• ‘What’s the point’ of England game days before league starts
• All we do is play and recover, says Spurs manager

Fixture congestion is usually an issue reserved for the winter months, but for Harry Redknapp the games are already coming too thick and too fast. The Tottenham Hotspur manager has been frustrated by the number of pre-season games his club have scheduled, but reserved special ire for those who have arranged international fixtures in the week before the Premier League kicks off in a fortnight’s time.

England face Hungary at Wembley on 11 August, three days before the Premier League season commences on Saturday lunchtime with Manchester City’s visit to Tottenham. Redknapp also faces the prospect of losing players to the Republic of Ireland, Cameroon (who play in Poland), Croatia, Brazil, Wales and Scotland.

“Could someone tell me why we have an international week in the week that the season starts? Can someone tell me what that is all about?” said Redknapp. “They’ve just been away as a group for the World Cup, they’ve just come home, they’re probably sick of the sight of each other and now we’re going to have an international week before we play the first game of the season.

“We play Fiorentina on Saturday, which is a nuisance, then they go off and play for their countries – I won’t see those players from Saturday night until Friday, I won’t see them once. They’ll all come back Friday morning. How can that be a way to prepare for the start of a season?”

Redknapp ruled out requesting that his players, even those just returned to training following their exertions at the World Cup, be left out of their various squads. “You can’t, can you? Everybody would be doing that, no one’s going to want their players to go. What can you do? We’ve got three Croatian lads, two Cameroon players, all playing games. There’ll probably be one or two players left at the training ground for the week before we play Manchester City. Why? What’s the point of it? A meaningless friendly for what reason? We just keep our fingers crossed that they don’t come back injured.”

Spurs already have something of a mini injury crisis, with Jermaine Jenas limping out of Thursday’s friendly against Villarreal and Luka Modric, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Wilson Palacios all suffering from pulls and strains. It is a problem Redknapp attributes to Tottenham’s punishing pre-season schedule. They have already played five friendlies this month, three of them on their tour of the United States, and they must squeeze in a trip to Lisbon to face Benfica and a home tie against the Seria A side Fiorentina – along with Villarreal, fixtures designed to ready the squad for the challenge of the Champions League – before losing their players to international duty.

“We’ve just come back from a gruelling trip all round America and we’re only home two days before we had the Villarreal game [Spurs lost 4-1],” said Redknapp. “If you look at the schedule, we play Villarreal, then Benfica on the Tuesday, then we play Fiorentina on the Saturday, then they’ve got an international game in the midweek, then you play Man City, then a Champions League qualifier, then you’ve got Stoke away, then another Champions League qualifier, then Wigan. I mean, it’s crazy.

“The last thing we need really is to be playing games – we need to train. I need to get the players on the training pitch, because all we do is play and recover, play and recover. Too many games have been scheduled. I didn’t want the Villarreal game. It’s a problem at times.

“We’ve not really had a proper pre-season. We’ve not been able to get on the training pitch enough. We’ve gone away and played games. Modric has a hamstring [injury], Pavlyuchenko’s got a hamstring, Palacios has a got a groin, but that’s what happens when you schlep all round the world.”

Harry RedknappTottenham HotspurJohn Ashdownguardian.co.uk

New rules that force clubs to play more youngsters should benefit the national team but some managers are not happy

It is in the soul-searching aftermath of an England failure at a major tournament that thoughts invariably turn towards the next generation, the young players who will one day, at long last, drive the nation to glory. The debate, however, can lead to further introspection. In the Premier League years, with clubs’ squads bloated by overseas players, where is the opportunity for homegrown talent?

Things could be about to change or, at least, a step is to be taken in what is hoped will prove the right direction. As of this season, following Premier League legislation that has been some years in the making, clubs will be forced to include eight homegrown players in a senior squad of no more than 25.

Homegrown players are defined as those having been trained at a club or clubs in England or Wales for three years before the end of the season in which they became 21.

Homegrown players do not have to be English. Cesc Fábregas, for example, Arsenal’s Spain midfielder, qualifies, having moved to north London as a 16-year-old. It ought to be pointed out, though, that of the 300 scholars currently at Premier League academies (the 16-18 age group) 245 are English.

Under the new legislation, clubs are also permitted to register and play an unlimited number of under-21s. The theory is that when injuries and suspensions bite in the senior squad, managers will have to turn to youth. It is expected that particularly over the second half of the season, substitute benches will be dotted with academy players.

If clubs cannot fill their quota of eight homegrown players, then their senior squads will be short. The champions Chelsea, for example, only have five homegrown players (John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Ross Turnbull and Michael Mancienne). As things stand, the manager, Carlo Ancelotti, will have to name a senior squad of 22 and opportunities will increase for his under-21s. That the players most likely to step up are Gaël Kakuta, Fabio Borini, Jeffrey Bruma and Patrick van Aanholt – in other words, overseas youngsters – is a moot point, and one reflected at other clubs. English players, though, must embrace the competition.

“We’ll reflect on this regulation in five or 10 years’ time and think it was exactly the right thing to do,” said Huw Jennings, the Fulham academy director. “It’s not just about the England team, although that is the focus after the World Cup, it’s about young players, who are the long-term lifeblood of the game and it’s about strengthening the Premier League. Young players should emerge on merit, not because of tokenism, but if we have fewer players in the squads it will create more opportunities.”

