So out of the starting 11 all 11 players have been capped by their respective countries. Some are well into double figures, whilst others even have amassed more than 50. Countries like Brazil, Spain, Holland, Argentina and Portugal. I realise there's also Greece (former European Champions), Slovakia and England in there.
So are you saying the all those international managers were also mistaken when they handed out those caps? Quite a few repeat mistakes amongst the list.
You forgot, "most in peripheral roles". Being an international is no guarantee you're a good enough player. In any case some players are better playing for their countries (Klose and Podolski) than their clubs, while others are brillitant at their clubs but never makes the difference for their national team (Ronaldo).
I'm not saying Roy is the man to lead this club to glory (and I never did), I just happen to think that for the last 12 years this club has been run by managers who never understood what it takes to build a challenging squad despite being handed hundreds on hundreds of millions to achieve that feat. Now, the problem with this is that it'll take a long time for this club to establish an identity, a spirit to base future challenges on. So, in a way, it's a two step process. First step is about founding an identity/spirit, then secondly challenge for honors. I think Roy may be a good choice for the first step. In any case the new identity this club so desperately need cannot be built with the current squad.
Some will always be blinded by that CL campaing refusing to realise Rafa, just like GH, actually went on decline after initial cup successes. It's not their fault they never understood what the English game is all about.
Tes, we're at least 5 years from challenging so screaming and kicking after Roy's removal will do little to change this fact. We need to focus on other things than winning titles. We pushed the inevitable ahead for us for too long, it's time to face the reality - we lost our identity in the early 90's and until we establish it we will continue to be found wanting. It wasn't any better under Rafa the last 3 seasons. We weren't any better the 08/09 season. We were as dull, lacklustre, disjointed what have you.