Having just watched England drop points at home to Switzerland, I'm not so sure I agree with fans who want Arsenal to recruit more Englishmen. I never really cared about the nationality of our players, but I could see the reasoning behind the view that more English grit is required. However, grit comes at a cost. What Arsenal would gain in grit they might lose in technique, if they went more English.
Although James Milner is a grafter, do we really want him at Arsenal? I'm not sure. I'd see him as a decent squad player. No more. And, of course, he';s not available and if he were, he'd be over-priced.
John Terry would give us grit, but we'd never get him and he's the wrong side of 30. Same applies to Frank Lampard.
Of the younger players, none would strengthen our team except Ashley Young. Quite why we didn't sign him when he was still at Watford is a mystery to me. It was quite clear that this guy was going places. He's also a boyhood Gooner. Surely our scouts could see he had the pace and skill to cut it at Arsenal.
Aside from current England Gooners, Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott, Young's the only Englishmen in Fabio Capello's team today that I would like to see in the red and white of Arsenal. Joe Hart, who's been linked so many times in the past to us, made a couple of costly errors (although the goals weren't entirely his fault) and a current Arsenal target (according to the rumour mongers) Stewart Downing, once again, failed to deliver on the international stage.
So to all those that say 'buy English Arsene', I say 'no thanks, unless it's Young!'
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