6 + 5 = ?

Sepp Blatter talks a lot of crap a lot of the time.

Every once in a while, however, FIFA's head jester stumbles across a proposal which isn't complete nonsense. I'm not saying I agree with him on the proposal which spawned this post - far from it - but at least it's grounded in some kind of sense.

If you haven't heard of Blatter's '6+5' proposal, you soon will. The idea, its future implementation and FIFA's head-on collision with the European Union are all set to be big news.

Should you be one of those lucky souls able to concern themselves only with on-the-pitch events rather than such trifling matters, allow me to nutshell-ify things. Blatter wants all football clubs to have a quota of foreign players imposed upon their starting elevens. First, they must start with four home-grown starters, then five, and eventually - by 2012 according to Blatter - six.

Six home-grown players, five foreigners. But there's a snag. The European Union is looming large halfway down the path to Blatter's destination. With its desire for free movement of workers throughout the Union, it was always going to oppose such a plan. "Discriminatory" and "unlawful" were two terms used by the European Parliament on May 8th to describe the proposal.

Sepp Blatter remains determined to make 6+5 his legacy to football, and intends to lobby political authorities in order to get his way. But let's be honest...that's politics, and we're interested in football. So what's the story?

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 24 hours, you'll have read that the number of England-qualified players starting games in the Premier League has dipped to 170 for the season just past. Make no mistake about it, this is a hefty piece of news - notwithstanding the BBC's questionable use of a graph whose Y-axis begins at 160, making the drop look more serious than it is.

That's not to say it's not an issue. Fabio Capello, leading England out at Wembley tomorrow against the USA (ticket safely secured, thank you very much - can't wait!), has inevitably been involved in the coverage of this story today. For many, the primary concern here is that it creates a worrying dearth of talent for the national side. The Premier League is - for now, anyway - the heart of Capello's pool of employees.

As the number of English players decreases, so Capello's options follow suit. It's simple mathematics. Or at least it would be, were there a solution to the equation.

Of course, this has an effect on English players too. Another oft-quoted argument is that the increased number of imports has damaged the long-term career prospects of young English players. As the top-flight teams have gradually filled up with foreign stars, English talent has sunk to the bottom, dropping into the lower leagues. Again, simple maths without a simple answer.

The fans, not that we matter, seem to be split on this issue. Blatter would play on the idea that foreign players lack empathy with the traditional supporters, the men of the terraces. How can they share our passion without knowing our experiences? How can they care as much as us, the fans? What does our team actually mean to these players?

These questions can never be answered, and each foreign player will differ. Some will match the fans' passion: take Gianfranco Zola, Peter Schmeichel, Thierry Henry or Olof Mellberg. Some will...not.

There's a more direct effect on football, too. Our domestic cup competitions have deteriorated in recent years because, apparently, foreign imports lack the knowledge and experience of, and passion and desire for, the FA Cup and the League Cup. There's certainly a case for such an assertion.

On the other hand, the Premier League is the best league in the world, right? Well...no. I'd rather watch Serie A or the Argentine top-flight any day of the week. But it's a popular view, and a logical one given the money and prestige involved. It's also a view which is backed up by English clubs' recent success in the Champions League (not so much good fortune in the UEFA Cup, but that's a whole different argument).

With Manchester United defeating Chelsea in this year's final, and Liverpool's incredible record in the competition, the Premier League is fast developing a reputation in Europe as the very best. Is that true? The best perhaps. It's certainly not the most entertaining. But it is a money-making machine, and that's what it's really all about. It's why we need foreign players, it's why foreign players want to sign up for Premier League clubs. Money, as always these days, is at the centre of English football.

There are fan benefits, despite the negatives. We get to see the world's best players every single week. It makes our football more entertaining (than it was, not than other leagues), and it encourages the growth of the 'cult hero'. We all love one of those, and some of the middling foreigners in our league are absolutely rife for cult hero status.

Not really enough, though, is it?

Nobody knows yet if Blatter's 6+5 proposal is the answer, but we all have an opinion on whether an answer is needed at all. What we can be absolutely certain of even at this stage is that each club will fight its corner based on its own situation. The BBC graphics show that Arsenal would be most affected, and in fact a complete change in strategy would be necessary. Who knows whether Arsene Wenger would be anywhere near as effective given such constraints?

West Ham and Aston Villa, on the other hand, average over six home-grown players in their starting line-ups already. Perhaps their approach will allow a continuity four years from now which propels them into the top four? It's an intriguing time for English football, and for European football as a whole. Either way, I look forward to Sepp Blatter locking horns with the European Union.

It'll be an interesting battle.