How is Arsenal's 'English Core' Faring?

When England played Spain in Alicante this week, there was just one sole representative of Arsenal in the squad, Kieran Gibbs. This is of course primarily due to the fact that all of our English players, bar Gibbs and Calum Chambers, are currently out with injuries, but even when they all return, there’s some debate to be had about who would immediately walk back into the international fold.

In recent months, we’ve seen Roy Hodgson forced to get creative with his squads, and a fair number of players receiving their maiden call-ups and caps, with Jesse Lingard of Manchester United just the latest in a line that includes Eric Dier, Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Ryan Bertrand and Danny Ings within the past twelve months. So here’s a quick look at each of our English internationals and their situations in a bit more detail.

Chambers was not a part of the original ‘English/British core’ at the Emirates, joining Arsenal in the summer of 2014, nearly two years after that group of five had put pen to paper on new long term contracts. Though his initial form was staggeringly impressive, with the defender actually earning a place in the England squad at the end of August 2014 for the matches against Norway and Switzerland, a string of games back in his supposedly favoured position of right back were disappointments, and Calum has seen first team opportunities significantly decrease this season. That being said, Hodgson is clearly not entirely averse to picking players based on international, rather than club, form, with Andros Townsend earning continual call-ups despite minimal playing time for Tottenham. The problem there for Calum however is that he has had next to no games for England in order to prove himself at that level either. It’s going to take a fair bit of work in order for Chambers to get back into the national side, whether at right back or in the centre of defence.

In fact, talking about international call-ups despite little playing time, Kieran Gibbs has been the recipient of some perhaps generous decisions in recent selections. That is not to say that he is not himself a very competent and established defender, but he has certainly fallen behind Nacho Monreal at the Emirates. With so many options unavailable to Hodgson at the moment, with Leighton Baines and Luke Shaw both still out, it’s not entirely surprising to see Kieran in the squad, and he deserves to be so, but he faces a fight to maintain that place once the others return.

Carl Jenkinson should only really be mentioned in passing here, considering that he is currently enjoying his second season on loan at Upton Park with West Ham. Despite being more prolific than Eden Hazard so far this season, ‘the Corporal’ has still suffered from several erratic performances, with perhaps the most ‘classic Jenko’ being when he gave away a penalty less than sixty seconds after putting West Ham ahead against Crystal Palace. Banter indeed. Since the far more consistent Aaron Cresswell is seemingly unable to do anything to catch Roy’s eye, I doubt that we’ll be seeing Jenko in the England squad any time this season at least.

There seems to be an eternal debate about whether Jack Wilshere is one of England’s brightest talents for a decade, an overrated, perennially injured former prospect, or a young man who has been incredibly unfortunate throughout his career, and is yet to really find and settle into his best position. Roy prefers Wilsh at the base of his midfield when available for selection, but we saw what devastating effect he can have when allowed to influence the game from further up the field with Jack’s two maiden goals for England against Slovenia. Indeed, in his seven games for his country prior to and including that one, Wilshere had won the man of the match award in six of them (with Danny Welbeck picking up the other) and his importance for England cannot be overstated. I cannot wait to see Jack finally have the injury-free run that he so badly deserves, and he’s perhaps the Arsenal player most crucial to England’s future.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is currently finding himself in a somewhat similar position to Wilshere. His last three campaigns, this one included, were supposed to be his opportunity to ‘break out’ at the club, and really push on with his career (although we should remember that he is only 22). Rather than this however, the Ox has spent around 60 games on the sidelines, and seems to be pushing himself too hard when he does occasionally get onto the pitch, again leading to some below par performances in amongst the flashes of the obvious talent that he possesses. The wing is not a position in which England are currently particularly blessed with talent, and the Ox also possesses the ability to move further infield, where Arsene Wenger has frequently said that he envisages him playing in the future. Hodgson doesn’t seem to need to be convinced of this either, and Oxlade-Chamberlain will likely be straight back into the squad, and possibly the starting line-up, when he regains fitness.

Our other winger-who-can-kind-of-play-a-different-position, Theo Walcott, perhaps faces a slightly less certain future with the national side. At 26, Theo finally seemed to be finding his feet up front for Arsenal this season, before yet another injury curtailed his progress. The problem for Theo is that he faces an even tougher set of competition arguably for England than he does in North London for that coveted lone striker role. Even before Vardy’s scintillating form this season, Harry Kane performed the same trick last season, and Daniel Strurridge, Wayne Rooney (unfortunately) and not to mention Danny Welbeck could all have put forward pretty convincing arguments to be starting for England. With the lack of options on the right already mentioned, that might be Theo’s best chance for the foreseeable future.

Finally, Welbeck himself was of course another player who joined the club after the core group had already formed, and despite an up-and-down first season in North London, he too will presumably feature prominently in Hodgson’s team going forward. Six goals in five matches in the Euro qualifiers before his long injury layoff suggests that the current England setup is well suited to Danny, and you would hope that even though the goals had dried up for Arsenal in the latter half of the season, he can rediscover his form once he eventually makes it back onto the pitch.

It is not just the current players either. With Chuba Akpom, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Daniel Crowley, Chris Willock, Kaylen Hinds and Stephy Mavididi all featuring at different levels of the England youth teams, there is a significant possibility that some of the future England stars will play their football in North London also.

This Arsenal team can have a really positive impact on the national side now and in the coming years, just as Arsene promised. If you want to see the benefits of a group of players who are familiar with each other playing together internationally, then watch Oxlade-Chamberlain’s goal against Scotland, which came from an inch-perfect pass from Jack Wilshere, which very few of those who do not play with him each week would have been looking for. Last year, Wenger spoke of his dream of England winning an international championship with a squad built fundamentally on a core of Arsenal players. Whilst the former still looks a little fanciful, when everyone returns to fitness, the latter probably isn’t, and might stay that way for a good number of years yet.