An all-English final with just one Englishman!

The fact there is only one English player in the starting line-ups of two English teams is a clear example of how globalised football is nowadays. Chelsea and Arsenal do not have many English footballers and only one started the match. 

Chelsea have Jamie Cumming, Gary Cahill, Ross Barkley and Connor Gallagher in their ranks, but none of them started. Ethan Ampadou from Wales could have meant the United Kingdom was represented in the Chelsea XI, but he did not start either. 

For Arsenal, it was a similar situation. Carl Jenkinson, Edward Nketiah, Joseph Willock, Bukayo Saka and Danny Welbeck did not make the eleven, but Ainsley Maitland-Niles did.

The young winger was the only English representative out of the 22 men who started the goal. As a curiosity, among the 22 starters were four of the five Spanish players which could have played. A sign of modern football. 

 

May 29, 2019