Arsenal has had over 800 players who have played at the club, whether at Highbury or at the Emirates Stadium. There have been those who stood out for their incredible footballing ability and here we take a look a the top five of the Best Arsenal players.
#5 Patrick Vieira
‘They’ve never truly replaced Patrick Vieira!’
Well, Arsenal never replaced Patrick Vieira for a simple reason – he was irreplaceable. His final kick in an Arsenal shirt won them the 2004/05 FA Cup. The Gunners would not win a trophy for another 9 years after his departure to Juventus.
The Frenchman came to Arsenal even before Arsene Wenger had officially arrived, and destroyed the notion of a foreigner struggling to adapt in his first appearance – completely dominating the midfield as a gangly 20 year old. Highbury knew immediately they had a special player.
The sight of the tall midfielder sliding in to win the ball with a biting tackle, then holding off another player, before flicking it over his head to gallop up the pitch and begin an Arsenal attack was the norm at the turn of the Millenium.
Other teams couldn’t cope and naturally, preyed on Vieira’s fiery temper in a bid to get him sent off.
For 8 years with Arsenal, Cliff Bastin did not score a single goal. The reason? World War II. Had it not been for the outbreak of the war halting the football league, Bastin would surely have plundered 300 goals for Arsenal, a record Thierry Henry and Ian Wright would never have broken.
As it was, from 1929 to 1939, Cliff Bastin scored 178 goals for Arsenal. What makes it even more incredible was that Bastin was not a pure centre-forward. Operating on the ‘inside left’ of Herbert Chapman’s famed W-M formation, Bastin was one of the first ever wingers in football to cut inside and shoot, as opposed to the norm of sending in a cross for the centre-forward.
Bastin had Alex James, the playmaker of Arsenal to thank for much of his goals, although he had to operate as a provider once Ted Drake arrived. He adapted without protest, and the goals continued, albeit at a lesser rate.
The Englishman signed for Arsenal as a 17-year-old, and by 19, already had won the League title, the FA Cup and was capped for England, the youngest player to have ever done so.
He ended his career with 5 league titles and 2 FA Cups, but instead will always be remembered for his goal-scoring feats.
#3 Tony Adams
Then again, ‘Big Tone’ has never been your picture-book footballer. The centre-back battled alcoholism for much of his career, winning titles while hungover, and even being jailed for a drunk-driving crash. He was labelled a ‘donkey’ for his clumsy defending in his early years, with no one even remotely believing he was capable of the heights he eventually reached.
Like the forwards he faced, Tony Adams battled them all, his inner demons, the jibes from the English press… and he won. You don’t become the captain of Arsenal at the age of 21 without something special driving you.
He was there on 26th May 1989, when Arsenal defeated Liverpool 2-0 to win the title in the greatest ending to a season in English football.
He was there on 3rd May, 1998, having overcome his alcoholism to score the final goal as Arsene Wenger’s revolution of Arsenal began, and Adams savoured his very first title celebration as a sober man.
He was there on 8th May, 2002 as Arsenal won the Double and underlined their superiority over Manchester United that year.
The only man to have ever captained a league-winning team in three decades. That is Tony Adams. That is Mr. Arsenal.
#2 Thierry Henry
For all of his sheer brilliance during his peak years, most Gunners’ fans will point at 34-year-old Theirry Henry’s goal against Leeds as their favourite ever moment. The cool, suave, je ne sais quoi demeanour we witnessed his entire career was discarded, and we saw an unmasked Henry, who erupted in childlike joy, having scored his first ever goal as a fan.
Mind you, there were plenty of other moments to take your breath away:
The spin and lob on the edge of the box that left Fabian Barthez gasping in awe in the Manchester United goal.
The slaloming run and goal against Liverpool that left Jamie Carragher and Didi Hamann on their backsides as Henry ensured that Arsenal’s unbeaten side remained, unbeaten.
The powerful run that left Real Madrid’s Galacticos in their wake as an unfancied Arsenal defeated them 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
In the list of the greatest players to have ever played the game, Thierry Henry may not always figure, but I will argue that he was the most beautiful player to watch in footballing history. The sight of Henry at full tilt was art, it wasn’t just football.
Two league titles, three FA Cups, four Golden Boots, five Player of the Year awards and 228 goals, but there was and is only one, Thierry Henry.
For those in disagreement of my no.1 pick, here’s a little tidbit for you:
One night last year some legends of Dutch football gathered for dinner in an Amsterdam house. Around midnight conversation turned to an old question: who was the best Dutch footballer ever? Dutchmen have been voted European Footballer of the Year seven times, more than any other nationality except Germans. Yet Jan Mulder, a great centre-forward turned writer, chose a player who had never even threatened to win the award nor, at the time, a Champions League: “Bergkamp.” He had the finest technique, said Mulder. Guus Hiddink, the great Dutch manager, nodded, and so the matter was settled.
Netherlands, the country of Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten et al bow before the sheer technical genius of Dennis Bergkamp. The Dutchman had no peer when it came to moments of taking your breath away, such as the did-he-mean-that turn and flick to bamboozle Nico Dabizas of Newcastle, the delicious chip to send Freddy Ljungberg through or his goal against Argentina that caused the most legendary piece of football commentary, ever.
Still. why was Dennis Bergkamp better than Thierry Henry?
There are those who will point at the fact that the Non-Flying Dutchman never left the club – he retired with his testimonial being the first ever game at the Emirates. Thierry Henry abandoned the club at a time when they were in the need of his experience – a bit harsh, but nonetheless true.
Simply however, the answer comes from Thierry Henry himself – a man who’s played with the best of the best and rates the Dutchman as the finest teammate he’s ever had. Without Dennis Bergkamp, the Thierry Henry we knew at Arsenal would not exist, but Bergkamp’s magic shined bright, with or without Henry.