The Three Lions' pending debt to Arsène Wenger

(L-R) Carl Jenkinson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey and Kieran Gibbs of Arsenal during the launch of the new away kit for the 2013-14 season at Emirates Stadium on July 09, 2013 in London, England. (Getty Images)

No less an authority than Sir Trevor Brooking, director of football development in England, has said the following regarding player development:English players can be technically as efficient as Spanish, German, Dutch or any other youngsters if they are coached effectively from a young age, and we are determined to do all we can to try and create an environment for that to happen.

The missing ingredient, according to Brooking, is being “technically efficient,” and that is one of Wenger’s calling-cards, the finding and forging of technically efficient players. We’re seeing the fruits of those labours in Aaron Ramsey (though he features for Wales), and we’re starting to see similar fruits in Wilshere and Gibbs, and to a lesser extent in Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott, and Jenkinson. Should these five continue on their current trajectories, however, England should be sitting pretty for years to come.

Making sure that youngsters are “coached effectively from a young age” is again Wenger’s stock in trade. Each of the aforementioned Britons joined Arsenal at a tender, young age. Gibbs and Wilshere, of course, came in through the Academy, with Wilshere signing at the age of nine, and the rest coming to Arsenal while still in their teens.

While it’s certainly true that each of them would develop into stars on their own, it’s highly unlikely that Jenkinson would realise his potential at Charlton Athletic or that Oxlade-Chamberlain or Walcott would blossom at Southampton.

This is not meant as a slight against those clubs or their managers. Simply put, it’s a testament to each player’s potential and burgeoning achievements. It won’t be long before Gibbs supplants Cole and Leighton Baines, before Walcott sidelines Defoe or Wayne Rooney, before Wilshere takes over for Lampard or Gerrard.

Jenkinson and Oxlade-Chamberlain, as younger, rawer young men, will bide their time as well, but it’s only a matter of time before they seize the moment.

At the centre of this revival, then, it’s more than a bit odd to see at its centre one Arsène Wenger, renowned for revitalising Arsenal and the Preemie League by bringing in French players such as Thierry Henry, Robert Pirès, or Patrick Vieira, among others. Speaking of Vieira, the club legend spoke to The Independent and had this to say of his work with Manchester City’s youth:

There is so much passion and love for the game among the youth [in England] that you don’t always have elsewhere. That is essential. But now it’s more about the creativity. How do you move around the pitch to be in the right places? How do you control and pass? It sounds really simple but at the end it’s complex and really difficult.

These are, again, hallmarks of football under Wenger: creativity, movement, passing. Therefore, as the Three Lions look to this week’s qualifiers, I hope they’ll look around the locker room as well and recognize how much is owed to Wenger’s approach to football.

Whether it’s Walcott, Gibbs, or Wilshere, major players already; or Jenkinson or Oxlade-Chamberlain lurking in the wings, the hopes of England’s national team seem to lay squarely in the hands of Gunners—not at all a bad place to be.