Transfer Deadline Day (TDD) is always a letdown. OK, so your club might sign a new left back, but that’s about as interesting as it gets.

This year was no exception. TDD ‘highlights’ were Sunderland paying £13 million for a unprolific Ghanaian, an ex-Fulham boss signing a Fulham player, Spurs POSSIBLY signing someone and AC Milan offering buckets of cash for a couple of has-beens. That said, Rafael Van De Vaart could be signing of the season if ‘Arry bags him for Spurs. Would that make Spurs’ midfield stronger than Arsenal’s? I think so, but I’ll leave that for you boys and girls to fight out…

The Real Talking Point

As usual, ‘Azza Redknapp was linked with a load of players on TDD and the Spurs gaffer may yet end up with Rafael Van De Vaart – 24th choice at Real Madrid but still rather good – for a bargain £8 million. Redknapp was also linked with Ryan Babel and Scott Parker, who’s value has shot-up £104 million since Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard’s fine allegiance for England continued at the World Cup. Spurs have also signed Croatian goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa on a season-long loan.

The Yids didn’t sign Babel, however. He stayed at Liverpool. According to various rumours/lies, Babel was seen cruising around in various parts of England in a helicopter. It’s the first time his career has truly taken off.

Sunderland paid over £13 million for Rennes striker Asamoah Gyan. He was pretty handy at the World Cup. Do you think he’s Ghana do well? (Sorry).

Meanwhile, AC Milan made a couple of bold moves. They signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a season-long loan with the option to make it permanent for £20 million, and Robinho for around £18 million. If they get those two firing, they could be a bit handy in the Champions League. At least it brings the squad’s average age down to about 335.

Big News If It Happens

Liverpool finally signed Paul Konchesky from Fulham. They sent two young boys, Lauri Dalla Valle and Alex Kacaniklic, as a gift to Fulham, who must be well chuffed.

Birmingham got Alexander Hleb on-loan and also landed Czech defender Martin Jiranek and Chile winger Jean Beausejour on permanent deals.

Stoke were pretty busy. They signed Eidur Gudjohnson and Jermaine Pennant on-loan. They also re-signed Salif Diao and bagged Marc Wilson from Portsmouth. Liam Lawrence and Dave Kitson moved the other way.

Other News That’s Barely Interesting

Arsenal didn’t bring anyone in, but they did let Armaond Traore join Juventus on-loan. The deal may become permanent later this year.

West Ham signed Blackburn’s Lars Jacobsen, while Marcus Bent joined Wolves on-loan from Birmingham. DJ Campbell went to Blackpool and Franco Di Santo, scorer of one goal in English football, left Chelsea for Wigan – who also signed Man United’s Tom Cleverly on-loan. Emiliano Insua has joined Galatasaray on-loan.

Crap Rumours Of The Week

TDD always brings up a load of rubbish. Check these out from BBC’s website. A message to those ‘informers’ writing in – Don’t waste your time next year!

“Just heard from a reliable source that Steve Bruce is to make a late effort to lure Ronaldinho to the Stadium of Light from AC Milan if the signing of Asamoah Gyan falls through”.  That’s a ruddy shame because Ron was probably looking forward to playing with Phil Bardsley.

“Scott Parker’s at Spurs Lodge”. Scott Parker or Van De Vaart? Tough choice!

“No way… coming back this morning from my holiday in Guyana, I see Brazilian Ronaldo at Heathrow Airport. I have a feeling that he might be on his way to West Ham or Tottenham.” Actually, I can ‘get’ the West Ham link. It’s about time they wasted a bit of cash.

“Gus Poyet Aston Villa bound? My mate works for his agent and Villa have made enquiries”.

* You may have noticed that this week’s blog is a little earlier this week.  This is because of the TDD and also because I am away this week. Rest assured though, I’ll be back next Friday (cue groans).

One such passionate subscriber, Professor Alan Nevill of the University of Wolverhampton, even took the trouble to publish an academic study on the subject.

World Cup runner-up and kung fu master Nigel de Jong believes that the Premier League title cannot be won without it, Blackburn’s current longest serving player Brett Emerton insists a Europa League place is dependant upon it and the best referees are expected to enforce the laws of the game with it.

