Vicente del Bosque: 'English style has been lost'

By Matt Law, Football Editor | 11 November 2015

Spain boss Vicente del Bosque claims that English football has lost its style due to the number of foreign imports arriving in the Premier League.

Spain boss Vicente del Bosque has claimed that English football no longer has a style due to the influx of foreign players to the Premier League.

England have struggled to compete in major tournaments in recent years and Del Bosque, who has enjoyed great success with Spain, has put that down to "the mix of different styles".

"There is no 'English' football any more, I don't think: no authentic English style," Del Bosque told The Guardian.

"Because of the mix of different styles, the arrival of players from abroad makes it impossible to maintain an 'English football'. I imagine there are still some idiosyncrasies at English clubs, teams that are very English, but on the pitch it's difficult to guess where teams are from.

"The purity of each [national] style has been lost. I don't think there's much difference between any countries. Maybe I'm missing something but even with the national side England has started to look like other sides on the continent."

England and Spain will meet in an international friendly on Friday.