In recent years there has been a lack of Arsenal players representing England, however, that has not always been the case and you could easily make up a top-quality England side made up solely of Arsenal players.
I have gone with Arsenal players that have represented England at least once and that I have seen play, so, unfortunately, the likes of Cliff Bastin don’t qualify.
Arsenal England XI
Formation 4-3-3
David Seaman
Seaman was an easy choice really, he has hardly any competition.
Ashley Cole
Best left-back in the world in his day, there was strong competition, Lee Dixon and Nigel Winterburn for example but there has never been a left-back as good as Cole that has played for both Arsenal and England.
Tony Adams
Another obvious one, he would also be the captain of the team, an absolute legend as a leader.
Martin Keown
It was out of Sol Campbell and Keown and my personal preference was for Keown, it is his aggressive nature that swings it for me.
Viv Anderson
What a brilliant player Anderson was and you have to remember the atmosphere he had to play under back in his day. He has almost no competition for this position.
Alan Ball
A world cup winner and played 177 times for Arsenal and was a top-quality midfielder.
Jack Wilshere
Wilshere only played a handful of times for England and yes he was injured a lot but when he was at his best he was simply breathtaking. Such a shame it was so rare.
Michael Thomas
Only played for England twice but in al honesty when I compare him to the other Arsenal midfielders available he is the best of the bunch. I was tempted to slot in David Rocastle but that was probably me being sentimental.
Tony Woodcock
A clinical goalscorer with a dodgy hairstyle, his stats are quite decent and compare favourably with almost every other English Arsenal striker.
Alan Smith
I liked Smith a lot, had a knack for scoring important goals and deserved to be given more opportunities for England.
Ian Wright
No way I could leave Wrighty out. He may not have done it regularly with England but then he was hardly ever given a chance for some reason. One of the very best strikers ever to play for Arsenal.
George Eastham & Joe Baker for me great pairing in the 60’s.
Yes, Joe Baker was light years ahead of all but Thierry Henry.
Agree 100% with Geoff and Ingleby. As a 13 year old when he signed, I idolised Joe Baker. For some reason the England managers, Winterbottom and Ramsey preferred to go with Bobby Smith. Smith was an old fashion Centre Forward who just used his weight but Joe, although not that tall, was good in the air, very skilful and lightning fast With a record of 100 goals in just over 150 games his scoring record was phenomenal. Signed for £72,000 from Torino at the beginning of the ’62/’63 season, I was at his debut against Leyton Orient where he was immediately off the mark. I got his autograph on many occasions as a youngster but actually met him when he sat behind me in the East Stand in 1986 at the Arsenal centenary game when lots of former players were invited. An absolute Gentleman who I’d never heard a bad word said about him, he also hated bullies as big 6′ 4″ Ron Yeats found to his cost when he took on Joe in fifth rd FA Cup match in 1964. Ha Ha, he never messed with Joe again after that.
Not a bad looking team and would like to see Supermac and Walcott on as subs. Also The Romford Pele.
Need to get some balance in the line-up. Surely Rocastle has to be in there over Thomas, and Rix on the left.
AdMartin- good to see you include Tony Woodcock in that team. I still maintain he was a far better striker than Ian Wright, and was at Arsenal after turning down Liverpool and Man Utd because he is on record as saying he wanted to play for The Arsenal. Tip top striker
Go back to 1934, when England beat World Champions Italy 3-2 in “The Battle of Highbury” and you could put 7 in straight away. Moss, Male, Hapgood, Copping, Bowden, Drake and Bastin
Ashley Cole was a superb, world class left back and also gets my nod for the left back position. You say there was competition for that Position from Lee Dixon and Nigel Winterburn. For a start Lee Dixon was never a left back, couldn’t even kick with his left foot and if you really want competition for Cole then surely it was Kenny Sansom, did you see Sansom Martin? Better than Winterburn by a mile and definitely touch and go with Cole
Kenny Samson was right you there Kenny, and with Graham Rix gave us such an attacking outlet down the left. But Ashley Cole was the better of the two and without doubt the best left back in the world for at least 5-6 seasons.Great player.
And Kee Dixon was never given the credit of how good he was unless you followed Arsenal. He was often derided but he proved how good he was from the minute he joined us until the day he left.
We were also fortunate to have 3 great great Centre Backs in Adams Keown and Campbell, but Steve Bould was also one hell of a CB who never got the credit he deserved.
Agree with you Phil, Ashley Cole’s partnership with Robert Pires was one of the highlights of the Invincible attack, the triangles they played down the left wing were phenomenal. He certainly gets my nod but Kenny Sansom wasn’t far behind. As for Lee Dixon, ok. no left foot but every a ball that was played over the heads of Bould and Adams you’d see Dixie sweeping up behind. Met him recently in the lift going up to my seat at the Emirates, Arsenal scarf an all. As a joke, said to him “thought you were a City man Dix” he replied “you kidding, couldn’t play for 15 years for a club without supporting them” good as gold very approachable and friendly to everyone.
Kenny, your comments are always spot on! I love how much detail you go into – because of that I can imagine just what it would’ve been like to have been there! Thanks Kenny and keep them coming 👍
And you as well Sue, You’re the most polite person on this site. Whenever I write about one of your comments you always come back to answer. You don’t leave anyone out, you treat everyone the same. You’re an example to all of us
😊 thanks, Kenny
Wilshere really?
Campbell over keown surely
Would love to have seen Platt in there
This is good for those who no less about the history of Arsenal and its former players.