There is a theory taking root in north London that Arsenal's trophy-winning days are numbered unless Arsene Wenger restores a significant English presence to a team that is about to finish a third consecutive season empty-handed.

Arsenal's last Premier League title success came in 2004, the year of the 'invincibles', when the starting line-up included England internationals like Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole and Ray Parlour, with Martin Keown contributing a handful of appearances. Cole and Campbell were still involved the following season when they finished runners-up and won the FA Cup - their last trophy.

Since then, of course, the indomitable spirit of the English footballer has been sacrificed on the foreign altar of innovation, flair and entertainment.

On their day, Wenger's modern Arsenal are as good to watch as any team I have seen - and that would include the great Brazilian side of the 70s. But Arsenal's French coach knows that being good to watch carries no guarantee of victory.

This was the topic of conversation among ex-Liverpool greats as they savoured a 4-2 triumph over Arsenal in the Champions League on Tuesday. All agreed that the defeat of Arsenal was as compelling and dramatic as most of them could remember at Anfield.

This was indeed a compliment to Arsenal because the former players included Ian Rush, Kenny Dalglish, Phil Neal, David Fairclough, Tommy Smith, Alan Hansen, Mark Lawrensen, Sammy Lee, John Aldridge and Jan Molby.

They claimed that among the key reasons for Liverpool's success was the stoicism, determination and will-to-win provided by two Englishmen - Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. Others, like Javier Mascherano and Sami Hyypia, embraced similar values but the consensus was that the English pair set the tone for the entire Liverpool performance.

Looking further afield, you could argue that this season's likely Premier League winners, Manchester United, benefit hugely from the long-established English influence provided by Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Wes Brown and Michael Carrick.

Similarly, it's acknowledged that the Chelsea dressing room is strongly influenced by two strong London personalities - John Terry and Frank Lampard - with another England player, Joe Cole, a significant supporting act.

It is too simplistic to credit the European progress of United, Liverpool and Chelsea on the influence of their English players while blaming Arsenal's decline on the lack of them.

But, with Arsenal now set for a third season without a trophy, it is a subject that Wenger and his staff are sure to address this summer.

The club registered 34 players for European duty this season but only two Englishmen have appeared in the Champions League - Theo Walcott and Justin Hoyte - and at this stage in their fledgling careers neither has the influence of a Lee Dixon, Tony Adams or Nigel Winterburn.

Wenger inherited George Graham's fabled all-English back four in 1996 so he knows just how important the best English players can be in creating the climate in which a game is won or lost.

Would an Arsenal defence featuring Adams have allowed Liverpool back into the game once Emmanuel Adebayor had scored the 84th minute goal that seemed certain to clinch a semi-final place? I doubt it.

There are English players that Wenger would love to get his hands upon - Owen Hargreaves cannot get a regular game for Manchester United; West Ham's Robert Green would be an ideal goalkeeper for one of the top four in the League and what about David Wheater, of Middlesbrough? A centre-half from the north-east built in the same mould as Adams.

There is still a place in the modern game for those traditional English virtues demonstrated by the likes of Wheater of discipline, work-rate and bull-headed stubbornness.

The great prizes in football are not won by teams playing wonderful football week after week, but by those who play consistently well and have the character to eke out results on ugly winter nights.

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon today admitted that his team are not yet playing the sort of football that is pleasing on the eye under Avram Grant - but they are in the semi-finals of the Champions League and are on United's coat-tails in the title race.

Can Wenger's team ever match that? They gave a good impression of a team overcoming adversity when their 10 men came from two goals down to win 3-2 at Bolton.

No one complained then of an absence of English players.

Nor did they complain when Arsenal won 2-0 in Milan with a starting line up of five Frenchmen, two Spaniards, one Swiss, and one each from Belarus, Togo and the Ivory Coast.

It was perhaps Arsenal's finest moment as a season of rich promise disintegrated into frustration and failure.

Sadly, winning is what counts. The modern game offers no trophies for style and beauty.