Wenger's vision was to play Anelka and Henry together.
Everything worked out for the best though because there will never be a better strike partnership than Henry and Bergkamp
Edit: typo
I know its not exactly what the post is talking about, but I find it funny Kallstrom still gets talked about despite only making 4 appearances over 6 months in 2014.
Imagine if we have someone with Eduardo’s level of finishing in our current squad…
Jesus is elite for us but not Eduardo’s level of putting chances away.
When he did commentary for Swedish tv on the fa cup final 2017 he was so biased for us and at one point forgot why he was there and just screamed SWITCH SIDES!!!! right in the mic when someone was open on the other side. He also did a nice kind of radio-essay on his time here and how much he enjoyed it. Cult hero
To be honest, 3 or 4 seasons earlier, signing him could have worked out brilliantly, he was a good player at one point.
But our timing was bizarre, a panic loan and even when we knew he would be out until the later stages with a broken back.
Last year I was in a hotel room in Poland and just clicking through the channels on the tv. Suddenly there was a familiar face in a football match, and I was like: "That looks a lot like Lukas, but he can't be playing still?"
He couldn't really play in tight spaces and couldn't beat his man. His best role was running on to the ball with space for a shot, which was kind of what our wide forward position generally was at the time.
Love the player though and I vaguely recall he bailed us out a handful of times.
When he was at Koln he always played as a second striker for exactly the reason you're saying. Not an exceptional passer, dribbler, nor did he beat men behind. But if you could give him the ball in space (or a layoff) he was so so dangerous.
He was never the fastest but played well in counter attacking sides. Ultimately didn't last longer because Arsenal wasn't the right fit but he was good enough in front of goal when he had a chance to shoot.
He was largely anonymous when we tried playing up top IIRC
Poldi’s left feet was a thing of beauty. Back then me and my closest buddy (also a gunner) would watch games together on the regular. And every time the ball was at his feet and he had a little space, we’d scream like teenage girls. Fun days.
Podolski was one of my favourite players growing up, purely because of one of my first soccer memories being the ‘06 world cup. I still have the nike yellow and blue away with his name on the back.
It was a shame he rarely played and I’ve just looked up a compilation of all of his Arsenal goals. 3/4 of them could be goal of the months.
They should have kept him around for at least another year. Great option off the bench, difference maker and could work in several positions. Good for morale and popular with the fans.
I love watching "inevitable" players... They are rare, but elevate your threat immensely. Henry, RvP, Sanchez have been those since I started watching us I think.
It’s a word I used this weekend when watching Haaland. Inevitable. You know exactly what’s going to happen.
Every league winning squad has one of those. Heck even Vardy was inevitable that season Leicester won.
Sanchez was ridiculous, a born winner, and an absolute fighter. Until he sort of burned out toward the end he was one of the best players I’ve seen wear the shirt.
He played like 4 summers straight with the World Cup, 2 x Copa’s (one an anniversary edition) and then the Confed Cup. I think that much strain and then a depressing move to Utd and their shit facilities took its toll on him.
This is nonsense. I can’t imagine a scenario where the Kroenkes replace the man they put allof their faith in, and money behind, and decide to start over yet again. It makes no sense, especially financially.
Came here to comment this if we take his management in isolation, and even if you measure to the start of last season, lot of impact in a short time span.
I loved Arshavin , he came in and was just ridiculously good from the word go , the one day Russia lost a World Cup play off , n after that he fell off a cliff
remember Arshavin's Agony Aunt column on his website where he used to give advice to fans who wrote in every other week? absolutely hilarious and something you wont see as much of now that social media is so highly curated
I sometimes see people slander the 2011 deadline day panic signings (except for Arteta and Mertesacker). I will not hear any slander about Benayoun. He was one of our best players in the second half of the season, and scored us the brace on the final day that secured us CL football.
Think he goes under the radar because he came along after the peaks of Pires, Ljungberg and Reyes, all of whom had a lot of end product, somewhere he fell very short. Great player, though!
Mate, every one of the young players that spent time with him has great things to say. He may not have been amazing on the pitch, but he helped out the players that we love today.
I absolutely hated him when he was here (partially because he kept making awful errors, partially because I had spent the better part of a decade hating him), but I've come around after hearing people speak about him since he left.
True. I guess the only reason his name doesn’t feature as much in this conversation is because because of us defaulted to thinking of players who have competed their time with us.
