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If Tottenham Hotspur have managed to develop the knack of winning games without managing to play particularly well in recent weeks, then Mousa Dembele may well serve as a microcosm of their current performances.

The big Belgian has been a box-office hit at White Hart Lane since making his £15million summer move from Fulham during the summer, quickly becoming the glue that has stuck Andre Villas-Boas’ team together this term. While Gareth Bale has been the side’s best player, Dembele perhaps hasn’t been a million miles away in terms of how important his skillset has been in making this side tick.

Although the effervescent displays of strength, mobility and surging runs from deep, haven’t been delivered with quite the efficiency that fans have come to expect from Dembele in recent games. And after seeing their midfield already suffer one torturous blow in the knee ligament damage that ruled Sandro out for the season, supporters are understandably anxious to see their driving force in the engine room look to run out of steam.

Yet while Dembele’s performances over the last few fixtures haven’t come close to touching the form that we witnessed during the early parts of this season, those seeking to overanalyze the Belgian’s drop in form are at risk of looking for answers where there aren’t any to be had.

As the Premier League season heads full steam into February, Dembele couldn’t have picked a worse time to start churning out a series of sub-par performances. With the season about to head into the final straight and Spurs in a real dogfight to contend for a fourth-placed finish, now’s the sort of time in which you expect to see your squad move forward in their performances, not regress.

And over the last few games, despite some of the criticism aimed at him being wildly out of proportion, Dembele hasn’t looked completely at the races.

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Following several weeks out with a hip complaint earlier in the season, rumours have continued to grumble that the former AZ Alkmaar-man is still in need of surgery to finally put the issue to bed. Judging by the lack of sharpness since his return to the side, that concept certainly isn’t without a touch of gravitas.

Although within that that spell out, supporters’ expectations towards him also seemed to bloat excessively out of proportion. His performances in a Spurs shirt before he ended up on the treatment table were superb, although you can’t help but feel that amongst some quarters of fans, the expectation was that Dembele would prove an instant remedy to the side’s lack of fluidity.

Since that hasn’t happened, the school of thought seems to be that there’s something drastically wrong with their No19.

Whether this hip issue truly is hindering his performances to such an extent remain to be seen, although as with all things at White Hart Lane, every issue seems to demand a forensic investigation to establish its cause. And it appears few seem to have considered the prospect that Dembele is simply suffering a dip in form.

The concept of any player simply being unable to perform at 100% over a 38 game league season seems to have become something approaching a taboo subject in the Premier League, but every player bar a very exceptional few in this league, is going to experience a difficult spell in the league. Mousa Dembele is no different.

Where as earlier on this season Dembele was gliding past midfielders for fun, we’ve frequently seen him walk into the opposition over the last few games and cheaply loose possession.

The flicks and shimmies that were coming off for him a couple of months ago just aren’t sticking at the moment and where as the more advanced elements of his game have been faltering, that lack of confidence seems to have affected the bread-and-butter parts, too.

Against Newcastle United on Saturday, Dembele’s uncharacteristic hesitance on the ball was exposed by Alan Pardew’s combative midfield and not for the first time over the last few games, the Belgian looked vulnerable. For a home crowd that have known nothing but excellence from their unique midfielder, seeing him struggle to take control of the game was a very rare sight indeed.

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But as opposed to looking for some form of tactical solution to Dembele’s issues, an unnecessary switch around in personnel or even a spell out of the side, all he really needs to do, is simply keep playing.

The best tonic that Dembele can get to overcome a series of fading performances is a dose of hearty support from the fans and time in the side to ride this period out. The lack of depth that Villas-Boas has within his midfield suggests that it would have to take something drastic for him to sit out a couple of games, but even if he had adequate cover, he’s not going to find an answer to his problems sitting on the bench.

Only time will tell how much his hip issue may or may not be hindering him and you suspect that Dembele probably isn’t playing at 100%. But supporters must be patient and they must be realistic in regards to their expectations towards him. Yes, he isn’t gallivanting around the pitch with quite the verve he had a few months ago, but he’s still playing a vital part in this Tottenham side pushing for a top four finish.

