When an English achievement no longer spells success

In almost 40 years of following English football, I have seen two teams dominate the then English Division 1 and later the Premier League: Liverpool and Manchester United, respectively.

Aside from their achievements in the league, winning multiple titles (mostly in consecutive years, even doing the three-peat), becoming champions of Europe, and basically being the most-feared team in the league, there was one more distinction they enjoyed.

Both clubs had a core of English players and at their peak at least six of them were in the England squad at the senior level.

In September 1977, Ron Greenwood picked six players from the outstanding Liverpool team, which had won its first European Cup (as well as the league) a few months before, to start in his first game in charge, a friendly against Switzerland.

In March 2001, England started with five players from Manchester United in a World Cup qualifier away to Albania, but finished the game with seven MU players on the pitch as two more came on, the last in the 83rd minute.

That seven players is a record-equalling feat in terms of having that many players on the pitch at the same time from the same club, but neither Liverpool nor MU hold the record for the most number of players in an England starting line-up.

I am proud to say, that is a record which was established by Arsenal back in November 1934.

Winning the league five times (three of which was consecutive), the Gunners had dominated the top tier of English football in the 1930s in much the same way that Liverpool did the second half of the 1970s and most of the 1980s, and MU did between 1993 and 2013.

So it was no surprise when seven Arsenal players made it to the starting line-up in a bruising "friendly" against the then reigning world champions Italy, played in London on November 14, 1934.

The Arsenal-majority was pretty much the case for most of the England matches in the 1930s and the last time that The Gunners had as many as five players on the pitch was in May 6, 1936, in a friendly in Vienna against Austria.

Until last Friday night, that is.

Who would have thought an Arsenal side under Arsene Wenger, who was much maligned for having a core of non-English players since the turn of the century, would now boast at least six England internationals in the first team – namely, Jack Wilshire, Danny Welbeck, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Kieran Gibbs, Calum Chambers and of course, the Gunner who has been in the England set-up the longest, Theo Walcott.

As Walcott is still injured, the other five had the chance to shine in England's 5-0 thrashing of San Marino in the European Championship qualifier.

I would like to speculate and predict an equally prosperous era for the Gunners, similar to what Liverpool and Manchester United enjoyed, in this decade but I just cannot.

The reality is that the beautiful game has changed, and I dare say become  irrevocably tainted, since first Roman Abramovich, then the Abu Dhabi Arabs, started pouring out crazy amounts of money to help their respective clubs "buy" titles and trophies since 2005.

It is simply not a level playing field anymore.

Arsenal are not a poor club, but prudence and knowing that the club is better managed financially makes it impossible to throw open the cheque book and buy almost two full teams comprising internationals, many of whom are world class.

Unlike Chelsea and Manchester City, Arsenal have a strong youth team philosophy.

That frustrates and excites Arsenal supporters in equal measure, as we get to see raw talent blossom to make it to the first team and, as has happened now, make it to the international arena; and also see some flops, who don't fulfil their potential.

There is something called the Financial Fair Play, which was imposed by UEFA to make sure that clubs are not spending beyond their means and buying players within the rules.

However, as any Malaysian billionaire who is able to pay less tax than he should will tell you, the books can be cooked and funds redirected, sometime through "sister clubs", just to land that one player everyone wants.

Worse, with the help of the best accountants money can buy, and best use of tax havens, these "billionaire boys' clubs" will make full use of the advantage they hold.

Unless, of course, the English FA start limiting the number of foreign players a club can have sometime in the near future.

So, for now, all I can wish for The Gunners is to carry on the path started many years ago,

Hopefully, sometime in the not too distant future, when these rich clubs fall by the wayside as the owners or their descendants decide to sell them, there will be a club ready to take the mantle of the best in England for a long time to come.

Nothing beats being prepared. – October 13, 2014.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.