The Emirates Stadium celebrated its 20th anniversary in July.
August 19th was two decades to the day since it opened its doors to the Premiership.
Join me throughout the season (especially during the international break) as we wish a happy birthday to our home.
Let’s start by putting together the greatest Arsenal XI of the Emirates era.
Let me know yours in the comments…
Raya – GK
Remember when so many Gooners (myself included) couldn’t understand why we loaned David Raya (with an obligation to buy) when we already had Ramsdale?
Rambo had made some errors, but not enough, it seemed, for millions to be invested in the GK position when other areas of the squad needed fixing.
This is a reminder, though, that we fans don’t see players every day in training.
While Mikel Arteta originally pretended he wouldn’t have a number one goalie and might even rotate during a game, he clearly saw something in the Spaniard he felt was lacking in the team.
Who would have thought back then I would be selecting David Raya as the best Arsenal keeper in the Emirates era?
The 30-year-old has won three Golden Gloves, one every year since he moved to North London, and some of his saves last season won us points.
Sagna – RB
Just because of injuries, I’m not quite ready to pick Timber over the Frenchman. That also counts against Bellerin.
So Sagna gets the nod for pure consistency.
He was part of that impressive young Arsenal squad who just needed some experience at key times in matches/seasons to get them over the line.
Maybe because he became the latest to think the grass was greener at the Etihad (it was), his seven years as a Gunner are underrated.
We knew the 2014 FA Cup Final would be his last game for us. It would have been an injustice if he didn’t have a medal to show for his contribution to the cause.
Gabriel – CB
For years we were told that the Emirates wouldn’t feel like home until it produced moments that led to trophies.
What were the two most important aspects of a Premiership being lifted in the Emirates era?
Arsenal’s ability to defend better than the rest of the division and how creative we became at set-piece routines.
The Brazilian has been crucial to both.
Saliba – CB
The other half is easily the best defensive partnership the stadium has seen.
For the majority of the time since the venue was opened, various versions of the Gunners tried to play football the right way.
Even in Mr Wenger’s final years as a manager, the Emirates was a place you knew you would see entertainment.
For the majority of its existence, few would have believed the title would be won by being hard to break down, not easy to bully, a willingness to fight, and a love for the art form of defending.
Saliba is a massive part of that and is at an age where he will only get better.
Clichy – LB
If he stays fit, Calafiori will eventually get into this XI, but for the moment I will pick the last Invincible to play at the Emirates (not including Henry’s short return).
In the last couple of years at Highbury, the Frenchman was being prepared to be Ashley Cole’s replacement.
He had all the attributes Mr Wenger wanted from his full-backs.
Another youngster, though, who played in a youthful dressing room that just needed some leadership to help.
Gooners were so distraught about Fabregas and Nasri leaving in the same window, Clichy leaving for Man City went under the radar at the time.
Declan Rice – CM
Let’s be honest, most who have ever visited the Emirates never believed the day would come when Arsenal would be investing £100 million on one player.
The irony being that it was the cost of building our home that restricted the club for so long on and off the pitch.
The 27-year-old has been exactly what Hammers told us he would be and so much more.
He’s an all-round midfielder, which is so rare in the sport, and in many ways he’s become one of the faces of the Champions.
If we are honest, as a fanbase, too many years at our stadium have been spent seeing our best talent want to eventually leave.
It’s so refreshing to see a player so happy and proud to wear the shirt.
Ramsey – CM
Listen, Cazorla and Ozil are better footballers, and Ramsey’s injury history will always leave him as a ‘what if’ (along with Super Jack).
So I guess the Welshman makes my team as a cult hero.
It’s easy to take for granted now, but there were zero trophies in the first eight years at the Emirates, and it was becoming a mental block for everyone connected with the club.
Rambo made that all go away with his goal against Hull in the FA Cup Final.
Then, like London buses, having waited so long for one piece of silverware to show up, another came along quickly.
As already mentioned, a ground can’t be called home until they have moments to connect that era with.
The Oxford United boss lifted three FA Cups, scoring two winners at Wembley.
Fabregas – CM
I will leave readers to debate if the Spaniard was the best Gunner (at his peak) to play at the Emirates. I will say that no one on this list deserved more to show for his performances at the stadium.
That he only has an FA Cup medal to show for his time in North London is an insult to his talent and why many understood why he needed to return to Barcelona.
Growing from a teen into a man under Mr Wenger, Fabregas became the face of the club as we transitioned away from Highbury.
Made captain by the age of 21, he led a young dressing room who, with a little more knowledge, would have won trophies.
Little did we know it at the time, but the debt of paying off building the stadium meant the midfielder had to leave to fulfil his ambitions.
Don’t rule out him returning one day as manager.
Sanchez – LM
Not the first or last to leave the Emirates thinking the grass was greener in Manchester, has there been a big-name player who left since the stadium was opened who regrets it quite like the Chilean?
The 37-year-old has admitted that many times over the years. Even on his first day as a Man United employee, he asked his agent if they could cancel his contract after one training session.