Mousa Dembele may have inadvertently picked a poor time to go off the boil, but time heals everything – be it injury, defeat and most poignantly, a lack of form. Now wouldn’t be a bad time to remember that.

QPR chairman Tony Fernandes has stated that his team will not give up on their battle against relegation, despite losing 3-2 to Aston Villa over the weekend.

The Super Hoops are currently seven points adrift of safety with eight games to play and have managed a meagre four wins all season.

Their clash with Villa was seen as a potentially decisive game in their quest for survival.

Fernandes admitted that the result hurt the Londoners, but refused to suggest that their fate has already been sealed:

“I sit here in Malaysia feeling miserable. I am down. The fact that I and my other shareholders are feeling so miserable just means we care,” he told the club’s official website.

“We should have won at the weekend and made it easier for ourselves, but we didn’t. So what!

“There are still eight games to go. We beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (1-0 on 2 January) and showed against Southampton and Sunderland that we are capable of putting wins together.

“We have scored seven goals in our last three fixtures, so anything can happen.”

QPR have spent big in a bid to secure top flight status for next season, bringing in a number of established players during January.

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Loic Remy and Christopher Samba were the most expensive arrivals, with the pair estimated to be earning a combined weekly wage of almost £200,000.

Relegation could be a potentially fatal blow for the Loftus Road side, who will find it almost impossible to sustain such spending in the Championship.

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Arsene Wenger weighed up a move for David Villa during the January window, as Arsenal were – and still are – having troubles in the striker position, while FC Barcelona had a disgusted hitman sitting on the Nou Camp’s bench. Not a bad option as a mid-season solution but, should the Gunners revisit their interest in the 31-year-old at the end of the season or should they scan the Premier League and other markets in search of young blood?

Well, despite being called El Guaje (The Kid), Villa is not anymore that youngster that started banging goals at a ferocious rate with Sporting de Gijon over a decade ago. He suffered an injury that kept him out of the game for eight months last year, and he is 31, so no more than two or three good seasons should be expected from him. So it will all come down to the price of the signing – if Arsenal can slightly reduce the £15million the transfer was valued at, there is no reason to not give it a shot.

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Arsenal cannot afford to keep relying on Walcott or Cazorla’s goals, as they both are in their career’s highest numbers and those scoring rates – which are excellent for midfielders – might not last forever. Giroud and Podolski, as striking focal points, but have not found the opponent’s net with the desired frequency (with nine and eight league goals to their name respectively).

Meanwhile, in Barcelona, David Villa wonders why he is not featuring more regularly in Jordi Roura’s formation. With Leo Messi as the only regular starter in the attacking line of the famous 4-3-3 Blaugrana’s line up, Villa has to fight with Pedro, Alexis Sanchez or Cesc Fabregas for one of the two spots, with the former Valencia striker often being left out.

Nevertheless, Spain’s number seven has played less minutes and scored more goals than any of them. Villa has bagged 8 goals in La Liga having played only 1019 minutes, making him by far the most prolific choice in terms of goals. Pedro (1820 min, 5 goals) and Alexis (1153 min, 2 goals) offer more sacrifice and defensive balance, while Fabregas (1583 min, 6 goals) brings assisting capacity and fits in best in Barcelona’s endless-passing style of play.

Unfortunately for Arsenal, the fact that Villa is not being used as much as he would like, does not imply that Barcelona are willing to get rid of him. In fact, El Guaje is highly valued at the Nou Camp and his scoring abilities are of no doubt. Coaching staff and chiefs count on him, and director of football Andoni Zubizarreta recently expressed how hard it would be to find a replacement for Villa.

Barcelona are willing to offer Villa a new contract and will be reluctant to sell the player, but the player expects to play more and will consider offers if he is not guaranteed more minutes than this season. Which is exactly where Arsenal’s opportunity lies, and Arsene Wenger could find a striker that has scored at least 20 goals per season every year since 2001 (apart from last year, when he was injured) suddenly at his disposal.

