Back in August, before the season had even begun, Arsene Wenger made a somewhat novel statement when he said:
“We have a lot of good English players here. Trust me I will give you a good national team.”
It was a statement that confirmed a change in policy from having a side full of continental stars to a team with a British core. It’s not often Wenger comes out with such a decisive statement which, for me, did two things. The first is that it was indicative of the squad we have now and secondly it was suggestive of Arsene’s intentions.
With an increasing emphasis on English players, Arsene will have come full-circle by the time he leaves the club. When he joined, he inherited a team full of Englishmen: Lukic, Seaman, Dixon, Keown, Bould, Adams, Upson, Winterburn, Merson, Hughes, Parlour, Platt and Wright. Instantly, Arsene added unknown foreign talent which led to almost a decade of success.
I’m not saying we will go back to that level of English players. And neither should we. When you see the likes of Sanchez and Cazorla lighting-up our team, I certainly wouldn’t want to miss out on that.
Right now, our English contingent includes: Jenkinson, Chambers, Gibbs, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wilshere, Walcott and Welbeck. On top of that, we have some really exciting Englishmen in the youth-ranks. The likes of Isaac Hayden, Chuba Akpom and Dan Crowley spring to mind.
Well that’s not enough for Arsene if his comments this week are anything to go by. He said:
“If you look at the evolution of English football, when I arrived here the back four was English. They communicated because they had the same culture, the same way to see the game and they were educated together.
“Communication is less in the back four than before. It doesn’t mean there aren’t any leaders. But they don’t always speak the same language or have the same way to respond to situations.
“Is it a regret that I haven’t managed to replicate that? Yes. But we are not that far away. We are getting there.” [via Mirror online]
The last words “we are getting there” interests me. Is Arsene after a back four from the same country? Is he trying to assemble an all-English rearguard? If so, here’s who could be lining up in it for us in the future:
Right Back
Carl Jenkinson – bought from Charlton in 2011, Carl has played a fair amount for Arsenal especially when Bacary Sagna had a couple of broken legs during his time at Arsenal. Now on-loan at West Ham, Carl is flourishing into a very capable full back. He’s tall and very athletic while his technical abilities are improving all the time under Big Sam (surprisingly!) I love the fact that he grew up as a proper fan too!
Nathaniel Clyne – the Southampton man has been linked with Arsenal on many previous occasions, particularly before we signed Calum Chambers. He has been praised by pretty much everyone over the past two seasons as his performances have coincided with that of his team’s. Like Carl, he is pacey and a good defender but he adds a different dimension in attack as well. He’s been deservedly capped by England and is their first-choice right back. He also scored a screamer against us in the Capital One Cup earlier this season. What other reason do you need to sign him? It may cost £15 million and beyond though.
Left Back
Kieran Gibbs – he seems to have been around for years now. We may have seen even more of him had it not been for numerous injuries. He’s now officially our number three and I can see him finishing his career as a club legend having already been at the club for ten years and making his debut way back in October 2007. He’s improved massively in all areas of his game and was one of the club’s stand-out performers last year when we, largely, had a very impressive defence.
Ryan Bertrand – currently at Southampton on-loan from Chelsea, he has been very impressive this season in trying to fulfil the role vacated by Luke Shaw going to Manchester United. He rarely had a chance to shine at Chelsea and it is highly doubtful he will ever get the chance to at Stamford Bridge. He would be a good understudy to Kieran Gibbs for around £5 million if Arsene were to be interested.
Luke Shaw – highly overrated in my opinion but a good player nevertheless. He’s just moved to Manchester United for £30 million and has suffered a lot of injuries while there. A move would be highly unlikely and unwise.
Centre Back
Calum Chambers – our very own. Signed from Southampton in the summer for £16 million, Calum can play in a number of positions but it is clear that he will end up as a centre back. He’s got good height and pace whilst his already mature reading of the game and strength will only improve over time. He was first spotted by Wenger in our 2-2 draw at St Mary’s and Calum’s performance that day convinced Wenger to sign him. As possibly a future Arsenal captain, Chambers has a great career ahead of him.
John Stones – the Everton man has already been capped by England at the tender age of 20. He joined the Premier League club from Barnsley in 2013 and has made a big impact on Merseyside. Having signed a new long-term deal in the summer it would be difficult to bring him away from the Toffees. I’d imagine that Everton would demand a similar fee to that we paid for Chambers. But a future partnership of Chambers and Stones would be quite exciting.
Gary Cahill – for an instant hit, Gary is the man. He’s at the peak of his power at Chelsea and looks like a complete defender. We nearly signed him when he was at Bolton and Wenger was highly criticised at the time for not putting enough money down for his services. However, I don’t believe he will be let go by Chelsea – not to us anyway.
Chris Smalling – Chris is another young English centre half who we nearly signed from Fulham before he joined Man Utd. He’s now getting played a lot at Old Trafford but he’s never lived up to his supposed potential. There is still time yet for him to flourish and the Gunners have been linked with him almost as often as Salomon Kalou. He makes quite a lot of mistakes and I don’t think he’d be a good fit at Arsenal.
Tyrone Mings – he’s been heavily linked with Arsenal for a couple of months now. The 21-year-old Ipswich man has been really impressive in the Championship and Wenger has admitted interest in him. I see him as a centre back due to his assurance and impressive 6ft5in stature but he can play left back too. Again, I’d love to see this guy donning an Arsenal shirt and it’s more than realistic despite Mick McCarthy’s stubbornness. If signed in January, I think he’d make an instant impact.
Isaac Hayden – I’m hopeful for this Arsenal academy defender. He’s tall, strong and quick from what I’ve seen of him and if he gets some experience out on-loan somewhere he may be the first academy-graduate centre back to make it since Martin Keown. That would be great, wouldn’t it? However, I said the same about Kyle Bartley so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Have you got an English back four in mind for the future at Arsenal? If so leave your comments below (unless you include Ryan Shawcross – he’s not welcome!)
Also, why not try these players out for the Arsenal on Football Manager or FIFA career mode? Let us know how you get on.
