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Did Arsenal really make the right call?

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When Arsenal announced that three statues were to be unveiled on Friday outside The Emirates the debate about their identities was bound to consume Arsenal fans, each with their own special memories, each with their own favourite players.

The trio of Herbert Chapman, Tony Adams and Thierry Henry were revealed but not all agreed. Most of the talk on the Internet predicted that Thierry Henry and Arsene Wenger would be accompanied by one other, the identity of which varied from person to person depending on their generation and therefore favourite players. Writers such as The Mirror’s John Cross claimed that whilst the three figures warranted their place on the plinths so did so many other individuals such as George Graham, and Ian Wright. To a certain extent this is true.

Ian Wright was one of the best and most charismatic Arsenal players that I have witnessed in my two decades of watching Arsenal. In the latter George Graham years he was almost the soul outlet for a largely defensive side and the personality the exuded from both himself and his football made ‘boring’ Arsenal a pleasure to watch. To break Cliff Bastin’s scoring record as he did was a remarkable feat considering he played in such a defensive side under Graham and he was unfortunate that his record was so short lived due to the mercurial Henry. But that is the point really. However good Wright was, and he was an exceptional talent, Henry was better and he not only broke Wright’s record but he beat it by more than forty goals.

I think that ahead of Wright in the queue would come Dennis Bergkamp too. Bergkamp’s move to Arsenal was a seminal moment not only for Arsenal but also for all English clubs. Prior to the Dutchman their had been few players from the continent who had come over to England with their best years ahead of them as Dennis did. Bergkamp encapsulated Wenger’s new look Arsenal perfectly and brought a touch of class to the Premier League that was rarely seen before and we have rarely seen since.

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4 comments

  • Alun says:

    Personally I would have liked to see Frank McClintock. As he was the first Arsenal captain to lift the Double, also the Fairs cup was the first trophy after 15 years without a trophy.

  • young_gunnerz says:

    Rocky, Bergkamp, brady, I say just make a forest of statues with the best players of each generation 🙂

  • Dav says:

    Why no mention of McLintock? Captain of the first Arsenal team to do the double. I feel with Chapman already having a bust another statue was not needed and Frank would have been my choice. Adams defo right and can’t argue with Henry he alongside Vieira really emptomise that particular stage of Arsenal. Adams is the transitional player from the successful Graham era to winning the double twice under Wenger, with McLintock you would the have all the most successful periods represented in statues if you take Chapman’s bust into account

  • sadman says:

    I think Wenger and Bergkamp will be added in due course once their current/future association with Arsenal has ended. George Graham I don’t think will ever be added to the group because of his financial misbehaviour (i.e. bungs).

    Ian Wright is an open question?

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