The emergence of Arsenal as genuine title contenders has seen them ascend at least a couple of levels in recent times under Mikel Arteta. They’re strong at the back, well-balanced in midfield, and possess any number of attacking threats going forward. They’re the real deal.
Yet for all of their highly impressive output, they naturally and obviously still have some considerable way to go before they can look a famous predecessor square in the eye, a remarkable collective who defied the football odds in 2003/04 by navigating an entire Premier League season unbeaten.
It’s a great and venerated side from the past versus a team on the cusp of fulfilling their potential. It’s no contest. Regardless, it begs the question how a combined eleven would look should these two creations be merged.
Who makes the cut? Who is controversially cut? Some big, big names are on the bench here...
GK – Jens Lehmann
Had Arteta not loaned in David Raya from Brentford in the summer and had Aaron Ramsdale continued his excellent form from last term as Arsenal’s established number one, then a conversation could be had.
As it is, Raya has shone in parts while dropping the occasional clanger. According to the manager – though few believe him – he views his two goalkeeping options to be on an even footing.
Whereas nobody challenged Lehmann. Nobody dared.
Twice voted UEFA’s Goalkeeper of the Year, the German could match Raya and Ramsdale in every department, but furtherment had presence and a good deal of class.
RB – Lauren
Inheriting the right-back berth from Lee Dixon, the ever-reliable Cameroonian won two league titles and three FA Cups with the Gunners along with a brace of AFCONs with his country.
An elite and versatile defender, 2003/04 was Lauren’s zenith in England, voted into the PFA Team of the Year at its conclusion.
LB – Ashley Cole
This is one of the most straightforward picks, even if Oleksandr Zinchenko deserves credit for adding tactical flexibility to the present-day Arsenal, inverting into midfield as he does.
For several seasons running Cole was the very best practitioner of his position and even if his time in North London turned sour soon after, it shouldn’t be forgotten what his tenacious tackling and constant marauding down the left flank added to Arsene Wenger’s superbly put-together team.
CB – William Saliba
The first present-day player to be selected and the French defender is chosen at the expense of Kolo Toure who indisputably played a crucial role in Arsenal becoming invincible.
When their careers are viewed as a whole however, it is Saliba who has a higher ceiling, a fact he has demonstrated on a weekly basis now for 18 months and more.
A magnificent reader of danger and cleverly constructive on the ball, the 22-year-old has legendary status awaiting him should he remain at the club.
CB – Sol Campbell
A near ever-present throughout Arsenal’s most imperious of seasons, Campbell finally moved on from the extremely controversial nature of his switch from Spurs.
For the player, marshalling a back-line to an unbeaten league campaign over 38 games must have felt like a significant full stop.
No-one told Tottenham fans about this of course, nor have they since, but the emphatic manner in which the Gunners won a second title in three years was definitive proof that they were a special team, and that he was a special defender.
Indeed, he’s arguably the best England have had, then to now.
Mid – Declan Rice
Bought for a bank-busting, club record fee of £100m, Rice has admirably resisted the temptation to try and be a player he’s not. Instead, he’s kept things simple, offering sterling protection to his back-four while ticking Arsenal over in possession.
He’s done both to the highest possible standard from the off.
His signature saw the Gunners talked up even more in our Premier League tips and there has been absolutely no evidence so far that we were wrong to do so. The England international edges out one heck of a player here in Gilberto incidentally.
Mid – Patrick Vieira
What is there to say? It’s World Cup-winning Patrick Vieira, one of the true giants of the Premier League era.
It’s bad enough that Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires have been demoted to the bench. To overlook the commanding French midfielder would have been sacrilegious and silly.
Not many playmakers would have got through a pairing of Vieira and Rice, by the way. This duo alone would have guaranteed silverware by the bucketful.
Mid – Martin Odegaard
A personal preference. A hill to die on. Robert Pires was silkiness personified and Freddie Ljungberg was like having two players rolled into one, given his energy-levels and creativity.
But the Norwegian is such a joy to watch, an education in how to seek out space between the lines, and an artful master in then dissecting a low block.
When Odegaard is on it, Arsenal tend to win and his importance to their title hopes cannot be understated.
For - Bukayo Saka
Last season, as Mikel Arteta’s men came so close to securing a first league title since the Invincibles, Saka accrued 25 goal involvements, twisting full-back’s spleens along the way. This time out, the 22-year-old has scored or assisted every 105 minutes across all comps.
So impactful is Saka almost every time he steps onto the pitch that perhaps we are in danger of taking his brilliance for granted. Certainly his age is rarely a consideration.
A year younger than Phil Foden and a just a year older then Cole Palmer, the sensational winger is going to get better and better. This is bad news for full-backs everywhere.
For – Dennis Bergkamp
In order to fend over Manchester City and Liverpool and get over the line, what Arsenal wouldn’t give to have Bergkamp fronting their title charge around about now.
Moreover, what the Premier League wouldn’t give to see him once again in his prime, dancing around flailing challenges, deftly passing at a perfect weight, as if wearing carpet slippers.
If pound-for-pound the Invincibles had a couple of equals in the top-flight back in 2004, what their rivals didn’t have was a stonewall genius up top, making productivity look oh-so-beautiful.
For – Thierry Henry
Henry was Arsenal’s leading goal-scorer in their unbeaten, feted campaign, bagging 30 in the league, 39 overall. It was a prolific haul that won him the Premier League Golden Boot, one of four he secured over eight seasons in English football that amounted to an avalanche of goals.
Yet his astonishing strike-rate is only half the story. There was the style and devastating directness in which most were scored, conjuring up moments from nothing, making the difference via his colossal pedigree.
We have not witnessed a better, all-round attacking talent since he left for Barcelona and maybe that will always be the way.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