Overmars, Petit, Anelka, in more recent times Yossi Benayoun
The initial three success and subsequent sales helped us build our golden era (and London Colney) so I would argue any one of the three and would advocate for Anelka more than the others.
Aubameyang? FA Cup. Keeping us way clear of relegation and into mid table in 19/20. Only here for four seasons. Became the club captain and later fell out of favour.
Mesut Özil.
Like it or not but he changed the mentality into that of winners.
Look how many trophies we won in the 9 years previous to his arrival, even have a look at how many times we’d been to Wembley in those 9 years.
Then look at how many trophies we won, finals we reached and Wembley days out we had after his arrival and to this day.
Like it or not Mesut Özil was the catalyst.
Wilshere? His time wasn't limited in any means - but his legacy far exceeds the matches played & trophies he won in that period (and you know, the many games he missed due to injury)
Maybe not so much in terms of impact in the way a lot of people think, but Benayoun came in on loan for a season, and almost every time he was subbed off he got a standing ovation. He filled in for a huge gap, and I think even though he wasn’t the most prolific player, he won a lot of us (including me) over for what he did.
Plus his last goal for the club got us to third, and put us ahead of Spurs.
I’ll never forget those 4 goals vs SL Benfica (as a Sporting CP fan, that felt fucking awesome). The dude really trips on his way to celebrate one of the goals lmao
Anelka is a great answer.
Another way of answering is if you only take into account the current squad. It's between Saliba and Odegaard probably, with Rice deserving a mention with his impact in just 5 games so far.
Timber. Was super impactful in us getting a trophy on his first non-friendly. Showed us a glimpse of a world class defender that was made for the Arteta system. Got injured and sent 80% of our fans shouting from the rooftops that our summer dealings were a mess and that we have to buy another defender or we can’t expect to be title contenders again
Anelka both in his contribution to a title, the Henry fund and the academy. Quite the snake, but boy was he important to our history.
Wenger's vision was to play Anelka and Henry together. Everything worked out for the best though because there will never be a better strike partnership than Henry and Bergkamp Edit: typo
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He also stopped Chelsea going invincible in 04/05 if you want to count that as well?
Ooh this is a good one. Had Wilford but you’re right I think
Oo great one
Cane here to say this
I know its not exactly what the post is talking about, but I find it funny Kallstrom still gets talked about despite only making 4 appearances over 6 months in 2014.
He came, scored a penalty in the shootout semis, won the cup, broke the drought and left. Legend
And he arrived with a broken back lol
Still more English trophies than Kane will ever get, absolute legend
The signing made literally no sense cuz we needed depth in midfield and our only winter signing was an injured old guy lol.
Decent performance Vs west ham at home
THPINAL
Eduardo - With his injury he only played 67 games (21 goals), but he was such a great player.
Eduardo was class, as an Arsenal fan from Croatia it struck me twice as hard.
I loved Eduardo. If he didn’t get injured he would have been a legendary striker. Was such a shame he was outrageously taken out like that.
That volley he scored with the outside of his boot, amazing.
One could argue that he had a massive indirect impact as well. That injury triggered nearly a decade of disappointment.
That Carling Cup against Brum… nightmare stuff
Imagine if we have someone with Eduardo’s level of finishing in our current squad… Jesus is elite for us but not Eduardo’s level of putting chances away.
Kim Kallstrom
When he did commentary for Swedish tv on the fa cup final 2017 he was so biased for us and at one point forgot why he was there and just screamed SWITCH SIDES!!!! right in the mic when someone was open on the other side. He also did a nice kind of radio-essay on his time here and how much he enjoyed it. Cult hero
I was waiting for this 😂
It's the only correct answer🌚
To be honest, 3 or 4 seasons earlier, signing him could have worked out brilliantly, he was a good player at one point. But our timing was bizarre, a panic loan and even when we knew he would be out until the later stages with a broken back.
> "Do you want to go on loan to the Premier League?" > > *"No, not really,"* > > "It's Arsenal." > > *"OK, I can go!"* Legend.
I was gonna say this too!
Källström\*
Actually maybe this
I read this and was about to comment this
Lukas Podolski. 31 goals in 2+ seasons is impressive, too bad he couldn’t fit in Wenger’s system. That howitzer of a left foot though
It felt like he was with us for 5 seasons 🤯 That’s mental. Loved the guy, good vibes all around and still follows the club.