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El Guaje’s contract expires in 2014 and, if Barcelona fail to find a way to keep him and extend his deal, a summer transfer would be practically inevitable, as keeping him for one more season would mean letting him go for free. In that context and with the player determined to leave, Arsenal could sign a top-class player at a knock-down price.

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How are you finding the exposure for the Champions League trophies?

It is brilliant, it is a bit of a manic day, but it is fantastic. This is what you expect for such great trophies. It is great to get feedback from the fans and go around in the bus to support the finals which are coming up.

After a sell out in Munich last year, are you hoping that Stamford Bridge similarly fills out for the Women’s Champions League this season?

Of course, we hope that a lot of people come out, for the game because it is a great opportunity to get some exposure. It is a really accessible stadium, the tickets are reasonable. The more people that can come out for such occasions the better. Stamford Bridge is a pretty special stadium. We are quite fortunate to be able to play at such a place.

There is a stigma about the women’s game but in your 17 years how has the attitudes changed? Was there any turning points where things changed?

There has been a massive difference between now and back when I started. It has gradually changed from when I was growing up there was the opinion that girls shouldn’t play football to the stage we are at now where they are now encouraged to. The reaction we have got the Women’s trophy today has shown just how far we have come.

After having a career spanning for such a long period of time with Arsenal Ladies, how did you keep yourself at the top of your fitness? What ensured you had longevity in the game?

I think it is just motivation. I really wanted to keep playing and to keep doing well. You obviously get big injuries which are frustrating, but you bounce back from those. Anyone in football knows the enjoyment you get from it and how you never want to stop playing, so you do all you can to keep getting out there onto the pitch. I am fortunate to say I have played in a World Cup, a European tournament, and a Champions League. To have played in and to have won the Champions League was a feeling that was really special which kept me going.

The Arsenal Ladies have been extremely dominant in the Women’s game, what has been the key to their success?

I think one of the biggest factors has been the support we have received from the club as a whole. We are very much seen as part of the club. I think it is that combined with the fact that a drive to succeed has helped us attract the best players. Their attitude towards training and focus has been purely centred on winning.

How would the England’s Women’s set up differ to playing for Arsenal Ladies?

It is another clear step up and something that all Women footballers in this country aspire to achieve. The international game you play against a far higher level of players and gradually over the years this country has really improved and gone up the rankings. I think that we have put ourselves on the map, particularly at the last World Cup.

The new St George’s complex in Buxton is something that has been heralded as a saviour for the English game, is there an excitement for this development in the Women’s game?

It will be massive, the facilities there are so good. The players that get to train there will be able to use it to add their all round game, whether it is bouncing back faster from injuries or learning new training methods. Now that I have seen it, I wish I was out there using it, as it is just fantastic.

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A quick final note, what was your favourite goal, time and place?

I would say for me personally, I think it was in the European Championships 2007 I scored a header against Sweden, which put us through to the quarter finals. That was an important goal.”

Faye White was speaking at Champions League event in London. Faye was carrying the Women’s Champions League through the London Underground and on a commercial bus tour, as part of the promotion for the upcoming men’s and women’s finals at Wembley in May,alongside Graeme Le Saux with the men’s trophy.

There seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding the future of Ipswich forward Paul Taylor this week with the former Peterborough man still unable to obtain a first team place.

What Mick McCarthy said at the weekend has actually been misinterpreted by reporters, with one going with the headline “Ipswich prepared to let Paul Taylor out on loan” and another reporter referring to the same McCarthy quotes going for the complete opposite headline “No plans to loan Taylor”.

After reading the quotes myself I am struggling to understand how anyone could think that the former Wolves boss wants to loan Paul Taylor out. So those of you who are big fans of Taylor shouldn’t worry too much, he shouldn’t be heading out on loan to another club any time soon and McCarthy has plenty of reasons to keep the frontman around.

First of all, he is a forward that has different attributes to the likes of Murphy, McGoldrick and Nouble. Taylor is an agile striker who will run at defenders, twist and turn around them and give the team a bit more finesse up front when needed.