So, in an admirable display of consistency in the form of three games, three defeats and three goals nestled in the against column on each occasion, West Ham United have stumbled across an inconsistency in the theory of consistency and have consequently been consistently tipped as relegation candidates.

And yet, existing as the anomaly is the least of West Ham’s problems with goals, points and a route out of the quagmire all glaringly absent just three weeks into the new season.

While Avram Grant is left to tackle this troublesome trilogy of turmoil, there is a further growing concern that is, and will continue to irk those who occupy the terraces.

The West Ham faithful are no strangers to adversity with the East London club partial to a relegation scrap.

But staying loyal to the club tradition of integrating academy graduates into a starting XI that admirably attempts to showcase a breed of football that sits closer to Arsenal than it does to Bolton on the aesthetic scale, while maintaining an element of ‘never say die’ has made each struggle, at worst, bearable and, at best, captivating.

Now in 2010 with the presence of Mark Noble, James Tomkins et al and assurances from the manager that something resembling the beautiful game is alive and well, if only in fleeting glimpses, during capitulations against Aston Villa, Bolton Wanderers and Manchester United, it is the increasingly noticeable absence of the third and final factor that tips failure into new realms of intolerability among supporters.

It is of no coincidence that players in the mould of Julian Dicks, Paolo Di Canio and Carlos Tevez hold pride of place in the hearts of many fans.

Passion in the face of adversity is what links the three players and the effervescent Scott Parker is the sole member of the current squad to have made significant inroads to joining them with back to back Player of the Year awards in the claret and blue of West Ham.

But even he has lacked that spark in the Sullivan/Gold/Brady/Grant era with the possibility that he has had his head turned by the offer of Champions League football at White Hart Lane.

This country loves an underdog and West Ham fans are no different but when it consistently materialises in Chihuahua form, it is only a matter of time before the flame of romance is exposed to the winds of discontent.

Few would forget the quite unbelievable scene last season at White Hart Lane when Wigan Athletic visited the Lilywhites in North London and found themselves at the wrong end of a 9-1 score-line. With Wigan’s terrible start to this campaign, the worst since the inception of the Premier League back in 1992, and Spurs reasonable form off the back of a 4-0 demolition of BSC Young Boys, all signs were pointing to a similar result this time around.

Spurs kicked off the first half hopeful that Defoe would remain fit and avoid an operation on his groin, whilst Wigan were without N’Zogbia who, but for a personal terms breakdown, would have been in a Birmingham kit this weekend perhaps. Wigan surprisingly started the first half the stronger team, bringing the game to Spurs and winning an early corner which resulted in Rodallega smashing over. The Latics competed well throughout the first half, despite spells of Spurs domination. However Wigan did have the first clear chance and probably should’ve grabbed the lead when a corner was nodded back in from the far post and Gohouri smashed the ball from 6 yards onto the crossbar and down, with the ball cleared by the Spurs defence. It was a lucky escape for Champions League outfit as they nearly conceded Wigan’s first goal of the season.

Spurs did wake up from this point and pressured Wigan at times with good football. Defoe was the inspiration up front in the first half as he picked up the ball between the two towering Wigan centre backs and turned with a snap shot forcing an excellent save from loaned keeper Al-Habsi. Spurs pressed on and some good play from Kaboul and Lennon saw Wigan breathe a sigh of relief to remain level at the break. Rodallega and Stam were the key men for Wigan who still looked a threat going into the break. It was Spurs who ended the half on top though with great strength from Defoe allowing him to charge into the box and fire wide past Al-Habsi’s goal on the 40^th minute.

Half-Time Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Wigan Athletic

Wigan kicked off the second half, with Spurs making two changes as they hoped to find a way through the Wigan defence. Spurs looked dangerous and bright on the attack with Wigan slowly becoming more and more defensive as the game wore on. The Spurs attacks were faltered in the final third every time by Wigan who remained strong for the entire 90 minutes. The second half was very much Spurs’ to win but even with their dominance Wigan were able to defend it with energy to spare.