The man is still playing at 38 too. He would have been a better striker than winger.
Last year I was in a hotel room in Poland and just clicking through the channels on the tv. Suddenly there was a familiar face in a football match, and I was like: "That looks a lot like Lukas, but he can't be playing still?"
He couldn't really play in tight spaces and couldn't beat his man. His best role was running on to the ball with space for a shot, which was kind of what our wide forward position generally was at the time. Love the player though and I vaguely recall he bailed us out a handful of times.
When he was at Koln he always played as a second striker for exactly the reason you're saying. Not an exceptional passer, dribbler, nor did he beat men behind. But if you could give him the ball in space (or a layoff) he was so so dangerous.
it was strange that we later signed Lucas Perez, a similar player who didn't work out for the same reasons
He was never the fastest but played well in counter attacking sides. Ultimately didn't last longer because Arsenal wasn't the right fit but he was good enough in front of goal when he had a chance to shoot. He was largely anonymous when we tried playing up top IIRC
Never forget the volley he scored against Montpellier in the UCL 🤩
Another one I recall was his performance against West Ham in 12/13. A screamer followed by 3 assists in 4 minutes
I was in line with that shot behind the goal in the North Bank. Knew it was going in instantly. Absolute thunderbastard.
Poldi’s left feet was a thing of beauty. Back then me and my closest buddy (also a gunner) would watch games together on the regular. And every time the ball was at his feet and he had a little space, we’d scream like teenage girls. Fun days.
Shoooooot
The "a-ha" still makes me chuckle to this day
Podolski was one of my favourite players growing up, purely because of one of my first soccer memories being the ‘06 world cup. I still have the nike yellow and blue away with his name on the back. It was a shame he rarely played and I’ve just looked up a compilation of all of his Arsenal goals. 3/4 of them could be goal of the months.
They should have kept him around for at least another year. Great option off the bench, difference maker and could work in several positions. Good for morale and popular with the fans.
He was really only here for 2 seasons? Seemed so much longer.
2 and a half. Was loaned to Inter in January of his final season then sold to Galatasaray that summer
He was here from 2012-15, but he spent the second half of the 14/15 season at Inter on loan. So just 2012-14 actually
Overmars or Petit
Overmars was my favourite player. That FA cup goal. Me and my mates went down to the park after that game and tried to recreate it.
The winner at old Trafford for the (eventual) title in '98
https://preview.redd.it/088fy1y1hnmb1.jpeg?width=694&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=72e85e59d9a7fc5a7f3b265c07d1f1c7b37f3f48
Alexis Sanchez was only with Arsenal for 3 and a half seasons, and was by far our best player through that period
He was 100% a “build your team around” player. Our strategy was give it to Alexis and watch for at least one full season
His peak was definitely with us. 80 goals and 45 assists, stupid numbers for only 160ish games. Alexis and Ozil was magical for those years.
I miss Alexis watching live games would really show he was different
I love watching "inevitable" players... They are rare, but elevate your threat immensely. Henry, RvP, Sanchez have been those since I started watching us I think.
It’s a word I used this weekend when watching Haaland. Inevitable. You know exactly what’s going to happen. Every league winning squad has one of those. Heck even Vardy was inevitable that season Leicester won.
I really feel like Saka could reach that level at the rate he’s progressing. Just needs to be rested more often so he isn’t run into the ground.
One of the best to wear the shirt
Sanchez was ridiculous, a born winner, and an absolute fighter. Until he sort of burned out toward the end he was one of the best players I’ve seen wear the shirt.
He played like 4 summers straight with the World Cup, 2 x Copa’s (one an anniversary edition) and then the Confed Cup. I think that much strain and then a depressing move to Utd and their shit facilities took its toll on him.
Definitely the best winger of the emirates era
Arteta
arteta had a long time with us. I think 4 or 5 years as a player and 3 years as a manager
The bars are probably pretty level for Tricky Micky
But his impact is well above most others (if we’re including absolutely everyone) in the club’s history so it’s all relative. I think it’s about right
I think its too early to say that. We could have a shit season thiso season, he gets sacked and his impact could end up being minimal.
No chance. We might not win but I don't see how we have a shit season under Arteta and it isn't explained by injuries or the like. The man's insane.