Secondly, McCarthy has said himself that he would ideally like a bigger squad, so why would he want to loan anyone out? It makes sense to have two solid strikers in Taylor and Nouble as back up for Murphy and McGoldrick, especially when each striker can offer something different.

There could well come a time very soon when a first team striker gets injured or goes on a bad run of form, and this is when the Ipswich boss will give Taylor some playing time.

At the moment it must be frustrating for Taylor as he spent 11 months out injured last season and at his former club he was regarded as a key player. I am sure he won’t be too happy about only being a back up option for the Suffolk side, but he will understand why he is currently being left out.

After all just because a player has technically recovered from a severe injury, it does not mean they will instantly be back to their best. A lot of the time players never get back to their best after long periods of time spent out injured and the ones that do fully bounce back don’t always do so right away.

Taylor now has to revive his career slowly and steadily with patience being the key factor in his recovery. I am sure he will get his chance in the first team but that may not be for another month or two.

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All the player can do right now is make sure he works hard in training and makes the most of any first team football he can get. It seems likely that Taylor will be utilised based on the opposition and may get more playing time when Ipswich come up against slower central defenders.

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Mike Ashley’s involvement with Newcastle United has been turbulent to say the least. Having to settle for Premier League mediocrity is a hard enough pill to swallow, but to have the heart and soul of the club ripped out by the interventions of the ‘cockney mafia’ as well is tortuous.

Newcastle are a hugely successful club  historically, and you don’t stop being a footballing institution like this overnight. Clubs always go through cyclical changes for better and for worse, but the big clubs always seem to maintain the same level of ambition that made them great; sadly Ashley’s Newcastle fall well short of the mark.

As an outsider looking in it is perhaps easier to sympathise with someone like Ashley, devoid of the personal attachment to the club it is easier to be rational about it. Even so the actions of Ashley are still unforgivable and the anger of fans quite understandable.

Ashley may well be the owner of a £1.5bn retail empire, but that doesn’t make him a footballing genius, rather a footballing clown. Lack of investment, managerial sackings, rebranding and staff appointment; he has made so many amateurish mistakes down the years. Whilst some learn, Ashley basking in his own self-importance has just compounded things.

Ashley treats the club like his play thing, the only difference between him and Abramovich is the fact the Russian actually invests significant funds in a targeted manner.

The Keegan resignation and stadium renaming are all significant issues, but for me the concern that has dogged the whole Ashley reign has been a lack of ambition.

For too long Newcastle have settled for second best. This season the club have revised their ambitions up to a 10th placed finish and are offering significant bonuses as an incentive to achieving this. I am all for financial prudence and realism, but surely Newcastle can aim higher?

It isn’t as if this is a stepping-stone to something better, under in the last 8 seasons they have only finished in the top 10 twice and their recent Europa League run resulted in a league relegation battle for much of the season. There doesn’t appear to be any co-ordinated strategy for making a gradual climb back to the top, more a series of scatterbomb approaches to achieving mediocrity. The panicked French acquisitions last January shouldn’t really have come as a surprise, Ashley is always willing to dip into his pocket when he needs to save face. But this just seeks to highlight the point, the purchases last season weren’t part of any grand strategy but more as a means for papering over the cracks. Ashley has the means to maintain Newcastle as a second rate side, but is this really good enough?

With a published wage bill of £64m, Newcastle are on a par with clubs like Everton and are actually ahead of many of their mid-table challengers. Money doesn’t always buy success but it is a decent barometer for the kind of players you can attract to your club. Newcastle may not have the spending power of a top 4 club, but they have the means to compete for Europa at least.

Ashley’s attempts to sell the club probably illustrates why the clubs plans are so unambitious, a current state of flux between Ashley’s tenure and someone that will meet his valuation for the club.

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I personally don’t think Newcastle fans owe Mike Ashley anything. A man that is obsessed with his own self-importance and cares little about the muddying of a footballing institution, the sooner they are rid of him the better in my opinion.

