players are
taken out and which are put in, although Liverpool may have to take
out some decisive players which could lead to poor results.
By now everyone should know about Real Madrid's spending spree
on foreign stars.
But suprisingly, they shouldn't have much of a problem with this
rule, even if they wanted to fit in their stars in the starting
XI.
They can actually fit in some extra Spaniards in the lineup and
still have space to fit in stars Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, and Karim
Benzema. The fact that they signed three Spaniards (Raul Albiol,
Xabi Alonso, and Esteban Granero) in their summer spending spree
helps very much.
Considering that they don't have to change anything around in
their lineup, then their current form should continue the way it's
been going.
Everyone knows that European champions Barcelona shouldn't have
a problem with this.
They have nine Spanish players on their team; meaning, like Real
Madrid, they'll have Spaniards left over that they can still use
even if one of their other home grown players is injured.
With the team they have, they can even boast an entirely
international front like, headed by Ibrahimovic, Messi, and Thierry
Henry.
And their current form will probably continue since they don't
have to change their lineup around one bit.
If the 6+5 rule were enforced now, Inter would have a
problem.
It's true that they have six Italians on the team, but two of
those players are goalkeepers and two others are inexperienced,
meaning if Inter went up against another strong team in something
like the Champions League, then the youngsters probably wouldn't be
the best choice.
This means that their match results may not be as great as they
have been, since instrumental midfielders and top strikers would
have to be taken out to make room for more Italians.
Of all the teams in this article, AC Milan is the least likely
to suffer as a result of this rule, so I won't spend much time on
them.
Milan have many Italian defenders so they can opt for an
entirely Italian defense and goalie, with foreigners in midfield
and offense; or they can distribute their players evenly
throughout.
They're current form would probably continue as they don't have
to do anything at all to their team.
Juventus, their Italian rivals AC Milan, won't have a problem
with this rule at all, since they have many Italians on the
team.
The easiest way for Juve to go would be Buffon as goalie, two
Italian defenders, one midfielder, and two strikers.
This team's form would probably continue as it's been since they
also don't have to change their lineup around.
Now this article only summarizes what probably would happen to
big clubs if the rule were instituted currently.
However, the full 6+5 rule will be implemented at the beginning
of the 2012-2013 season, meaning clubs would be given time to add
players that fulfill the requirements of the rule.
I don't know what will happen in the future. Odds are, clubs
having trouble will probably buy more players so that their team
may play according to this rule.
But do keep an eye on the teams having trouble right now and the
teams spending much on foreign players; they may be the teams who
have trouble later on when the rule is instated.