The Best Arsenal Players Of All Time

Who would have thought something as banal as a list of Arsenal players could cause so much havoc? Yesterday, to the chagrin of many, an article was posted in the Telegraph listing the greatest 50 Arsenal players of all time.

This list featured a number of players most people were in agreement did not deserve the accolade and a few placements were called into question also.

Open and friendly debate about such lists is a fun way to pass an otherwise boring international weekend however some of the incredulity astounded me. There were people displaying genuine ire at where one player was placed and how another even made it into the list at the expense of another.

My small offering to a number of these debates was that such lists are entirely subjective and not worth being infuriated over. Choosing your top 50 Arsenal players, or even top 10 is much like choosing your 10 favourite albums, films, Xbox 360 games, holiday destinations, trainers etc.

We all have different tastes, experiences and backgrounds which determine what we consider to be “best”. The thing about “best” is it is an entirely subjective concept.

What we consider to be best is often influenced by what we have seen most often, what we grew up with and what we are told as we grow up.

James Bond for example, most people of my generation say Pierce Brosnan is the best Bond whilst those who grew up with Connery and Moore will argue it is one of those. I personally think Daniel Craig is the best Bond followed closely by Timothy Dalton because for my personal taste they best capture the darkness of Bond, the grittiness, the slight instability. Connery was great and in my opinion a worthy 3rd place whilst I believe Moore to be saved from the title of worst only by the woodenness of Lazenby.

Moore and Brosnan, in my view, were all about silly one-liners, increasingly ridiculous storylines (the moon…. Icarus lazer…. MADONNA!!), and gadgetry. One-liners are a staple of the Bond series but when they make up what feels like 80% of the dialogue it becomes tiresome. Hark at me, I could wax about Bond all day.

Bond was an example of taste and millions of people will disagree with me but I’m not going to become spumescent with rage over a list that puts Daniel Craig in 3rd place or Dalton in last.

I could not name my top five films because they change depending on what mood I am in. It also changes with time as I experience “classic” films for the first time. I must have been in my teens when I first watched The Ipcress File and only because it was featured in the BFI best 100 British films.

Another entirely subjective list influenced my tastes and introduced me to a whole new world of film.

I mentioned whilst having the best Arsenal players debate that no-one pre-1970 would make it into my list because their inclusion would be purely on the recommendation of others and therefore not really my list at all.

I only know players from the 70s and early 80s because I grew up watching VHS tapes of them. Those tapes generally only show the best of those players so anyone from that era would too be a slightly false inclusion.

David Rocastle and Michael Thomas played for different teams when I was a boy and it is only as I grew up and access to the internet became more readily available that I started to appreciate their Arsenal careers.

The best Arsenal players of all time cannot be defined because they will change depending on whom you ask. The best films of all time, the greatest video games and the top books will be different from person to person so don’t be angry if someone else thinks differently from you. Discuss, debate, educate if you must but never be angry.

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