Numerous corners later and Wigan were happy to park the team bus in front of their goal with full-time drawing closer. Redknapp made his final change to throw Giovani into the fray but still Wigan defended. The Latics suddenly decided to hit back in and around the 80^th minute as a counter-attack saw Wigan outnumber the Spurs defenders and as a cross came in along the floor for Alcaraz, it seemed certain he would convert from two yards for an easy tap-in, but the centre-half missed the target and was left with his head in his hands. That wasn’t all though, Wigan came forward again in a crazy spell where Spurs just fell apart. A Rodallega cross found Gomez in between the two defenders and he managed to volley over in another fantastic chance and it seemed Tottenham had got away with it. That was until just a minute later a good ball found Rodallega on the edge of the box fire low toward the far post, somehow Cudicini couldn’t deal with it and the error cost Spurs dearly as the ball rolled into the net and Rodallega ran off in jubilation.

Wigan’s first of the season looked to be worth all three points and despite a Huddlestone volley only a minute after, Wigan were set-up to see the remaining time out with their defensive master class. They had shown the entire league how to beat Spurs, just as Roberto Martinez had feared for his job after conceding 10 in two games. Kranjcar forced a great save from Al-Habsi with a long range effort, the resulting corner saw Dawson fire toward goal but he was denied by Al-Habsi who quickly turned into the Wigan hero. A debatable handball from Alcaraz saw some Spurs claims late on for a penalty, but perhaps some karma from the Crouch incident with Stoke last week was apparent as Chris Foy waved away the desperate Yid appeals. Kaboul topped off Spurs’ poor performance when he found himself with a free header on the 93^rd minute, beating the defenders and goalkeeper all ends up, but missing the target completely. Meaning Wigan would walk away with the three points giving Redknapp a lot to think about ahead of the looming challenge of the Champions League. What a difference a year makes…

Final Score – Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Wigan Athletic

It is still early days in Manchester for the 20-year-old, who has risen from the third tier of Portuguese football to the top flight of the English game in a matter of weeks, but his unheralded playing career to date and the inauspicious start to his time at United combine to raise the spectre of other notorious cases of transfer misadventure. Bebé is clearly a long way off his full United debut but, until he turns out for the first team, speculation will continue to grow that he could be a rival for Ali Dia as the most infamous signing in Premier League history.

Dia had played football at a comparable level to Bebé in France and Germany before he got a friend to pose as George Weah in a telephone call to then-Southampton manager Graeme Souness. Passing himself off as Weah’s cousin and a Senegalese international when in fact he was no closer to an international call-up for the African nation than I am, Dia earned a one-month contract and lasted 53 minutes in a game against Leeds before Souness realised the full extent of his error of judgement.

Bebé was signed on the recommendation of Carlos Queiroz – who almost certainly was not speaking with a Liberian accent at the time – and the size of the fee probably had more to do with the fact that it was the release clause in his contract with Vitória de Guimarães and United wanted a quick sale, rather than £7m being an accurate valuation of the player. United supposedly beat Real Madrid to Bebé’s signature but, considering that José Mourinho signed Mesut Özil shortly afterwards, it is difficult not to sense that Madrid won the battle that mattered.

Nonetheless, judging from the YouTube clips of the player that were available at the time of the transfer, Bebé has the speed and physical stature that a modern forward needs. He might not turn out to be United’s answer to Didier Drogba, or their alternative to Emmanuel Adebayor, but with a plethora of Portuguese speakers already at the club Bebé still has every chance of settling in to life in England and contributing to United’s campaign.

So the big transfer news this week centres on James Milner’s eventual move to City and on Javier Mascherano’s inevitable transfer to Barcelona. How do you think these two will fare at their new clubs? Personally, I think that Milner could be a gem, if Mancini plays him centrally, but I am unconvinced by Mascherano. The Argies skipper hardly embraces the ‘beautiful game’ with his combative  style, and I am not sure if this will suit Barca. At least Yaya Toure could play a bit!

The Real Talking Points

James Milner joined Manchester City and promptly played a key role in their 3-0 win over Liverpool. Stephen Ireland went the other way, and was promptly anonymous as Newcastle, led by England’s new Emile Heskey – Andy Carroll – won 6-0.

Javier Mascherano is leaving Liverpool for Barcelona for a fee of around £17.2 million. Dirk Kuyt is apparently going to reject Inter Milan’s advances in favour of staying at Anfield however. One man who definitely won’t be at Anfield this season is Alberto Aquilani. He’s joined Juventus on loan. The Scousers may use the cash from Mascherano’s transfer to buy Carlton Cole.

AC Milan are in talks with Barcelona over Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Manchester City, who only have about eight strikers, are also interested in the forward.

