Ken Jones: Foreign players provide muscle to compliment the flair

I am always reluctant to suggest anything as an expression of national character because it is so easy and so often wrong. But one thing you have to say about the foreign footballers who have swarmed into the Premiership is how well most of them adapted to the game's most robust culture.

This sprang quickly to mind at Highbury on Tuesday night, when 15 of the men who started in what turned out to be a memorable match for a place in the semi-finals of the Champions' League were not in possession of a British passport.

Players available to the England coach, Sven Goran Eriksson, made towering contributions, especially John Terry at the heart of Chelsea's defence and Frank Lampard in their midfield, but the physical commitment that comes naturally to footballers raised in these islands was significantly matched by expensive recruits from other shores.

Of course, there are examples of foreigners who have found the relentless pace of the Premiership an insurmountable problem, and others who have arrived here with reputations inflated by spiv agents. However, the best of them, those who stand out as real stars, have not fliched from complementing advanced technical ability with unstinting willingness to compete.

An argument in favour of casting the net wide was, and still is, that the example set by players brought up to respect technique as a paramount virtue would inspire an improvement in the standards of our game. Against this has to be set the struggles endured by home-grown aspirants whose development is too frequently blocked by impatient employers.

David Pleat's recent insistence that Tottenham Hotspur are set on providing opportunities for graduates of their youth scheme is unlikely to strike a chord at many clubs. The young voices in Arsenal's dressing-room indicate Arsène Wenger's preference for foreign flair. English is not the predominant language at Chelsea's training ground. From the grandstand on Tuesday or, more significantly, on television screens across Europe, the attitude of the foreign players on view was immediately detectable. None stood back from physical responsibility, nor conformed to weary stereotype. "More of a traditional English cup tie than a European Cup quarter-final," somebody said. There was some truth in this but the guts of the game was laced with astonishing skill.

Those who argue that many Premiership games fall woefully short of the standards supposed by television commentators and pundits have a point. Amid the influence of endeavour, mediocrity is evident. But where this season has there been a game to equal Tuesday's encounter and last week's FA Cup semi-final between Manchester United and Arsenal?

Modern football is such an exacting game, many coaches are sold on the idea that the only way to produce a proper level of intensity is to bang a drum loudly and constantly. It is doubtful whether that was the case at Highbury or Villa Park. "Losing a goal just before half-time was a blow but our dressing-room was calm," Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink of Chelsea said after their victory. The passion came naturally.

Going back in time, when the presence of a foreign player in English football was still a novelty, Tottenham's bold decision to sign two members of Argentina's 1978 World Cup squad, Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricardo Villa, was questioned on the basis that they might struggle to cope with alien conditions. Ardiles was an instant hit but the question remained. Wait until winter sets in, that's when we'll know, people said. Steve Perryman remembers the proof of it vividly. "We went to Sunderland on a rough winter's day of wind and rain. Ossie [Ardiles] never gave it a second thought. He got roughed up a bit but he was our best player."

It is extremely doubtful whether the supporters of Arsenal and Chelsea gave a second thought to the fact that their hopes were in the hands of mainly foreign players. All that mattered was devotion to the cause. Success comes seldom in any field without it. There are some who cannot keep pace with their companions because they hear a different drummer. On Tuesday night, they were all responding to the same urgent beat.