Wins over Chelsea and Spurs have shown the potential of the club, but until new and ambitious owners are found these will just be anomalies amongst a sea of mediocrity.

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Jack Marriott has been scoring goals for fun at reserve level over a long period of time, but the 19 year old still has only made on appearance for Ipswich.

Many have been questioning how well the young striker has been managed with most believing he would do more for the first team than the likes of Frank Nouble or Alan Lee. Additionally now that Marriott has been loaned out to non-league side Woking who play in the Skrill Premier league, critics believe his development would be better served if he stayed at Ipswich.

I was surprised myself that a team in either League One or League Two had not noticed that Marriott was consistently scoring more than a goal per game against some good reserve team defenders.

Of course it is hard to tell how the non-competitive games match up to lower league fixtures with the reserve teams being mostly composed of youth team members, fringe players and players returning from injury. However, it is safe to assume that although they are not competitive, the reserve games would be just as good as the Skrill Premier League.

It seems highly likely that Mick McCarthy places a lot of importance on the competitive side of football matches. In pre-season the former Wolves boss revealed how he strongly dislikes non-competitive fixtures and he clearly believes that unless there is something at stake you can’t have a proper game of football.

This would explain why he was willing to send his young star to a non-league side instead of leaving him in the reserves, but why did a League One or League Two not make an offer for him?

It seems that a lot of lower league sides were unwilling to give game time to a young striker without actual first team experience and a lot of managers must have an opinion similar to that of Mick McCarthy in that they don’t think much of non-competitive football.

The fact that Marriott’s loan to Woking is only one month long says a lot about the purpose of the move though. He has already scored three goals in his first two appearances and will no doubt have an impressive competitive goal scoring record to add to his CV when his loan finishes.

Once the youngster has that all important first team experience under his belt he can then either make his way into the Ipswich set up with confidence or go back out on loan at a higher level.

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It seems that the main purpose of Marriott’s loan is to improve his reputation and test how well he copes outside the comfort zone of the low pressure reserve games.

The Ipswich boss is obviously still very interested in seeing what his hottest prospect can do as he attended the last Woking game to see Marriott score twice.

It wouldn’t surprise me if a number of League Two sides make loan offers for Marriott in January, then McCarthy will have a very difficult decision to make as he may well want to use the in-form striker to boost his play-off chances.

David Ginola has offered his services to Tim Sherwood in a bid to help Tottenham qualify for the Champions League, reports the Express.

The Frenchman is set to complete his UEFA A coaching license in the summer, and is already considering where he may want to offer his help.

With former teammates Sherwood and Les Ferdinand running things at White Hart Lane, Ginola believes his experience with the likes of PSG, Newcastle, Tottenham and Aston Villa could give Tottenham the edge as they look to make the top four.

“I would love to help out,” Ginola said.

“It would be a great job to make my first steps into the business. It would be great to see how I worked with the players and whether I could add something positive to the team – especially Spurs.

“Obviously I would have some ideas and some good stuff.

“I would love to be involved with the club and bring on some new ideas about the way Tottenham should play.”

Ginola also revealed he believes he can unlock the full potential of winger Andros Townsend.

“He can really bring something to the team and when the ball reaches his feet, you can see that he has the capability of creating something completely different.

“However, when he is running at players, dribbling and doing his stuff, the final decision he makes is not really appropriate. He goes on to shoot when he should have passed or tried a one-two.

“I would love to work with him on getting all the end product. His start is always good – getting the ball from the line and running inside or outside.

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“Andros should have had more goals and more assists. Too often people are disappointed with the final result. I would love to work with him to find out why he takes the decisions he does.”

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Just two goals in twenty three Premier League appearances. It is safe to say that Papiss Cisse hasn’t been prolific for Newcastle United in the current campaign.

The Senegalese striker’s last-gasp winner against Crystal Palace recently was his first from open play for a staggering eleven months. It was also the first time that the Magpies have scored in a league match this season when Loic Remy hasn’t featured.