Big News If It Happens

West Ham and West Brom want free agent David Trezeguet. The French striker sometimes divides opinion, but you cannot argue that this would be a great signing for either club. That is of course, based on the assumption that the Spammers aren’t going to be flinging him £100K a week. (Late reports suggest that he is actually going to Spanish side Hercules).

Robinho has reportedly turned down Fenerbahce in a £20 million move. The Brazilian, outcast at City, wants a move to Spain. Don’t we all.

Arsenal have signed Sevilla’s 30-year defender, Sebastien Squillaci. He’s French, obviously. The Gunners are however, finding it rather more difficult to sign a goalkeeper. Arsene Wenger is now looking at Ajax’s Martin Stekelenburg, but the Holland keeper appears unkeen give up chasing trophies at Ajax to play at The Emirates.

Wigan have accepted a bid for Charles N’Zogbia from Birmingham.

Other News That’s Barely Interesting

Neymar all but sealed his stay in Brazil by signing a five-year contract extension at Santos. The Brazilian teenager was being tracked by Chelsea. The west London club have farmed Michael Mancienne out to Wolves for another season-long loan.

Edgar Davids joined Crystal Palace and he will play most of the games as a left-back.

Newcastle signed Ivorian midfielder Tiote for £3.5 million and they now looking to add Robbie Keane to their loan.

Portsmouth defender Marc Wilson is to join Stoke for £3m plus Dave Kitson and Liam Lawrence. Two proven(ish) Premier League players in exchange for an unproven defender makes it a smart move by Pompey.

Fulham have agreed a deal with PSV Eindhoven’s Mexican defender, Carlos Salcido. The defender will cost £1.6 million and he is likely to replace Anfield-bound Paul Konchesky.

And Finally… …The Man Who Talks Some Sense

Take a bow, Rio Ferdinand. The England skipper this week turned on media sceptics who have been criticising Fabio Capello, despite lauding him before the tournament. As England captain and an innocent party in England’s shambles of a World Cup, Rio was probably the only one who could have took one the incredible hypocrisy of the English media.

As my last few blogs have been a little critical to say the least, I have decided to balance my karma with an article offering encouragement. The team on the receiving end are not a side I have much love for personally but one which, like most other fans, I do admire. That team is Arsenal, who make that dreaded trip up the M6 to Ewood Park tomorrow, where Ryan Nelson and chums will be waiting to kick seven shades of shit out of them, as per usual.

They will do this because it has proven a successful tactic in the past. They will do it because if they allow Arsenal time and space on the ball, they will be embarrassed. Blackburn have already earned more yellows in their two matches than any other team (five), and there is every chance they will add to this tally tomorrow. So far they have the lowest pass completion rate in the league (56%), whereas Arsenal have the highest (87%). Arsene Wenger has made the traditional appeal for a strong performance from the unlucky man chosen for the thankless task of refereeing this match, Chris Foy. All pretty standard so far then.

This season, though, it seems that Arsenal may finally be ready to stand up for themselves. The purchase of 30-year-old Sebastien Squillaci goes against Wenger’s usual transfer policy. He brings experience to Wenger’s eternally-young side, but there is every chance that the manager found his hard-man reputation an attractive prospect, especially for games such as this (although Squillaci is not expected to play tomorrow). Rather than slating Blackburn’s approach before tomorrow’s game, Wenger has even acknowledged that Sam Allardyce’s side are simply playing within their means. Might he finally have accepted that Blackburn will always play this way, and that it is he rather than Big Sam who has to change his game?

Wenger seems to have finally taken on board the criticism that his team are too weak to contend with the more agricultural teams in the Premier League on a physical basis, and has admitted defeat in his policy to sign players purely for their technical ability accordingly. His interest in the huge but technically limited German centre-back Per Mertesacker provides further evidence for this theory. Arsenal’s ‘untouchables’ were built around a tough, some may even say nasty, back four. Maybe Wenger hopes Squillaci can be his new Martin Keown. He’s certainly ugly enough.

Laurent Koscielny should start tomorrow, and although he lacks a bit of timber compared to most Premier League centre-halves (Wenger has already out him on a special training programme to remedy this), he has already said that he won’t be intimidated by Blackburn, and Wenger obviously took this fearlessness into account when deciding to splash out almost £10 million on him. The red card he received against Liverpool proves he likes a tackle.

