The Perfect Pitch

All of this anti-foreigner (and hence, anti-Arsenal) rubbish spewing from the mouths of people like Ferguson, Mourinho and Gerrard is slightly more than a bit annoying. The former two are really in it just as an attempt to rile up Sir Wenger, but Gerrard, who plays for a club full of foreign players, was just talking rubbish (I imagine they must be thrilled that their captain thinks everything that is wrong with England is their fault).

England have a team full of big profile players that few other national teams can match, yet they do not perform as well as say, Greece or Croatia. Is it because the England players do not have the right attitude? Perhaps it’s because McClaren is a shit manager who doesn’t really know what is the best formation and lineup to use? Or maybe it’s because while all other national teams are eager and willing to promote youth players to the senior team, England overly relies on “star” players like Lampard and Gerrard even though everybody knows they don’t work well together? The England U-21 recently got to the semi-finals of the U-21 Euro competition, finally losing on penalties 13-12 to the eventual winners Holland, and they have some good players (or at least players willing to put in a bit of effort, unlike those of the senior team and the one U-21 player that refused to go citing tiredness). Why not give them a try? But no, it’s all those nasty foreigner’s fault, because when the English league had no foreigners, England won everything, right?

The young players, while spirited, might also not be as technically proficient as their European counterparts. In a recent interview with the U-17 boys, when asked “How do England play compared to Arsenal?”, Rhys Murphy answered:

Arsenal have their own style, which we are used to, it’s the way we are taught here and I think it’s different to every other club. In a way that works against us when we join up with England, because we are used to playing the Arsenal way.

But getting away from the “Why is England rubbish” debate, somehow that all of this is Arsenal’s fault is not only wrong, but exactly the opposite of reality. In reality, Arsenal provides the top division and the England national teams with more than its fair share of players. Of course, not all of them are still playing for Arsenal, but they are still playing at the highest level of football and are ready for England if needed. Did you know that for the recent U-17 World Cup, no club provided more players for the England squad than Arsenal? And did you know that the U-21 squad, there are no Chelsea players, only one Manchester United player, and only one Liverpool player who they don’t even want anymore (Scott Carson). There are, however, two current Arsenal players in the squad (although Hoyte might be too old now, so there is only Walcott plus maybe Mark Randall when he steps up to the U-21s after just turning 18).

And it’s not just English players, there are players of all countries who have either gone through the Arsenal youth system (not necessarily academy), or have been part of the first team. Below is a list of some current ex-Arsenal players in the Premiership that have all been part of Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal in some way (asterisk indicates a graduate from the Arsenal academy system):

Played in Arsenal Youth Teams:
Ashley Cole (England, Chelsea)*
Jermaine Pennant (England, Liverpool)
Steven Sidwell (England, Chelsea)*
Fabrice Muamba (England, Birmingham)*
Sebastian Larsson (Sweden, Birmingham)
James Harper (England, Reading)*
David Bentley (England, Blackburn)*
Anthony Stokes (Ireland, Sunderland)*
Stuart Taylor (England, Aston Villa)*
Matthew Upson (England, West Ham)

Played in Arsenal First Team Only:
Kanu (Nigeria, Portsmouth)
Freddie Ljungberg (Sweden, West Ham)
Sol Campbell (England, Portsmouth)
Lauren (Cameroon, Portsmouth)
Richard Wright (England, West Ham)
Luis Boa Morte (Portugal, West Ham)
Moritz Volz (Germany, Fulham)

And the list above isn’t even a complete one, since there are many more players and many more who are in the Championship or outside of England.