With a fairly substantial overhaul of Newcastle’s squad expected in the summer, Cisse’s long term future on Tyneside is unclear. The striker was rumoured to have interested Besiktas, Fenerbahce and Rubin Kazan in the January window and these clubs could return once again  in the summer. For a player so clearly struggling for form, a fairly reasonable cash offer could prove difficult to turn down. But should Newcastle really give up on Cisse?

First Demba Ba. Now Loic Remy. Newcastle’s number nine has often proven the makeweight in accommodating a preferred strike partner to the clear detriment of his own performance.

No foreign striker has ever made or will likely ever make as big an impact upon their arrival in the Premier League as Cisse did after signing with the Magpies in January 2012. Alongside Ba and Hatem Ben Arfa in a free-flowing attacking triumvirate, the former Freiburg striker notched an incredible thirteen goals in just fourteen appearances to help Newcastle secure a shock fifth place finish.

Selected in a central role at this point, Cisse effectively operated solely as a finisher. It didn’t matter that the striker wasn’t contributing anything in the build-up play as everything he touched seemed to hit the back of the net, like this memorable strike against Chelsea.

But with Ba’s much publicised release clause, Pardew attempted to convince Cisse’s fellow countryman to stay by shifting the number nine out on to the right wing. While Ba flourished in the centre before moving to Stamford Bridge, Cisse inevitably struggled in the wide role. The confidence and goals which had flowed so easily before began to dry up. A victim of mismanagement, the positional change was the beginning of Cisse’s downturn in fortune.

It is said that strikers on a goal drought should only genuinely start to worry when they are no longer getting any chances to score. As Newcastle fans will readily attest to, Cisse regularly finds himself in good positions only to spurn the opportunities which come his way. The striker almost infuriatingly seems locked in a constant battle with the offside flag, although he was denied legitimate goals unfairly on a number of occasions last season.

But since January and the sale of influential playmaker Yohan Cabaye, how far can Cisse really be blamed for the Magpies’ horrendous shortage of goals? As a poacher that waits for the opportunities, the number nine has been starved of quality service. The absence of Cabaye and Pardew’s refusal to play the likes of Hatem Ben Arfa and Sylvain Marveaux means that the number nine cuts an isolated figure in attack.

With Shola Ameobi, Luuk de Jong and Remy all expected to leave Tyneside in the summer, Cisse will likely be the only recognised first team striker left at the club. Despite some obvious flaws, Newcastle shouldn’t be so keen to sell their number nine. According to Match of the Day, five of Cisse’s last eleven goals have astonishingly come in the 90th minute or later. The number nine may not have scored many in recent times but when he does, they often prove to be valuably decisive strikes.

Cisse will almost certainly never return to the blistering level of form that he showed upon his arrival in English football. Expecting anyone other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to maintain that level of performance would be foolish.

But that doesn’t mean that the club should give up on their number nine. Cisse’s troubles are essentially symptomatic of the issues that have plagued Newcastle in recent times. The mismanagement of certain individuals as well as a chronic lack of creativity have blunted the Magpies’ attack. Rather than looking to offload their last senior forward in the summer, Newcastle should concentrate more on bringing in the players that could create opportunities for the number nine.

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Cisse will likely continue to frustrate as much, if not more, than he delights the Toon Army. But unless you’re Fernando Torres, that ability in front of goal doesn’t just disappear overnight. Played regularly as a poacher with quality service, Cisse could well prove to be a valuable asset for the club once again.

He many not have done so recently but in all honesty, who has performed for Newcastle in an attacking sense lately?

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There was once a time when Arsene Wenger was treated like a footballing pariah, public enemy No.1, for composing a team of unbeatable world-class footballers that contained, unsurprisingly, just a handful of Englishmen.

Indeed, amid the legendary ‘Invincibles’ 2003/4 campaign that saw Arsenal undefeated for a record 49 Premier League games, Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole were the only home-grown representatives to hold down regular places in the starting Xi. In 2005, Wenger became the first ever Premier League manager to name an entirely foreign match-day squad.