The fact remains that Arsenal still have small players who do not enjoy the rough treatment that a visit to Ewood guarantees, for instance Thomas Rosicky, Andrei Arshavin and Theo Walcott. But (with the exception of Gael Clichy, maybe) the back four can now give as good as it gets. Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie have been playing Premier League football for long enough not to be intimidated, with the hooded, phlegmy Spaniard showing a nasty streak against Hull last year. Meanwhile Abou Diaby, Emmanuel Eboue and Alex Song are big, powerful lads, and Marouane Chamakh and Samir Nasri, having acclimatised to the physical side of the game in Ligue 1, are no pushovers.

Of course it would be a shame for purist team like Arsenal to give in to Blackburn’s tactics and play their own bigger boys in the starting eleven tomorrow, but I think Wenger should admit defeat, and do just that. Arsenal have got to stop dropping points in the North West if they are to challenge for the title. Games against limited sides like Blackburn should be a guaranteed three points, yet another loss (2-1) at the end of last season shows that they are still very much Arsenal’s bogey team. Wenger should play Eboue instead of Arshavin and attempt to match Blackburn physically. An attractive, technical philosophy is admirable, but at the end of the season three points is what counts.

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This means that Capello has a perfect opportunity to take risks and thanks to recent changes in regulations if a non English player has played in England for 5 or more years and they have not represented their country at international level they can qualify as an England International and can represent our country. Most notably players include Manuel Almunia and Mikel Arteta has been mentioned as being available for selection.

Whilst there is no doubt that Arteta is a quality player and would be a great asset to any country’s national team the main reason that he has not been selected for his native Spanish team is because of the pure quality of the players in front of him including, the likes of Iniesta and Alonso. Yes, it could be argued that England need all the help they can get to get some respect and quality back in to the team but there is still a feeling of these players settling for second best.

I am of a traditional view that a player who represents their country should see it as a honour and should play the best they can with all the relevant emotion will this apply to someone who is not traditionally ‘English.’

However, saying that some of the current English players could not even say that this criteria applies to them.

This is not a new phenomenon in other sports, for example, Cricket, with the number of non-‘English’ players representing England, with Kevin Pieterson being the most high profile. But this also occurs in football in other countries. For example with the number of sheer quality of Brazilians the likes of Eduardo have had to resort to representing other countries, in this case, Croatia.

What concerns me is that is playing in a ‘foreign’ country for five years does it make you a native? Surely there are also other talented and even younger Englishmen who would be a bit annoyed if they were not picked ahead of a non-Englishman. I think that the English team should be looking to the youngsters as the future of the English game.

At club level, football has clearly been bought and money has been thrown at it however, the international scene has not been as consumed by money but would introducing players who aren’t traditionally English mean more money coming into the game or will this merely give talented players a chance to represent a country at international level?

I don’t care who represents England as long as they are passionate for the country and play to the best of their ability.

Not two years ago, on the 26th October 2008 to be precise, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool stood at polar opposites of the Barclays Premier League. Liverpool had just ended Chelsea’s 86 match unbeaten home record with a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge whilst taking the number one spot and, according to the BBC, “demonstrating their growing title credentials”. Spurs, meanwhile, sat in 20th place without a win, and so decided to swap the hapless Juande Ramos for Harry Redknapp. One look at the situation today suggests that was a very smart move indeed.

Whilst Liverpool follow on from an awful 2009-10 with a woeful start to this season, Spurs have the opportunity to reach the Champions League proper. Never mind the historic landmark of reaching Europe’s premier competition for the first time in 48 years, tonight’s game against Young Boys will go a long way towards shaping Tottenham’s future for the next few years.

With the guarantee of Champions League revenue for this season at least, the Spurs board may give Redknapp the financial backing he needs to sign players of according quality, starting with Luis Fabiano. By taking a pay-cut to join Spurs before tonight’s game, William Gallas demonstrated what a draw Redknapp’s side now are. With top-class European football on offer and a few extra quid in the coffers, Redknapp could sign a couple more players who could conceivably make sure that this season is not merely an extended Champions League swansong. Six days is a long time in the crazy world of the transfer window.

