10. PAUL MERSON
In one sense, it's good that Merson has found a second career in the media: his personal difficulties drained his wealth over the years and post-football life was never likely to be easy.
His adopted television personality has allowed him to become a figure of fun, however, especially among those who are too young to have seen him play. Rather than his chip at Stamford Bridge or his snaking run-and-finish at Anfield, search engines result for Merson are filled with zany comments and grammatical faux-pas'.
But he could play. And, though subsequent years have eroded that perception, he was an exceptionally smart footballer. His best Arsenal moments probably came before the Premier League began, and certainly before his personal life was gripped by vice, but he still flashed with periodic excellence in the early-to-mid 1990s and was as synonymous with the Gunners as almost any other player.
Merson was a victim of football's growing popularity and the fame it afforded him. His own weaknesses may have made him more susceptible to those dangers, but that was a time before awareness existed for such threats. Rather than mourning what he might have been, though, perhaps it's better to celebrate what he was still able to be in spite of such difficulties
9. RAY PARLOUR
If anyone should have been a victim of Arsène Wenger's arrival at Arsenal, it was Parlour. A charter member of the hard-living culture which existed at the club in the 1990s, he was exactly the sort of English professional that Wenger was destined to purge.
Instead, the player once described by Gilles Grimandi as "the funniest he had ever trained with" - presumably not because of his rigid belief in the merits of conditioning - was reborn. He would win four Premier League titles under Wenger as his Arsenal career continued well into the new century. He was no bit part, either, rather an important part of the attacking structure who also provided a bridge between different eras.
When Wenger reformatted his attack around more modern principles, Parlour responded by tailoring his game and would eventually become the lone original. He evolved into a different type of footballing asset and was arguably the hardest-working member of that generation, while he also provided an important cultural anchor to the club's identity.
His 333 Premier League appearances for the Gunners may never be surpassed.
8. Alexis Sanchez
He's a decadently gifted player with a suitcase full of pyrotechnics, but also one equipped with the kind of blue-collared grind that allows his quality to flourish in an attritional environment
The road between Highbury and the Emirates was rocky and tough to endure for supporters who had to watch newly-monied rivals grow beyond them. Sanchez continues to represent the reward, though, because he was the type of elite player envisaged throughout that austerity. It was a short-term sacrifice for an eventual payoff: suffer through the Gervinhos and Chamakhs and, one day, it will all be worthwhile.
7. Martin Keown
He may have looked like an artist's impression of an antiquated center-half, but his longevity relied on far more than just simple resilience
An absolutely horrible player, albeit in the way he needed to be.
"Martin and I then had a row over football issues. I must have said something he took offense at and he pushed me over, kicked me in the face and split my eye."
That anecdote, from Simon Hart's Here we go, Everton, in the 1980s - as told by Pat Nevin - offers a better description of Keown than his encounter with Ruud van Nisteelroy ever will. He was a rugged, uncompromising figure who would eventually become part of the iron first in Arsenal's velvet glove.
But he was also smart enough to survive the apocalypse and his professional career spanned over 20 years because, in addition to his more obdurate qualities, he was one of the finest man-markers the British game has ever seen.
6. David Seaman
If the organization and understanding that existed between the famous back four deserves recognition, then so too does the continuity provided by the goalkeeper behind them
Arsene Wenger was fortunate to inherit a stable defense and that unit is widely considered to have been the foundation for his early success. But if the organization and understanding that existed between the famous back four deserve recognition, then so too does the continuity provided by the goalkeeper behind them.
Seaman wasn't the best shot-stopper and at no point during his career was he definitively the best goalkeeper in the country, but his understanding for the strengths and weaknesses of the players ahead of him fortified the roadblock. Neither should it be overlooked that, as the old guard gradually retired and made way for younger players, much of that solidity remained.
5. Ian Wright
His goal at Elland Road in October 1995, a floated chip caressed over John Lukic, was evidence of his swaggering finesse
Were you to teach a young child how the game should be played, you could do far worse than show him or her clips from Wright's career. Though his behaviour wasn't always exemplary, his enthusiasm was infectious: he loved playing for Arsenal, he loved scoring goals and, for the duration of his career, he seemed to love living. Contemporary players and their stylised cool are relatively joyless, but Wright, as antagonistic as he was capable of being, always gave the impression of understanding his privilege. He was a bundle of menace, mischief and ability and, whether you loved or hated him, you still couldn’t turn away.
4. Tony Adams
There are few captains in Premier League history who have enjoyed a comparably strong psychological hold over their teammate
17 years after its publication, Addictive remains a compelling read. Long before it became a fashionable way of escaping consequences, Adams used his autobiography to definitively own his failings as a younger man. His alcohol addiction persisted in spite of a potentially fatal car accident and a jail sentence, with his burgeoning football career surviving only because of his wonderful ability.
He would play his best football after his 30th birthday once his demons had been locked away. Arsene Wenger's emphasis on diet and conditioning probably helped, but Adams' determination to better himself as a person allowed him to become the presence he was. There are few captains in Premier League history who have enjoyed a comparably strong psychological hold over their team-mates, which is testament to the player and person he was. The centre-back was club captain from a young age, but there’s a definite “before” and “after” within that: Adams was always a leader, but he would eventually become an example, too.
3. Patrick Vieira
The true value of Vieira lies in the reverence with which his contemporaries described him
In time, the hope should be that memories of Vieira are more than just anecdotal and that his footballing worth is allowed to transcend that clip of him and Roy Keane in the Highbury tunnel.
Yes, he was intimidating and Vieira unquestionably had a fierce bite. But while it's entirely appropriate to celebrate that sharp edge and to recognise that, occasionally, he did stray beyond the rules, his legacy remains relatively pure.
Irrespective of era, all great midfielders are judged not only on what they themselves were able to do, but also on what they allowed others to achieve. The measure of Vieira, then, is not in those sequences when he strode through the middle of the pitch, skittling opponents like bowling pins, nor could it be glimpsed when watching him reduce veteran opponents to helpless children. Instead, the true value of Vieira lies in the reverence with which his contemporaries described him.
2. Thierry Henry
He was quicker than everybody else, he was the most reliable finisher in the country and, often, he expressed himself in ways which wouldn't even occur to other players
How many times has a player made the Premier League his own playground? Cristiano Ronaldo didn't, Eric Cantona didn't, and neither Sergio Aguero nor Eden Hazard are doing it now. That level of dominance occurs once in a generation and, over his 254 Arsenal appearances, that's exactly what Henry managed.
He made football look easy. Not in the casual sense and not in isolated patches, but in whole games, weeks and months. He was quicker than everybody else, he was the most reliable finisher in the country and, often, he expressed himself in ways which wouldn't even occur to other players.
1. DENNIS BERGKAMP
It's tempting just to reel off a list of career highlights and reference the goals of his which still remain on heavy rotation. Bergkamp, though, is most vividly portrayed through the words of his team-mates and rivals.
Paul Merson once said that he "honestly didn't think a professional player could be that good" and Peter Schmeichel suggested that Bergkamp “played football like it was all a dream – you couldn’t even imagine some of the things that he was capable of doing with a football". Novelist Nick Hornby once wondered aloud whether the Dutchman "had three feet."