He was such a flop at Old Trafford it’s almost ruined his legacy in North London.
Because for a few years as a Gunner, he was one of the best players in the Premiership.
It had been a few years since Gooners could claim that.
Arsenal have lifted 14 FA Cups in their history. Sanchez scored in two finals. In fact, his scoring record for club and country at Wembley is impressive.
The only issue is he knew he was good, which didn’t make him the best leader when things were going wrong.
Van Persie – Striker
If we are taking the emotion out of this list, it’s hard to argue the Dutchman had perhaps the greatest individual season of any Gunner in the Emirates era.
He almost single-handedly dragged a poor squad into the top three. Very few campaigns did Gooners owe so much to one man.
The idea Arsenal would sell their best player to Man United was confirmation that the target in North London was no longer to win titles.
Questioning the ambition of our board with an open letter, Van Persie had to go to Old Trafford to get the Premier League medal he deserved.
To be fair to him, for the rest of his career he wasn’t proved wrong about our lack of ambition.
Saka – RM
Was four years old when the Emirates opened!
Now 25, he has seen the Gunners at their lowest ebb at their stadium with two eighth-place finishes and at their highest by bringing the Premiership trophy back to North London.
When Mikel Arteta returned to the club he captained, he spoke about non-negotiable principles. Big personalities were removed from the dressing room, as our manager was willing to take a few steps back to build a team around youth.
Saka became the face of one of the youngest squads in the division.
Even though some are concerned injuries have robbed him of pace, his goal contributions remain consistent.
Dan Smith
Have Your Say
Put your team in the comments, peeps, and we can see which players get the majority of picks.
Who makes your greatest Arsenal XI of the Emirates era, and where do you disagree with Dan’s selections?
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I would take Monreal over Clichy, loved that guy, so consistent
Was thinking exactly the same Montreal, for his consistency and I think Giroud is underated too I’ll take him for Vanpersie.
Same here, loved Monreal!
Definitely, Monreal over Clichy.
I am having difficulty choosing between Fabregas and Santi Cazorla. I would have to give the edge to Santi Cazorla as he was more 2 footed than Fabregas.
Auba instead of Van “the snake” Persie.
Everything was okay till you left out ALEXIS SANCHEZ
😂
Gk- Raya
LB- Gael Clichy
RCB- Gabriel Meghalles
RCB- William Saliba
RB- Bacary Sagna
DMF- Declan Rice
CM- Fabregas
AMF- Mesut Ozil
LW-Sanchez
RW- Bulayo Saka
CF- Thierry Henry
There’s no way Ramsey is in the best Emerates 11 and Mesit Ozil played for Arsenal Ramsey was a useless rubbish midfielder that Wenger love for him caused Arsenal lits of championships he wasn’t a goal scorer nor a play maker and he surely wasnt a ball winner , as an Arsenal fan for 40 years I absolutely hated seeing hom on the pitch a total waste just like jack whiltshire just imagine that Wenger sold Serge Genabry and kept those 2 rubbish players SMFH ……Wenger should be shame of himself!!
I echo your sentiments, it reopened the wounds again and this article has rubbed salt in them.
Was tortured watching Rambo slow down the game allowing the rivals to regroup and the never ending injury saga of Wilshire. This article was not required at this stage when we just lifted the EPL and beat a very tough opponent.
The lads who won the first EPL at the Emirates have to be the best 11 (+ 14 who made it to the bench) along with the manager. And this victory was not a fluke, as they finished second on earlier occasions.
Monreal > Clichy; Carzola > Fabrigas; Rosinsky > Ramsey; Adebayor > Van Persie, if skill is the basis of selection.
Ramsey doesn’t sit right for me – after his return from injury, I remember he had a period where he started to dominate the midfield through athleticism and skill but couldn’t score, then he had an amazing breakout season where he showed he could do everything, including score plenty of goals, but after that it all seemed to go to his head and my memory of him then is of someone who stopped caring about defending and just wanted to score worldies all the time. Then he started to pick up little injuries and ended up leaving. He’s one of the biggest disappointments to me – could have been world class, but imo wasn’t because of ego (of course there’s probably many other things at play, so this may be too harsh – this is just how I saw it). If it were to be based on one season, it would be a toss up between him and flamini for me – flamini was ridiculous in 07/08 and allowed us to get the best from fabregas. I’d lean towards flamini tbh.
Instead of Ramsey, I do think auba makes the most sense, with a formation change – despite how it ended, it’s undeniable he was outstanding for several seasons. If I had to pick a midfielder, though, it would be Song, who imo was one of the most misunderstood players we’ve had – he was consistently one of our best players in every game for two or three years and very often dominated the game from midfield. I do believe we’d have dropped out of that coveted top 4 slot on more than one occasion without him. Basically I think people wanted him to be a holding midfielder when he wasn’t exactly that, and blamed him excessively when the defence was sometimes exposed against the top teams. He wasn’t perfect and it did frustrate me he didn’t answer those critics but going the extra mile because I think he was capable of it, but he was brilliant for us over several seasons.
All other picks I think are great, with the caveats on the fullbacks.
