But, as I've said elsewhere, it's smoke and mirrors. It's a pointless rule, designed to look like the Premier League clubs care about the England team.

It's especially pointless for UEFA competitions. Clubs name up to 25 players aged over 21 (as they have done for over 10 years), and they're not allowed to use outside that pool for the up to 8 games they'll play before January, and can add up to 2 more for the up to 9 games they'll play after January. as far as UEFA concerned, how many clubs will need more 25 players aged over 21, for those games?

Most clubs just don't employ more than 25 players that old. Look at that list above - Itandje and Brouwer have come as close to the Liverpool bench as I have in the last two years (and Hodgson could have named them both if he'd wanted to). Milsom's 22 and not made his Fulham debut yet. Kurucz is West Ham's fourth choice keeper, and Owen Coyle's such a fan of Riga that he'd rather name 24 players than include him in the squad.

The EU will never outlaw it because no-one will ever find themselves in a position where it causes them enough grief to try and challenge it. It doesn't stop free movement, because (and this is key), those clubs who were over (or close to) the limit at the end of last season, carried on buying, mainly because when you add players to the squad, you look at strengthening near the top of the list, not at the bottom.

And just bear in mind how often teams use that many players aged over 21. In 2008-2009 (the nearest Rothmans to hand), only 3 clubs used more than 25 players aged over 21 (Portsmouth, Stoke and West Brom). But The squad limit only lasts until the transfer window open, and clubs have to resubmit their squads at the end of the transfer windows, and all three clubs used less than 25 players in each half of the season.

It's a nothing rule.