In truth I agonized over this choice most

With chips, flicks, power, precision, Bergkamp's back catalogue contains them all.His time at Arsenal was arguably the greatest, most successful period in the club's history, and his role in that success should never be forgotten.. In truth I agonized over this choice most.Arsenal has had some great center halfs down the years and while Steve Bould, David O'Leary and Sol Campbell pushed him close, Keown, as he did throughout his career, beat them to it.One of the finest man markers in the world, a true competitor, and a man whose histrionics hid a deeply perceptive football mind. Five hundred games for the club, a double winner, and a constant, never-say-die competitor, George Armstrong is quite rightly remembered as one of the greatest midfielders to ever play for the club.Unlucky not to feature for England, inhibited by Alf Ramsey's policy of not playing wingers, his later years were spent coaching Arsenal youth teams, and he is still sorely missed years after his death.. A new generation of Arsenal fans may only know Pat Rice as the bawling presence sat next to the cool, calm persona of Arsene Wenger, yet this ignores his qualities as a player.A Northern Irish international fullback, who came over to the side as a youngster, and went on to spend the next decade as part of the furniture, he was, and still is, a vital component to Arsenal Football Club..

This wouldn't be an alltime Arsenal team without Alex James. It would be practically heretical to not include him.James was the brains behind the great team Herbert Chapman built, his motto was let the ball do the work and it was with the ball that his genius lay.Bernard Joy, a former Arsenal player turned journalist called him: 'the most intelligent player I played with.....On the field he had the knack of thinking two or three moves ahead. He turned many a game by shrewd positioning near his own penalty area and the sudden use of a telling pass into the opponents penalty area.. Had this piece been written ten years ago, Wright would be a sure thing in the starting line up. Arsenal has scarcely had a striker so prolific, so capable in front of goal.When he broke Bastin's goal-scoring record, it appeared set to stand the test of time, before a certain Frenchman came into town. Some may argue that his allround game diminished his effectiveness at the highest level, but his goalscoring prowess meant that for a time he was Arsenal's greatest hope, and one of their finest players ever.. This is as much a sentimental pick as any of these, but it is rich sentiment indeed.For ability, he had it in spadesthe ability to beat his man with ease, a rocket of a shot, and a streak which ran a fine line between genius and madness which made him thrillingly entertaining.Brian Glanville, the doyen of football writers once wrote of him: His height, his powerful physique, the delicacy of touch so astonishing in one so large.

To see him receive a ball amidst a ruck of defenders and escape them with the skill of a Houdini is delightful.. This was a man who revolutionized English football much like his one true competitor as Arsenal's finest manager, Herbert Chapman did before him.Wenger ushered in an era where the football at Arsenal became entertaining after years of boring, boring Arsenal.But that tells only half the story.What the Premier League is now is due to the changes Wenger wrought: in attitude, in preparation, in play.He will be remembered as English football's first great foreign manager, but more than that he will be remembered as one of the greats, and Arsenal's greatest.. Thierry Henry ought to be praised for his courage and honor in declaring that the France-Ireland game should be replayed. For more than a decade, Thierry Henry has played the game with such passion, dedication, and fairness with his years for France, at Arsenal, and now at Barcelona. Yes. He handled the ball and passed it to Gallas whose goal knocked Ireland out of the World Cup, and later admitted of his wrongdoing. People who are quick to judge him should realize, that in the quick second the ball came his way, instinct rather than reasoning was a factor in his handling of the ball and had the referee spotted he would have ruled out the goal and simply giving him a yellow card. It is also quite perplexing to see people comparing him toMaradona.