10 years ago when Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson were engaged in direct combat for the English’s games top prizes, there was always one thing that seemed to set them apart.
While Ferguson has always brought both foreign and British talent to Manchester United, Wenger had virtually ceased to do so after the failure of “fox in the box” Francis Jeffers to settle.
There was also the issue of market value where foreign talent represented a far more worthwhile pursuit than over-priced and over-rated English “talent” – something that still rears its head today when Andy Carroll, Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson were purchased for a combined fee of almost €100 million (over twice the cost of the Borussia Dortmund XI that humiliated Real Madrid on Wednesday).
Yet over the past three or four seasons, Wenger has started to integrate home grown talent into his first team whether it is through the Academy or purchases from the lower leagues which has left him with a promising core of talent in Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson.
He has implied that part of the reasoning behind his sudden appreciation has to do with the fact that they might exhibit more loyalty than foreign players.
Although not completely wide of the mark, that can be a flawed argument. It took almost a year of negotiations to convince Theo Walcott to remain at the Emirates while Wenger will surely not have forgotten ex-Academy graduate Ashley Cole’s behaviour at the time of his departure in 2006.
English or British players are not necessarily more loyal. But they can have another purpose on the field, particularly if they have come through the club’s own ranks.
For example the likes of Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs embody the values of Manchester United (on the field at least in the latter’s case) and continue the maintenance of that identity with them even when the team-mates around them come and go.
That core group who are likely to be succeeded by Jonny Evans, Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverly is an underrated factor in United’s success over the past two decades, providing stability.
Building a long-lasting identity and continuity around Jack Wilshere and co may well be Wenger’s intention after a testing period which has seen a succession of young foreign players using the full 360 degrees of the Emirates’ revolving door.
The important thing in Arsenal’s case – and much like United’s side of the 90s – that core are of a similar age and will no doubt grow together, while at the same time creating a more durable attachment with the fanbase.
But most importantly the British players at both clubs are a highly talented bunch unlike Liverpool's attempts at introducing a British core.
