Tuesday 19 August 2008

Arsenal wrecking English football?

I happened to have the misfortune to listen to a few minutes of David Frost's interview with Alex Ferguson on Sky the other night; on the rare occasion that Sir David wasn't drooling over the might Sir Alex's CV, he gave him rather too many opportunities to have a sly dig at his enemies. The BBC came in for a lot of stick, I mean how dare they not portray everything fergie related as residing within a golden halo? Fergie couldn't resist the odd dig at Arsenal too, and he seemed rather keen to mention our lack of English players.

It is upon this topic that I wish to vent my spleen, as it's also a common platform of attack for many illiterate tabloid hack and anti-Arsenal pundit. There's a major problem with their argument in my opinion, they think that Arsenal's lack of English players in the first team must mean that Arsenal Football Club are having a negative impact upon the quality of the English national side. I say both tottenham turkey and tripe to this argument.

James Harper, Justin Hoyte, Fabrice Muamba, Steven Sidwell, David Bentley and Ashley Cole are just six relatively recent English products of the Arsenal youth system; two of these players are regular England squad players, one has been in and out of the squad, and the others are top class players. Of the big clubs, Arsenal have arguably produced the most top quality youngsters in recent years. Only Ashley Cole was good enough to be an Arsenal regular, so just because these players no longer play for the club it does not mean Arsenal's role in developing the best in English talent can be cast aside.

For example let's look at Chelsea and Manu's contribution to developing English talent of their own in recent years. Interestingly in the current England sqaud, only Terry from Chelsea and Brown/Beckham from Manu came from their own clubs youth systems, and these players are hardly spring chickens. In fact it's remarkably hard to think of any decent English players that Manu and Chelsea have produced in the last few years; err Kieran Richardson, I'm struggling already. Fergie inherited a golden generation of talent which now appears to have dried up, while Chelsea have been dry for years.

Fergie has no right to moralise on this issue, recently both Manu and Chelsea have purchased the vast majority of the quality English players on their books, for example Cole X2, Lampard, Rooney, Ferdinand, Carrick, Hargreaves, Bridge et cetera. I fail to see how buying in the ready made English product at a huge cost does anything to help develop more high quality future England players, these players are already the developed end product, if Arsene were to go out and spend 20 million on Barry tomorrow then how would he be helping the English game?

I don't know if fergie is xenophobic or just plain stupid, what I do know is that his argument does not cut the mustard. I also find it hard to stomach the same weak argument being used by various Anti-Arsenal components in the media. The facts speak for themselves, and with the likes of Wilshere, Gibbs, Simpson, Hoyte, Randall and Lansbury coming through, I find it perverse that Arsenal continue to be accused of wrecking the English game when they continue to produce some of the best English talent around.

True, few of our English talents will be good enough for our first team, but that's because we've one of the best sides in Europe. Our critics should sort their own houses out before they start to throw around their misguided comments, or maybe they'd prefer a Premier League full of average technically incompetent Englishmen and no foreigners. Personally I don't think many people would be watching. It is also strange that so many English players took part in the Champions league final last year, is this a sign of a the very same dearth of talent?

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

and some arsenal fans believe fergie when he says we should've won the title last season??

on d gooner said...

Here I agree 120% with your comments. Yeah, yeah, yeah.. yeahhhhhhhhh.......

Fergie does indeed get on my nerves as he always thinks the English game owes him.

Anonymous said...

I'd say it's the teams that are buying the 'best' at stupid amounts of money that are killing off English football.

As you stated we have had a lot of players go through our youth system.
But heh, the tabloids will continue cheap shots.

Anonymous said...

sometimes i really think fergie should just go fcuk himself. i just cant think of anything else to describe the way this guy thinks. from bullying refs to slating other clubs to tapping up players, he'll win at every dirty cost.

Obsinho said...

Fergie is a cunt. Always worth pointing out.

But I have just seen we are trying to sign Silvestre. FUCK OFF.

Read Arseblog - he has this exactly right. In fact, can someone e-mail a link to Arseblog to Arsene.

This cannot be the big signing. Oh god, I hope it isn't.

Ted said...

100% right 1979.

Chelsea do more damage to the English game by hoarding English players on the bench - SWP and Bridge to name just two, both of whom should be playing first team football.

Really surprised about the Silvestre link. He is a bigger cretin than Alonso.

Obsinho said...

The "arsenal ruining English football" crap is the same lazy journalism as the "Arsenal crisis" stories.

English football is crap because the FA are greedy fuckers who decided the Prem was the only league in England, destroyed the lower leagues and then did nothing to stop foreign money making the situation worse. Clubs are now greedy and finance driven at the top, and stone broke and desperate at the bottom.

Obsinho said...

Also, look at the fines and penalties the FA gave to the league 2 sides compared to the treatment of West Ham last season.

In one case you bankrupt small teams by condemning them to the conference, and in the other you award breaking the rules and get yourself rich in the process.

I hate the Football authorities in our country.

Anonymous said...

Until we see a crop of our super-talented academy players (wilshere, afobe etc.) make it into the senior England side, the media will continue to promote these fallacious arguments for the state of the National game. Unfortunately that eventuality is still a few years away so until then we should all get used to a little bit more sniping.

Ted said...

Speaking to Scouse supporting mates, Liverpool apparently have no-one coming through at all at the moment, English or otherwise.

England U-21 starting XI last night was:
Lewis (Peterborough); Richards (Man City), Mancienne (Chelsea), Onuoha (Man City), Taylor (Middlesbrough); Huddlestone (Tottenham); Lennon (Tottenham), Noble (West Ham), M Johnson (Man City), Milner (Newcastle); Derbyshire (Blackburn).

That one player from the top four clubs (surprisingly Chelsea). None from Manure (although I think they had some subs). This is not an Arsenal issue.

Obsinho said...

But it's ok as UTD will sign those players for £20m each and that makes the world all rosey again.

Thanks the Lord for Man Utd. I don't know what we do without them.

Ted said...

Silvestre is 31, so presumably AW will only give him a 1 year contract?

If not, then that is deeply unfair to Gilberto and Pires, who both seem to have left because of the 1 year rule.

K man said...

I'm a massive AW fan but I'm going to really struggle to support him on the Silvestre signing if that happens - what's going on?? We already have Superman at left back as well as Traore and Gibbs coming through. Gallas can also play left back if needs be. I know we need some experience but give me a break. I'm nearly as depressed as Ted.

Alonso looks like a genius signing in comparison!

Good article by the way 1979 - Fergie has always been two faced as well as red faced - can't wait for him to retire.

Obsinho said...

Gibbs is going on loan, and Traore is no left-back.

Now I have got use to the idea, as an opportunity to add to the squad on the cheap it sounds fine.

As the solution to the DM and CB issues it is not.

If this is the signing, then Wenger is still gambling too much.

Ted said...

So long as Fish-Face only gets a one year deal, then I don't object too much. He is a proper dirty player, which is kind of what I've been asking for.

This reminds me a bit of the Davor Suker signing, which no-one saw coming either.

Si said...

I find it very hard to work out why any Arsenal fan would be surprised and upset by red nose talking horse shit. He's a cunt. Don't chicken curry about it.