There have been many words written about the debacle of England’s qualifying campaign for Euro2008. No doubt the sound of hatches being battened down at Arsenal will be heard for a while for once the braying sheep of the media have finished with the slashing of their knives into McClaren’s back, the sabre rattling will begin about how foreign players have caused the ruination of English football.

The causes of England’s problems are so widespread that the scattergun approach taken with media pot-shots is always going to hit a target. Players who are technically inept, unable to pass their way on anything less than the pristine surfaces of the Premier League, treating the ball as an enemy. Coaches who are devoid of tactical knowledge and do not even have a Plan A, let alone a B or C.

Perhaps the malaise that has set about the native footballers of these shores is best summed up by James Dodson in yesterday’s Fiver,

A retractable roof that doesn’t shut. A £700m field you wouldn’t play rugby on. A manager that is rewarded £2m for underperforming. A man-of-the-match award for Frank Lampard. A standing ovation for David Beckham. An FA chief executive who styles himself on a ginger Charlie Chaplin. Just so I’m clear, the problem with English football is that we have too many foreigners in the Premier League?

The event that sums it all up is the debacle over the National Training Centre in Burton. A grandiose plan foundered on lack of finance. Instead of scaling those plans back to concentrate on the core reason for its existence, the FA Councillors procrastinated to the point of immobility and shied away from making a decision; inertia rules OK. None at the top have the brass balls to make crucial choices and at least one generation will have lost the chance to utilise those facilities before they are built.

Those at the helm will no doubt point out that they have been proactive in terminating McClaren’s contract but that is disingenuous at best. That is a decision which should have never been made in the first place, the indecent haste with which their appointment was made was the folly. It has never been explained successfully why Eriksson’s successor had to be in place before the last World Cup; expediency took on more importance than wisdom.

The choice facing them now is stark. Do they have the courage to sit up and say that they are preparing for the next European Championships as a target, allowing the new coach to bring through the Under-21’s and younger for that qualifying campaign, using the upcoming World Cup campaign for experience, or, will they bow to media pressure and appoint someone who carries on with the current Golden Generation, a misnomer if ever there was one.

For once, I am truly saddened by the lack of Englishmen in Arsene’s squad; if there had been, they would have had all of next summer to rest.

Ahead of the Wigan match, the usual injury woes have struck. According to the official site, Arsene is denied the services of six players. Fabregas was not a surprise given he was suspended and the same applies to Gilberto who will be jetlagged. Disappointingly, RvP has not yet recovered enough to participate although the calls for him to return were premature if they involved the words ’starting’ and ‘line-up’. Indeed according to Arsene, van Persie will not feature against Sevilla either.

It was widely reported that Flamini had picked up a knock or so in the lead up to France’s match on Wednesday although it is reported that he will be out for a week, ‘maximum’. Going to Les Bleus seems to be detrimental to any Arsenal players’ health in recent seasons and Abou Diaby has picked up back-knack and is out as well, for the same period as Hleb, three weeks. Such has been Hleb’s form, he will be missed greatly yet it could give Walcott a chance to push for inclusion from the start in the home games at least. He did well for the Under-21’s in their games this past week and Wigan are likely to be a team undone by his pace as opposed to the strength that Eboue brings to that position.

All of the absences mean that the squad is somewhat patchwork and more likely to resemble a Carling Cup team once past the defence. My initial thoughts would be that Eduardo, Diarra and Denilson will come into a 4-4-2 formation although more will become clear from today’s press conference.

The goalkeepers at the club continue to sound like rejects from The Odd Couple. Jens believes

I have more experience than Almunia, I can cope better with pressure situations and I’m still at the peak of my powers

whilst Manuel reckons

I like to compare myself to a wine which gets better with age

which leaves no-one any the wiser about what the future holds for either.

Gael Clichy is enthused about William Gallas’ captaincy skills, patting him on the back for ‘creating’ the team huddle at the end of matches.

He is a great leader and a great captain…He knows whether to be nice to you or boss you a bit in the game and that’s the best way to lead the team. With his performances too, everyone can see what a great captain he is

Which smoothes the path for his inclusion in the French team in the future, no doubt, although unless Mystic Meg says something about Domenech needing a gale to clear the cobwebs away, it may well be curtains for his international career in the near future?

‘til Tomorrow.