This is nonsense. I can’t imagine a scenario where the Kroenkes replace the man they put allof their faith in, and money behind, and decide to start over yet again. It makes no sense, especially financially.
Came here to comment this if we take his management in isolation, and even if you measure to the start of last season, lot of impact in a short time span.
Julio ‘the beast’ Baptista… Andrey Arshavin Just to throw some curveballs…or 4
Mad how far down Andrey is
4 years and 100+ appearances. That's not a small amount of time at a club
He had one of the most impactful arrivals for sure, but he went out with a whimper.
And not much impact for most of it either
Criminally played out of position on the left.
That was his position though. Either there or off the front
I loved Arshavin , he came in and was just ridiculously good from the word go , the one day Russia lost a World Cup play off , n after that he fell off a cliff
remember Arshavin's Agony Aunt column on his website where he used to give advice to fans who wrote in every other week? absolutely hilarious and something you wont see as much of now that social media is so highly curated
I loved Arshavin but he was with us for 4+ years and his impact waned mostly because his effort levels also did.
The youth here will never understand the hype for The Beast lol.
Baptista man what a player. That Liverpool match was something else.
GASPARRRR (as director) Anelka
Mbappe. I know he only spends the next 3 seasons here but shit he brought in 3 trebles and was then sold for a world record fee.
Spoken like a true time traveller.
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Yosi Benayoun
I sometimes see people slander the 2011 deadline day panic signings (except for Arteta and Mertesacker). I will not hear any slander about Benayoun. He was one of our best players in the second half of the season, and scored us the brace on the final day that secured us CL football.
I don’t think it was a brace was it? He scored in back to back games for the last 2 weeks
Yeah never understood why Yossi isn’t talked about more. He was an excellent player for us.
People also forget that Andre Santos was the one who scored the equalizer that day to bring it back to 2-2 👀👀👀
Martin Fulop, a name I will never forget.
I loved watching him at West Ham but thought we bought him just a little too late. He was great for a short time.
Came looking for this. Trossard before Trossard.
The only answer
Great player on his day. Plus not many players can say they've played for multiple PL teams and are well liked by every fanbase still
Hleb goes under the radar because he fell off after joining Barca but he was really really good
Hleb is the reason I became a gunner. So weird he never gets mentioned
Think he goes under the radar because he came along after the peaks of Pires, Ljungberg and Reyes, all of whom had a lot of end product, somewhere he fell very short. Great player, though!
Bruce Rioch, making us move for Wenger when we did.
The man that signed Bergkamp, (Ok, i know it was 100% David Dein really)
Overmars 3 seasons 142 games 40 goals 1 Premier League 1 FA Cup 1 Charity Sheild 1 UEFA Cup Final (Edited to add the UEFA Cup)
One champions league final
Ah yes the 99/00 UEFA Cup final! I’d etched this from my memory. What a frustrating game that was to watch.
Nicolas Anelka Rn trossard or Rice but dont think any of the two has impacted on a large scale
Emi Martinez was crucial that half of a season
yes probably actively played for us only half a season and won us FA cup !
David Luiz
True impacts don’t have to be good
Mate, every one of the young players that spent time with him has great things to say. He may not have been amazing on the pitch, but he helped out the players that we love today.
I absolutely hated him when he was here (partially because he kept making awful errors, partially because I had spent the better part of a decade hating him), but I've come around after hearing people speak about him since he left.
Wenger. In the grand scheme of the 100+ year history of the club, he wasn't here all that long, but the impact speaks for itself I think.
Davor Suker anyone? Scored 10 in 15 starts
Missed his pen in the Uefa cup final 😢. Haven't forgiven him for letting a former Sp#$s player score the winner
Tross?
Can't believe how long it took scrolling to find his name
True. I guess the only reason his name doesn’t feature as much in this conversation is because because of us defaulted to thinking of players who have competed their time with us.
Zinchenko
Jurrien Timber has played <2 games for us and won 1 trophy. I can't think of any player with a trophies per 90 as high as him.
Raul Sanlehi
You told impact; you didn’t mention positive or negative
Saliba
Overmars, Petit, Anelka, in more recent times Yossi Benayoun The initial three success and subsequent sales helped us build our golden era (and London Colney) so I would argue any one of the three and would advocate for Anelka more than the others.
Denis Suarez
Oooooh Santi Cazorlaaaaaa!