It is hoped the new regulations will have pluses that go beyond the encouragement of homegrown and academy players and provide clubs with the incentive to continue investing in their youth-development programmes. They might also discourage them from stockpiling senior players and so offer an economic benefit.

“While the sporting factor of encouraging youth development was the main driver behind [the new regulations], it is anticipated that there will also be financial benefits in operating with a smaller pool of contracted players and a higher number of young players developed in England,” said Mike Foster, the Premier League general secretary. “It is also hoped that a by-product of the new system will be a bigger pool of players for England to choose from.”

But not everyone is convinced. “They mess about with everything, don’t they?” said the Tottenham Hotspur manager, Harry Redknapp. “And what difference is it going to make? It’s no different really. If the young players are good enough, they’ll come through. And if you’re having to play them just because they’re young and English but they’re not good enough, then the league won’t improve. They’ve got to be good enough, wherever they’re from.

“You might also get some kids who get in the 25 and then put their feet under the table and don’t work on their game. You’ve got to deserve to be in there, rather than just having them for the sake of it, token players.”

One of the principal arguments against the legislation is that it could leave players over the age of 21 out in the cold. If they are not named in the 25, they cannot play until squad changes are permitted in the next transfer window. The Manchester City manager, Roberto Mancini, has 32 senior players at his disposal – following the sale of Javier Garrido to Lazio today and he is under pressure to sell seven of them before the end of August.

“I am quite surprised the players’ union accepted this rule as it could put many players out of a job,” said the Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger. “They want to fight against unemployment but they stop us employing footballers. There is no room to move [in the transfer market]. Is 25 enough, given the injuries? It is an artificial rule that I don’t like.”

“One of the worries,” added Jennings, “is the premium that will be placed on the movement from club to club of players who qualify as homegrown. Their price will be driven up, there would be an inflated view of them and I don’t think that is healthy.”

Concerns have also been expressed about clubs effectively stockpiling their under-21 players to guard against selection crises, rather than loan them out to gain the first-team minutes that can be vital for their development at that stage. It is not always possible to insert instant recall clauses into loan deals.

Yet it ought not to be forgotten that it was the clubs who voted in the legislation at their September meeting of last year. “I’ve heard that the [club] owners are only interested in the product, but they sanctioned this,” said Ged Roddy, the Premier League’s director of academies. “They recognise that if we can develop our own players, then we have a much stronger product. We want to get more homegrown players into our first teams. The more we do, the more chance we have of an outstanding England team in the future. This is more than a half-step forward.”

Premier LeagueChelseaTottenham HotspurArsenalManchester CityDavid Hytnerguardian.co.uk

• Worries for Tottenham as they crash 4-1 at home
• Strong Spurs team prove no match for Spaniards

Though these fixtures are all about sharpness not scorelines, with Champions League fixtures arriving soon Tottenham must hit the ground running this season and Harry Redknapp’s team did not fare well by either measure at White Hart Lane last night, succumbing 4-1 to Villarreal.

Redknapp named a strong line-up for the visit of the Spaniards, the first of a hat-trick of friendlies against European opposition designed to ready the club for their Champions League play-off next month. Fiorentina and Benfica follow before Spurs begin their Premier League campaign away at Manchester City on 14 August. This result, though, did not bode well.

“They’re a great side, I was very impressed with them,” said the Spurs manager. “We had a good squad out, but they were sharp. They were different class.”

Jermain Defoe started up front, with Michael Dawson and Aaron Lennon the others of England’s World Cup squad involved, while Heurelho Gomes played in goal having missed the club’s pre-season tour of the United States. Jermaine Jenas, his influence at White Hart Lane surely threatened by Redknapp’s interest in Scott Parker, started alongside Tom Huddlestone in midfield, while Robbie Keane, similarly under pressure given his manager’s interest in Craig Bellamy, took the captain’s armband. Jenas, though, hobbled off with a leg injury inside the first 20 minutes.

With Dawson and co needing to shake off the disappointment of England’s time in South Africa as well as their summer rust, Spurs could hardly have got off to a worse start. David Fuster and Santi Cazorla had already gone close by the time the visitors opened the scoring after 21 minutes. The impressive Cazorla found space 20 yards out and shaped to shoot, only to play a wonderfully disguised dinked pass through to Giuseppe Rossi. The former Manchester United striker, himself needing a confidence boost after Italy’s dismal World Cup campaign, made no mistake.

Though Spurs were undone by a moment of individual excellence for the first, a portion of blame could be attributed to the rusty Dawson for the second. The central defender failed to cut out Marcos Senna’s through-ball and Rossi, clean through, again slotted calmly past Gomes.

Redknapp’s seven half-time substitutions, rather than disrupt Spurs’ rhythm – there was little to speak of anyway – in fact offered the home side greater fluidity and control. Gareth Bale has begun pre-season in the same impressive manner in which he finished the last campaign and on 55 minutes Spurs pulled one back. Peter Crouch took advantage of defensive hesitancy to slip in Giovani dos Santos, and the Mexican chipped the ball confidently past Diego López in the Villarreal goal.

Rossi, though, completed his hat-trick with 20 minutes to go, his long-range drive deflecting off Vedran Corluka to make it 3-1, and Marco Ruben added a fourth with four minutes to play. The Yellow Submarines, despite finishing seventh in La Liga last season, will play in the Europa League this year, following Mallorca’s expulsion after going into administration. If they do not hit their straps when things really kick-off, Tottenham could still join them.

Tottenham HotspurVillarrealFriendliesJohn Ashdownguardian.co.uk