Liverpool, meanwhile, are looking to avoid catastrophe. Trabzonspor, having kept their deficit to just one goal at Anfield in the first leg of this Europa League qualifier, could not hope for a better time to play Roy Hodgson’s side. Having been mauled 3-0 by Manchester City on Monday, Liverpool have now lost Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres to injury, while Javier Mascherano continues to sit out while his transfer to Barcelona is sealed. Unless they can score an early away goal (which judging by their cautious performances this season looks unlikely), tomorrow night’s game will be a very nervy affair. That their best hope of doing so is via either David N’gog or Ryan Babel proves just how desperate their situation is.

Despite his track record with Fulham, Roy Hodgson has not convinced at Liverpool so far. The manner in which his rigid 4-4-2 was easily dismantled by City’s 4-2-3-1 must have had Reds fans worried to say the least. Did he not watch the World Cup, or even just England vs Germany?! That result means that City, not Liverpool, are again Spurs’ main rival to repeat their hard-fought fourth-place finish. The Europa League is Liverpool’s scant consolation. If they fail to win in Turkey tomorrow, their future looks bleak to say the least.

How the tables have turned.

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Before that Liverpool had actually started brightly, buoyed by being sent out by Roy Hodgson in a much more attacking vain than his predecessor would ever have dared. However, once Roberto Mancini’s men went ahead the game was effectively over.

The first goal was more important than normal for several reasons. The all-time high expectation levels at the club – ramped up a level with the first ever visit by the club’s owner Sheikh Mansour – means that the players are operating under considerable pressure. The early breakthrough meant they could do that most un-English thing and keep the ball patiently without trying to score in every move without the crowd getting on their backs.

Secondly, City don’t score that many goals. Look at the way the team is set-up with thre defensive midfielders in Barry, De Jong and Toure. The former Barcelona man is actually playing as the most attacking of the three and not even his most ardent fan would list creativity and goal scoring as anywhere near his best attributes.

Many fans and pundits alike have been critical of the decision to let some of their players go, with Bellamy and Ireland being the two most commonly cited. They are undeniably good players, but a closer inspection of City’s team shows that they really won’t be missed.

It appears so far that Mancini favours a 4-3-3 formation. The attacking options at his disposable are frightening. For the main striker he can chose between Tevez, Adebayor, and Mario Balotelli (although Mancini stated recently that he could be better than Torres because he can play up front and as a winger) and in the two wide men positions between Adam Johnston, James Milner, Balotelli, David Silva and er, Shaun Wright Phillips.

City look solid in the centre of defence with Toure Kolo and Kompany very competent Premier League players and Jo Hart showing exactly what England missed out on at the World Cup. Fans of City will be hopeful that their full backs recover from injury: a better team than Liverpool would surely have exploited Richards and Lescott on the flanks.

Finishing in the top four is a deemed ‘the minimum requirement’ this season for the richest team in football. With the talent that they have at their disposal, I expect City to break into the top three at least.

Whether they can do better than this depends on how brave Mancini is. At the moment he is living up to the slightly lazy cliché that all Italian managers are defensive. The 4-3-3 formation has its place but the suspicion remains that it will be employed against weaker opposition when a 4-4-2 system would result in more wins. City can’t afford to just try to not get beaten; they need to win.

He has the options – how does Tevez and Adebayor up top being supplied by Adam Johnston and De Silva sound? With Barry, Milner and Toure in the middle of the park and their first choice back five. It sounds like a team that can challenge for the title to me.

All these youngsters have shone in the Premier League for their respective clubs, so why can’t they make the step up to senior level and replace the displace Lampard, Gerrard and Beckham- relics of an already forgotton age?

Maybe they could- their fresh faced enthusiasm could give fans something to look forward to yet again. However, I am really struggling to see how English football can fundamentally change and at least challenge the Spain’s and Germany’s of this world in the next 10 years.

I am more than happy to give these youthful maestros a chance, but the possible call- up of Mikel Arteta is not much of an invitation for English footballers to play for their country. You play well for your team and then a Spaniard with ‘dual-nationality’ comes and takes your place. True, he’s probably a better player than most of the English midfielders pushing for a first team place, but calling up Arteta would be an admission of defeat and another kick in the face for our beleaguered squad.

It will take time, but we need a top to toe change in the way we coach players in England. Only then will we see an improvement in the way we play football.

It sounds simple- but look where the current set up has got us?

Pretty much nowhere.