Welcome to an 11 day series of a fictitious 1 to 11 fantasy idea of 3 teams in Arsenal’s history from Premier League years.
How they are broken down into 3 teams. The Good- This will consist of the best players in each position in a 4-4-2 formation. The Bad- The worst team in that same formation, and The Ugly- a team made up of misfits that you just found it difficult to take to.
Feel free to add your comments as to whether you agree or perhaps on players I have over looked.
The Good
Goalkeeper – David Seaman
I think this is probably the easiest decision we can make as the best goalkeeper we have had in Premier League history. There was only really one ‘keeper in Jens Lehmann that could really be considered to beat him, but in the end you have to go with ‘Safe Hands’ Seaman.
Looking back, the former England international did just about everything well. He knew when to come out, he knew when to stay, his reaction times were fantastic too and you could always rely on him for crosses. Let’s be fair, he was always made to look even better with our phenomenal defence in front of him, but if you ask any one of the lads who they would want behind them it would be ‘Spunky’.
Lehmann is really the only guy – being an ‘Invincible’ – that could have got in look in. Jens really made people know he was there. Often comical but a very, very good ‘keeper, a definite fans favourite and we may hear of him a bit later.
The Bad
Goalkeeper- Manuel Almunia
Again, I think this was a relatively easy decision. Apart from his decent display in the Champions League final after Jens was sent off I really could never take to this chump. I am sorry but for him to have played over 200 times for Arsenal is criminal. This was not a top 4 keeper or even Premier League standard, and it just goes to show how good we were with this clown in the team.
Richard Wright a player we signed from Ipswich is the only other player you could offer this too. But I feel it would be slightly unfair on him. He came to Arsenal as the next big thing, but could never really come to terms with playing for the Gunners. Probably why he is now at Manchester City.
The Ugly
Goalkeeper- Jens Lehmann
Jens was a great keeper, but boy was he a handful. He was a real pest and could often be very frustrating for fans and players of both sides. He was bonkers to the highest level, he has to get this vote. Sorry Jens.
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Runner up for this would go to John Lukic. John was a club legend and had a great spell at Arsenal in his first period, however he really should never have returned. I remember the look of the fans on the way to the games when we learnt Seaman was out and in was Big John. He just got a bit too old, and I don’t feel like he had the fitness level that perhaps a Freidel or a Buffon may have these days. He played 15 times in his second spell, one of which was when he became the oldest player to have played in the Champions League against Lazio at the age of 39 years and 311 days (via Arsenal.com). This record has since been surpassed. As I said it’s hard to be too negative on a player that has played top flight English football in 4 different decades.
Do you agree with my selections?
Join me next time for the right full back position.
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