Accordingly, the Arsenal manager was accused of harming the national game. Some took it a step further, even claiming the Frenchman was an Anglophobic racist – the footballing equivialent of a Nazi eugenics professor.

But that was then and this is now. In 2005 the Gunners gaffer quipped; “I don’t look at the passport of people, I look at their quality and their attitude,” a mantra he surely still believes in. Yet, there has been a significant change in Arsenal’s policy towards home-grown players in recent years, and at this moment in time, no top flight manager is actively doing more to revive the health of the English game.

Not least because, from an institutional perspective, of all the clubs in England, Arsenal is one of a rare few that insists upon a technically-demanding brand of football. It hasn’t always lead to success – that Invincibles campaign proved to be the north London club’s last league title. But regardless of results or silverware, Wenger has continually championed a continental style that we now accuse our England stars of being unable to play, as if imaginative football has been drilled out of them.

Whilst the rest of the Premier League and the divisions below have become obsessed with physical prowess, Le Professeur remains a rare philosopher of aesthetic football. If England ever create a Lionel Messi, Xavi or Andres Iniesta, it will surely come from the London Colney academy, our only justifiable comparative to Barcelona’s La Masia, most likely bi-passing through the Southampton youth system.

You can argue that’s a simply a coincidental by-product – they may be based in England’s capital, but Arsenal’s technical attacking philosophy will have little impact on home-grown players if their senior and youth ranks are filled with talent from abroad.

In recent years however, Wenger has taken significant, proactive and intentional strides to assure his mission reaches young English players. First came a £10million investment in then-16 year-old Theo Walcott back in 2005. Two years later he was followed by, albeit a Welshman, Aaron Ramsey. 2010 saw the arrival of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Southampton and Carl Jenkinson from Charlton, whilst somewhere in between, academy duo Jack Wilshere and Kieran Gibbs forced they way into the Arsenal first team. The current window has seen Wenger’s biggest gamble on a home-grown player to date – a £16million spend on another Saints product, Calum Chambers.

The Gunners now have more Englishmen in their senior squad than Chelsea and just one less than Manchester City. But whilst the Citizens’ home-grown core is continually scraped together to comply with Champions League registration, Richard Wright, Scott Sinclair and loan signing of Frank Lampard being typical examples, and the Blues’ is persistently ageing with few replacements in sight, Arsenal’s batch of English talents are all young, still developing and expected to remain in the north London outfit’s starting XI for the best part of the next decade. In some cases even longer.

Of course, Wenger isn’t doing this out of the kindness of his own heart; what the Arsenal manager desires most is synergy between his club and the England national team, following the models of the World Cup-winning Spain and Germany sides. “I hope we have a core of English national players in the future. Spain won [the World Cup] with six from Barcelona, Germany with six from Munich. I hope England can win it with six from Arsenal,” the Frenchman told reporters last week.

But that in itself is a powerful statement of intent. Whilst Greg Dyke’s England commission take a gamble on the ‘B League’ that will completely destroy the integrity of the lower divisions, and  other top flight managers blame the endless millions poured into the Premier League, as if, despite spending this money bi-annually, they are helpless to prevent in English football’s ills, Wenger is actively following a template that’s produced the world’s best footballers of the last two generations.

Not that Wenger is alone in this mission. For better or worse, following the resignation of Rafa Benitez in 2010, Liverpool have sought to readdress the home-grown balance on Merseyside. Southampton have created by far the most impressive and consistent youth set-up in the country. Manchester United have a long history of breeding and promoting England internationals and the arrival of Roberto Martinez – a manager who shares Wenger’s aesthetic ethos – can only be good news for the likes of Ross Barkley and John Stones at Everton.

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Yet, there’s something more intentional about Wenger’s designs. He’s planning Arsenal’s future around six English players, in the hope that it will bring the national team a paralleled level of success to the north London club. The positive effects, in theory, will come full circle.

Far from the Francophile accused of racism less than a decade ago, Arsene Wenger’s contribution to  the English game is now far exceeding that of any Premier League counterpart.

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