Pretty much wanted to play as forward
And forgot he was a cm
For the LB yes, injuries are to be considered speaking about him, but in my opinion Calafiori is already the best LB we had since we moved to the Emirates. I loved both Clichy and Monreal, but they are not farely comparable to Calafiori in my opinion.
For the Striker, I think that the best we had were Aubameyang and Giroud. Giroud maybe a little bit better because of his great professional attitude.
Ah forgot about giroud – tbh I think giroud ended up having a better career than auba, but going only on their time at arsenal, auba was clearly our best player for quite a while and I don’t think giroud ever was. Maybe he was underappreciated at arsenal or maybe he matured and continued getting better after he left, but he certainly left his mark on football by the end.
Imo neither touched van persie though – he was at least as prolific as auba and more rounded than both.
Just on the goalkeeper, I see that Ramsdale is now fourth choice goalkeeper at Southampton.
Yes, don’t adjust you’re screen, you really did read that right, fourth choice.
And the furore surrounding his cruel treatment by Arteta, Derek. It kind of rings bells. However, confidence is a vital commodity and as I frequently remind people, Joe Hart was dropped by Guardiola and his career faltered for years
To me it wasn’t so much the cruel/ruthless treatment as that is unfortunately part of the business at times, but with the decision to upset the apple cart for what was far from a guaranteed improvement in goal. Of course with his spirit as a gunner and leadership (displayed on multiple occasions), he was no doubt crushed especially given our recent turnaround (of which he was a significant part) at the time.
There’s no telling how things would have been going forward for the club and unfortunately, as can see, for himself had the change not occurred. As it turned out, to Raya’s credit (and the Arsenal football staff) he has improved incredibly and excelled and is, I believe most people’s opinion, one of the best keepers in the world. Who’s to say Ramsdale would not have ultimately been held in the same esteem if Raya had never been acquired as the new #1.
From memory, Ramsdale said something along the lines -to Arteta – that he didn’t maintain complete concentration during a game. I was very fond of AR – he had saved our bacon at times and it did seem puzzling that Arteta wanted Raya. I hadn’t got a clue that Raya was going to turn out so well at the time, but Ramsdale’s remarks would not have helped his cause one iota.
SueP,
The way I heard it was that Arteta actually wanted to sign Raya before he signed Ramsdale. But Brentford refused to sell Raya at the time.
But when the opportunity arose, Arteta then got his original first choice.
There is that as well Derek. Do you think that Ramsdale’s future could have resulted in a better outcome? It’s been a couple of years since he left. Very sad indeed that he’s been unable to maintain any momentum and has ended up being completely sidelined
SueP,
Yes it does surprise me to see that he’s fourth choice. But then to be fare their manager likes to spy on the opposition, so his judgement isn’t up to much as far as I can see.
Regards Ramsdale and his future, being a goalkeeper he’s still got plenty of time hasn’t he. I’m sure there will be clubs out there who will take him to be their number one somewhere down the line.
Just a question to my fellow poster’s, is it just me or is anyone else’s post’s taking time before they go through.
I think I’d have to agree with The Shoba Reality Show.
The Current first 11, by the very fact that they won the P L title last season, after three 2nd place finishes – two of which were very close to winning the title – and were within one penalty of winning the C L – after the very impressive run to the C L semis the previous season – and only really lost the League Cup Final due to goalkeeping errors from our ‘reserve’ goalie – would classify them as the objective best 11 – in my view.
Obviously, Fabregas, Van Persie, Sanchez, and probably Cazorla would make the current team Team as well.
Let’s put the ‘exits’ of Fabregas and Van Persie aside.
While they wore the Arsenal Shirt, they always gave their brilliant best for the Badge.
I’m glad that Ozil and Aubameyang are not on Dan’s list -and everyone has their own list and view.
While Ozil and Aubameyang we great individual players, in my view, as their contracts came up for renewal, they ‘played for the cash.’
Once they got their fat paydays they became lazy wasters, terrible examples to younger players and disruptive influences at the Club.
We now have a young hungry professional team / squad – with no superstars in their own heads.
They are all SUPERSTARS.
Raya
Sagna – Koscielny- Gabu.- Monreal
Rice-carzola
Saka-Fabrigas-Sanchez
Aubameyang
Raya
Timber
Saliba
Gabriel
Clichy
Fabregas
Rice
Cazorla
Sanchez
Hleb or Rosicky
Henry
A mouthwatering attack if ever there was one. 👍
Good effort
Raya
Sagna Saliba Gabriel Monreal
Alex Song Fabregas
Nasri Ozil Sanchez
Van Persie
Sub: GK Szczęsny
DF Bellerin White Vermaelen Koscielny Mertesacker Clichy
MF Rice Ramsey Wilshere carzola Rosicky
CF Adebayor Aubamenyang
Raya
Cala Saliba Gabriel Timber
Rice
Fabregas Carzola
Saka. RVP. Sanchez
Today’s defensive steel mixed with some extra control and attacking flair. I’m seeing Spain 2010 but with a better cf and a stronger defence.