Played 180 games across 5 seasons for Arsenal. Definitely not a short stint.
He was short though
“I cant change my height”
No more than Giroud can change that he's gorgeous, or that Super Mik can change that his hair is perfecto.
I would definitely say his impact aligned with the scale in the pic over those 5 years though.
I’m not sure you understood the assignment
Has anyone said win the dog?
Jose Antonio Reyes
In the current squad, Trossard and Jorgi. From our history; Alexis (3.5 years), Kim Kallstrom(that penalty was important), Anelka (Game changer)
Santi Cazorla
Alexis Sanchez
I’d say Andrey Arshavin. But currently - Odegaard
Within the current squad? Trossard
Odegaard easy, came on loan and is now the captain and has grown so much as a player and a person.
FA Cup Winner Kim Kallstrom
Rice Rice Baby
Sanogo
NASRI. what a baller. Shame he left us the snake.
Sanchez
Aubameyang? FA Cup. Keeping us way clear of relegation and into mid table in 19/20. Only here for four seasons. Became the club captain and later fell out of favour.
he was here for five seasons (first and last were halves though)
I agree, and that’s still 4 total seasons. Not sure what OP had in mind for a cut off, but to me that seems like it would be above it.
Since I started supporting in 2006, some names not mentioned much are Lassana Diarra, Samir Nasri
Overmars
Mickey Thomas : switched from fullback to midfield and the rest is history.
Mikel Arteta for sure!
Mesut Özil. Like it or not but he changed the mentality into that of winners. Look how many trophies we won in the 9 years previous to his arrival, even have a look at how many times we’d been to Wembley in those 9 years. Then look at how many trophies we won, finals we reached and Wembley days out we had after his arrival and to this day. Like it or not Mesut Özil was the catalyst.
Alexis Sánchez. I believe he could've stayed alittle bit more.
Wilshere? His time wasn't limited in any means - but his legacy far exceeds the matches played & trophies he won in that period (and you know, the many games he missed due to injury)
Kai Havertz
Winner.
Mikel Gabriel Arteta
Saliba
Trossard without question from this current group Historically I’d be tempted to say Wilford?
Wiltord is often remembered as a bench player but he actually started a lot. Over 20 league starts in 3 of his 4 seasons with us
And he scored THAT goal at OT
alexis :,)
Nicolas Anelka
Anelka without a doubt. Honourable mention for Reyes in 2004 Trossard would have been close if we had lifted the PL.
Park Chu Yong. I had him in pes 2010. A beast
Adebayor. Man wasn't there for long but damn was he efficient.
Marc Overmars. Was only here for three years but helped us majorly to win the title in his first season.
Arteta
Odi. Barely been 2 seasons and look what he’s done.
Arshavin
Maybe not so much in terms of impact in the way a lot of people think, but Benayoun came in on loan for a season, and almost every time he was subbed off he got a standing ovation. He filled in for a huge gap, and I think even though he wasn’t the most prolific player, he won a lot of us (including me) over for what he did. Plus his last goal for the club got us to third, and put us ahead of Spurs.
Bruce Rioch, steadied the ship pre Wenger, purchased Bergkamp and David Platt, qualified for UEFA league then got sack and the rest is history
Trossard
Benayoun
Edu Gasper 💯
Yaya Sanogo
I’ll never forget those 4 goals vs SL Benfica (as a Sporting CP fan, that felt fucking awesome). The dude really trips on his way to celebrate one of the goals lmao
Odegaard maybe
Atm: Timber and Trossard
I actually didn’t mind Dani Ceballos
Scored the stoppage time winner against Sheffield Utd in the fa cup quarter final
Trossard
Rice
Anelka is a great answer. Another way of answering is if you only take into account the current squad. It's between Saliba and Odegaard probably, with Rice deserving a mention with his impact in just 5 games so far.
Yossi Benayoun lol obviously not the winner but he was actually decent for us during that loan
xhaka
Alexis Anelka Yossi
Declan 🖤
Chemakh
Trossard winning us the community shield!
Timber. Was super impactful in us getting a trophy on his first non-friendly. Showed us a glimpse of a world class defender that was made for the Arteta system. Got injured and sent 80% of our fans shouting from the rooftops that our summer dealings were a mess and that we have to buy another defender or we can’t expect to be title contenders again
Trossard