There is no doubt that things have changed at Arsenal Football Club in recent years. And I am not just talking about selling our best players, spending no money and finishing fourth every year. It has been mentioned a fair bit in the media that Arsene Wenger is now almost the bastion and forefront of producing talent for the England national team.
Whereas the Frenchman used to take lots of stick in the media for his use, or over use according to some, of players from foreign climes, the Gunners are now the clear leaders in suppliers of English players for the national team. Now whether this is the right thing for Arsenal or not is another matter, but I do think that having a core group of young players from on national team will have some sort of knock on effect.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was one of five young Arsenal players to feature for England against San Marino, certainly thinks it is a good thing for England, as he explained in a report by Arsenal.com, but my main concern is whether it will have any benefit for the Arsenal.
Chamberlain said, “When you’re with your team-mates at club level day-in, day-out, you understand each other and you can take that into international football.
“If you find five of your team-mates in the squad it helps on the pitch and also gives you that togetherness off it as well. You can say the same about Liverpool as well because they have four players here.
“I find that really good because it helps when you come onto the pitch and you know each other well. We’ve grown up together in the under-19s and under-21s as well so we know each other really well and that’s good going forward.”
I think it will help us, especially if Calum Chambers and Kieran Gibbs can seal their places as integral memebers of the England team. The extra experience of working together at international level has got to help Wilshere, Walcott, Ox, Chambo, Gibbs and Welbeck click in the red and white, hasn’t it? Or are England just going to drag down the confidence of them?